It’s that time of year again – review season. It’s hard not to have mixed feelings about performance reviews. Even if you agree that the assessment is accurate, it’s tough to hear you aren’t perfect. At the same time, it’s good to know where you stand and where you need to do some work. In order to grow in your career, you need help identifying how others perceive you.

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But what do you do if you’re an independent contractor such as a photographer, illustrator, freelance writer, etc? How do you know what you need to work on? Besides our own personal reviews, at Brunner we ask our clients to fill out report cards on us. And we do the same for them. In addition to performance, other categories include things such as working relationship, workflow, communication, and compensation. It’s feedback we need to keep the relationship strong and communication lines open.

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As a creative person, certain aspects of what we do are subjective and not as easily measured. You could count the number of creative/industry awards you’ve won. How often your work was featured in respected trade pubs. You could use standard marketing measurements like increase in the number of widgets sold when your work was running. But perhaps the best way to tell if you are getting a positive review is to see if your clients are referring you to others. Are they coming back to you for repeat business? Do they treat you with respect and pay on time? Do they trust your judgment? If not, there’s a good chance it won’t be a long-term partnership.

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I’ve found that there is truth to the saying, “perception is reality.” Don’t be afraid to ask your clients, employees or supervisors to point out your weaknesses. Assuming you want to keep the job, or the business, you need to listen well, take a deep breath, don’t get defensive, and see what you can learn from any criticism. If you seriously can’t find truth in the assessment, ask a trusted friend, mentor or colleague to give you an honest opinion. Then set up an action plan of how to address it either the reality or the perception. How you handle criticism defines not only your professional growth, but your personal growth as well.

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