Growing up in South Africa, our whole family loved visiting game parks like the Kruger National Park. The objective was simple: spot different types of game – big cats, antelope, warthog. Some were rarer and more valuable sightings than others.
Game is extraordinarily hard to spot sometimes. Leopards, in particular, are masters of disguise. My brother was expert at it – spotting animals that the rest of us couldn’t see even when he pointed directly at them. The skill wasn’t about having better eyesight. It was about noticing movement, recognising when there was a change in the view that didn’t quite belong.
This morning, something similar happened here on our nine-acre forest property in Western Australia. In the eight years we’ve lived here, I’ve seen exactly one kangaroo. This morning I saw two more. I only noticed them because they moved. Against the stillness of the bush, that movement was everything.
It got me thinking about the people who succeed when they leave traditional employment for freelance or consulting work. They possess that same skill my brother had in the Kruger Park. They see movement in the world around them, anticipate the ripple effect that movement will or could have, and come up with a proposition that the market might embrace.
Like many other forms of success, we have trouble seeing it for what it actually is. We attribute success to luck, timing, natural talent, or connections, when often it’s about something much simpler and more learnable: the ability to notice what’s changing and respond to it.
In a corporate role, you move with the herd around you. The company spots the movement for you, decides on the direction, and everyone moves together. It’s comfortable. It’s safe. You’re surrounded by others doing the same thing you’re doing, so you must be doing the right thing.
But once you step out into the big wide world as a freelancer or consultant, there’s no herd to follow. You have to spot the movement for yourself. You have to notice when the landscape shifts, when a need emerges, when something that worked yesterday won’t work tomorrow.
This is where many people who were highly successful in their corporate careers struggle. Not because they’re not capable, but because they’ve spent years having someone else do the spotting for them. They’ve forgotten how to stand still, watch carefully, and notice what’s actually happening around them rather than what they think should be happening.
The pathfinders – the ones who build thriving freelance practices – develop the habit of constant observation. They notice when their former colleagues start complaining about the same problem repeatedly. They recognise when an industry publication mentions the same challenge three times in different articles. They spot when clients start asking for something slightly different from what they’re currently offering.
It’s not a dramatic skill. It’s quiet, patient, and deliberate. Just like spotting game in the African bush.
The question worth asking yourself if you’re considering leaving traditional employment is this: can you see movement? Not the obvious movement that everyone sees, but the subtle shifts that signal something is changing. The small adjustments in how people talk about problems. The emerging patterns in what clients actually need versus what they say they need.
Because that skill – more than your qualifications, your experience, or even your network – will determine whether you thrive or struggle when you step away from the corporate herd.
The good news is that if you don’t have this skill yet, you can develop it. You just have to stop moving long enough to start looking.
