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CAREER Are You A People-Pleaser, Afraid Of Losing Jobs And Clients? Don't Be Their Doormat ... June 23 2015  By Paul StrikwerdaVoice Actor As a freelancer, I’ve had to learn many lessons. Some of these lessons came easy. Others were excruciating. Out of all the things I picked up along the way, these two were perhaps the hardest: 1. How to deal with conflict. 2. How to stand up for myself. I grew up in a very protective environment, and was taught never to raise my voice. The main philosophy in our house was this: Most people have good intentions. If you treat them with kindness and understanding, they will treat you in a similar way. So, when my best friend asked if he could borrow some money, I immediately gave it to him. I think I was eight years old at that time, and I had earned a few bucks by helping out around the house. "You’ll get it back tomorrow,” he said, and I totally believed him. Of course he never returned a penny, and I couldn’t figure out why. Was it something I had said? Was it something I had done? You see, that was one of my patterns. Whenever something negative would happen to me, I started questioning myself. This made it harder for me to confront my friend and ask for my money. Part of me didn’t want to risk losing him as my best buddy. Part of me was just too scared to challenge him. "Don’t cause conflicts,” said that little voice in the back of my head that sounded very much like my mother. "People might not like you when you start arguing with them.” A LOSING STRATEGY I have to tell you right now: this approach didn’t work for me as a child, and it didn’t work for me as an adult. It left me with no backbone, and it made me vulnerable. Yet, when I started my own business, I did everything I could to avoid conflict by becoming a people-pleaser. If you’re offering a professional service like I do, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You want your clients to be happy, and their wish is your command, but there are limits. I found it very hard to say "No,” even when clients made unreasonable demands. "Could you cancel all your plans and come to our studio for an audition tomorrow? Let’s make it nine o’ clock.”The next day I cursed rush hour traffic on my way to New York for a cattle call in some obscure basement. I would spend half a day on the highway, and a small fortune in parking fees to audition for a $250 job. It was madness. "Since you’re a Dutch native speaker, could you check the translation of the script we sent you, just to make sure everything is the way it’s supposed to be?”Unable to refuse, I would spend the next two hours proofing and correcting a horrible script that had been translated by stupid software. All of this for a cheap client who never said "please,” or "thank you,” and who expected me to do this at the drop of a hat, and for free. "If I don’t do it, I might lose the job,” I told myself in those days. Five minutes later, the phone would ring. It was one of my late-paying clients. "Paul, we’re having some cashflow problems. Is it okay if we pay you in about … six weeks?”"I’d rather get paid in six weeks than not being paid at all,” I said to myself, and I told the client not to worry. I was going to be the easiest freelancer they would ever work with! I WAS MR. DOORMAT Looking back, I had all sorts of people walk over me, and I found it increasingly difficult to put on a professional smile, and be okay with being treated like a dirty disposable doormat. Even though I began to resent being disrespected, there were three things I forgot. 1. Ultimately, my ultra-accommodating behavior gave me something I wanted: a way to avoid conflict. I would be seen as the amiable hired helper who always went above and beyond. Who wouldn’t want to work with me?At the time, I didn’t see it that way. I saw myself as the always accommodating Mr. Nice Guy, smiling on the outside, but suffering in silence on the inside. It was only a matter of time before the last drop landed in the bucket. PUSHING MY BUTTONS I had finished recording a technical script for a high-maintenance, unorganized client who always needed everything yesterday. Even though I was swamped, I managed to meet his deadline. Two days later I was getting ready to go to a wedding, when he called me with some drastic changes to the script. "Don’t blame me,” he said. "I don’t control the people I work for.”He basically expected me to drop everything and help him out, and here’s the worst part: he wanted me to do it at no charge. Already in my tuxedo, my frustration finally reached a boiling point, and I snapped at this man with an indignation that had been building up for years. I’ll tell you: when I was done, I felt so relieved! My client, on the other hand, was speechless. Once he composed himself, he just said a few words: "I wouldn’t want you to miss that wedding. We’ll go over everything tomorrow, and I’ll make sure you get paid for your time.”Just like that! I was stunned. I looked in the mirror and thought: "So, that’s what happens when you put your foot down!” I later apologized to the client for losing my temper, and I thanked him for teaching me a valuable lesson. WHAT GETS YOU MAD? This all happened quite some time ago. Eventually, I came to realize that I had to set some professional boundaries. Now, if you’re going through the same things I experienced, you might wonder: How do you know where these boundaries are? They’re pretty much invisible. It’s simple, really. You know where your boundaries are by the amount of BS you’re willing to put up with in your life. As long as you’re okay, no lines are crossed. But if someone or something makes you angry or upset, it’s probably a sign that your boundaries have been violated. You’re likely to find out during some kind of crisis. That’s when you discover who you are, and what’s important to you. MY PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES ... Over the years I have developed very strong boundaries when it comes to rates, professional standards, and the terms and conditions under which I am willing to work with a client or a student. For instance:
Did I lose a couple of clients because I refused to put up with their BS? Of course I did, but I was glad to get rid of them. Now here’s the kicker: Because I was putting my foot down (ever so gently, of course), people started to respect me more. As my self-confidence increased, their confidence in me increased as well. To my surprise I discovered that being clear about my boundaries led to less conflict. My rate was no longer seen as expensive, but as a sign of professionalism. These days, many clients are willing to do a lot to accommodate me, instead of the other way around. All in all, I’d say that standing up for myself has made me feel better about myself in general, and it has brought more clients to my business. BUT THERE'S THIS THING ... However, there’s one thing that keeps on bugging me. Not long ago, the childhood friend I told you about in the beginning, found me on Facebook, and now he wants to connect. It’s been more than 40 years since we last spoke, and I’m curious to find out how he is doing. However, I’m reluctant to honor his request. After all, the guy still owes me money! --------------- ABOUT PAUL Paul Strikwerda is a 25-year veteran of the voice over industry whose Nethervoice service features German and Dutch voice overs, translation and evaluation services. Born in Holland, he has worked for Dutch national and international radio, the BBC and American Public Radio. Although 90% of his work is in English, Strikwerda also records in Dutch, German and French. Clients include Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, and the Discovery Channel. And he is author of the new book, Making MONEY In Your PJs: Freelancing for voice-overs and other solopreneurs, and publishes an informative and entertaining blog, Double Dutch. Email: paul@nethervoice.com Web: www.nethervoice.comDouble Dutch Blog: www.nethervoice.com/nethervoice Making MONEY In Your PJs: http://makingmoneyinyourpjs.com |
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Let's know how you go, Paul 😎 Best wishes, IAN in South Australia
It is a balance of course. I like to provide initial free advice to beginners and many of those accepting my guidance subsequently sign up for my paid course. However, like everyone else, I don't like to be taken advantage of and sometimes I have had to say "enough is enough."
On one occasion a regular enquirer phoned me to ask for marketing advice on a public holiday. I wouldn't have minded too much, except this was our third telephone conversation and she confessed she had signed up with another coach!
My boundary was drawn in bold that day.
Avoiding conflict is good, but more often than not, the lesson learned from a conflict should involve how to avoid it in the future. What were the unrecognized signs and signals that this was going to go wrong?