I am, by all accounts, a smart woman, but I am a dreadfully slow learner. I have a small marketing and design studio that I run out of my home. I take on clients from all over the world and I have found that I take on a single TYPE of client most frequently. Crazy people. Yep, crazy women to be specific.
Here is the scenario, they are in a drastic situation to get their project, business, team, etc back in control. They don't know how they lost control, but could I please help them? Yes, of course, I am your woman.
So, for a few months I fix their problems, I work late hours, I unscramble their messes, I listen to their tirades. Then, a light bulb blinks above my head and says that this is craziness and although I CAN be the answer to their problems those problems are NEVER GOING TO END.
That is when I start to back away slowly. I have small panic attacks. I don't sleep at night. And then I quit because I just can't work in their world anymore.
Oh, you would think I would have learned that this is a pattern by now. You think I would stop getting into these sick situations, but in the last three years I have been put under the "Can you fix it?" spell 5 times.
It is time to end this cycle.
Red Flags that you might be working with a crazy person:
- When a potential client says that they are in a mess and not sure how they got there: that is a red flag.
- When a potential client or new client begins to call at all hours: that is a red flag.
- When a potential client or new client demands you drop everything to do something for them without consideration for the other clients: that is a red flag.
- If you start to feel sick you think that they might call or email: that is a red flag.
- If they send you large amounts of email and voice mail: that is a red flag.
- If they start to degrade you or make you feel less of a person at any time to make themselves seem more in control of the situation: that is a red flag.
- If they are unable to accept any responsibility for the mess that they are in and start to blame you (they have run out of other people to blame): that is a red flag.
Let 2008 be the year of good clients and paying attention to the red flags.
More next time on WHY I think I get stuck in the same dilemma over and over.
