Be Human

BE HUMAN:  In business & contracting the mantra has long been “keep it professional”.  In other words, whatever’s going on in your personal life is only a distraction and therefore unprofessional so don’t bring it up.  But I would argue the opposite, or at least a happy medium.  In being transparent about personal situations while maintaining the work will continue it can engender trust with the client.  For example, if you have been diagnosed with an illness that must be prioritized, you are letting the client know there may be times when you’re unavailable.  That’s better than just going radio silent for stretches of time.

Conversely, if you’re going through something like a divorce it’s probably not a good idea to share the salacious details with the client.  But it’s important to advise them of the dilemma.  Simply putting out there that you’re going through a divorce is enough.

The bottom line is:  BE HUMAN.  Why?  Because your clients are.  And by judiciously sharing with them life events that demonstrate your humanity–and yes, your vulnerability–it not only keeps them informed about your current bandwidth, but also gives you added transparency, credibility and commonality.  Because we’re all human.