There’s a beauty and a complexity to being a generalist. How do you build and strengthen your professional identity when your range is broad?
Awkward Introductions
I feel one of the things I want to work on this year is being more comfortable owning the label of a generalist. When I started out, it felt like a bit of a strategic move – keeping my options open. It meant I could take on lots of different work without being constrained by a particular label, and I hoped it would mean I had more opportunities available. Something I didn’t consider was how difficult it is to introduce yourself well when you do lots of different things. It’s so much snappier to lead with “I’m a researcher/graphic designer/coach/HR specialist” etc. Much less easy to explain you’ve had a quite a varied career, gained a load of useful skills and can flex to lots of different work and therefore have done facilitation, evaluation, policy, communications and resource building – so far!
Generalist Superpower
However. While I need to get better at developing a jazzy elevator pitch for myself when I look over that varied career and that load of useful skills – there’s a kind of superpower there. I’ve done process improvement, local authority strategic partnerships, charity restructure, wide-scale volunteer management, strategy and business-planning, organisational-wide training programmes, facilitation, systems project management, communications. It’s a long list and when you look at pulling the lessons learnt, it’s powerful stuff. I hadn’t quite appreciated how powerful until I started mentoring someone. It was brilliant to pull through bits of relationship management, governance, communications/marketing, personal development and business planning into our conversations to support him in his charity’s growth. I also hope it helps me see the connections across things since the lack of a single specialism hasn’t made me in danger of developing tunnel vision.
What’s in a Name?
For now, I’ve got “charity consultant” on my email address, website and LinkedIn. I’ve never been a huge fan of the word consultant – it’s always sounded a little “done-to” rather than the collaborative, supportive and flexible approach that reflects my personality. I’ve spotted a growing trend online towards skipping the word “consultant” and either focusing on the specialisms such as “facilitator” or even using a description of outcomes. Definitely good for thought about how I can use this to better describe what I do and how I am help.
Inspiration in Numbers
I’ve recently come across a generalists network for freelancers and I’m intrigued! I love that someone recognised there was a niche for support. I’m fascinated to see what common themes will emerge as I’m guessing it’s a cross-sector group and so far I’ve mostly been involved in ones focused on the charity/social good sector. I wonder whether my frustrations over introductions, names and ownership will resonate with many others.
Personal Development
An unexpected benefit of being a generalist is the personal and professional development that’s come alongside it. I’ve taken on work that’s been completely in my comfort zone and I’ve taken on work that’s stretched and developed me. I really like the agility that I’m developing and nurturing by taking on a range of work – it’s kept me really motivated and engaged and opened my eyes up to a whole host of fascinating work that’s out there.
Open Future
So for now, I’m a proud generalist. I suspect I’ll be a generalist for at least another year to continue exploring some passion projects as well as some stretch work and see what comes my way. Definitely on my to-do list is setting aside some time to do some personal strategy work and see what emerges as my priorities for the future.
Photo by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash