Trust: the key to great collaborations
A s an editor you’re dealing with people’s work at its roughest. It’s a vulnerable position for them to be in. Because our lizard brain is primed to protect us from threat, defences will go up. The only way around it is to build trust.
Trust is at the core of the best relationships, including the one’s you’ll have as an editor. It’s what keeps each party open and engaged with the process and each other.
Your job is to make sure your collaborators know and, more importantly, feel that you’re on their side and that you know what you’re doing. It’s incumbent on you to foster an environment where they can feel confident that you will take care of them and their project. They need to believe that your aim is to make their project the best version it can be and that you won’t hijack it. This last point can be of major concern to people who don’t usually work with editors.
Generally speaking, misunderstandings of the editor’s role are more common amongst people in disciplines that aren’t formally trained to work with editors. Photographers, specifically student photographers, can fit into this category.
Recently, while working with two RMIT Diploma of Photography and Photo Imaging students, Johnnie Nguyen and Jack Zapsalis, on their photobooks, I realised that to get them to trust me and to fully engage in the process, I had to cut through the misconceptions they held.
I knew that just stating what my role was and where the boundaries lay wasn’t going to be enough. Why should they believe me? They didn’t know me, or my profession, so had no reason to accept anything I had to say. My word had no weight.
I also knew that I would have to work harder than I normally do to build trust because I was starting from zero. Usually, when working with writers, or others within my field, there’s a basic level of trust afforded to me because they get what I’m there to do. There’s a level of professional courtesy and mutual understanding in place.
I had to build up to this place with Jack and Johnnie to show them that I was a valuable resource and sounding board for them.
So, this is what I did.
Firstly, before anything, I had to establish open communication; without it we’d get nowhere. For that to happen they had to feel comfortable, so I let them set the tone for our interaction. That is, how formal or informal it would be.
The first time I was to meet Jack he sent me a message that described himself as ‘wearing a white long sleeve and having a dumb man bun’. That set the tone beautifully. I knew he’d be informal, self-deprecating and funny and would respond best if I were just as informal.
It’s much easier if you adapt to their style and personality, rather than expect them to adapt to yours. It’s one less thing you have to ask them to do; you’re already asking them to step into your world and to follow your process and schedule.
I also spent a lot of time getting to know them as people and as photographers. I asked a lot of open-ended questions and didn’t assume anything. I clarified everything. I constantly checked that what I was hearing was what they were saying and/or meaning. I wanted to send the message that I was interested in them and their process, not just the book, so they’d get that whatever I did would be within the context of knowing them and their vision. I wanted them to be confident that whatever version of the book we ended up with was completely theirs.
Additionally, getting to know them on a deeper level put me in a better position to understand what they needed from me. Everybody has different strengths and weaknesses, and so require different things. The better you know them, the better you’re able to discern what those things are.
During my first meeting with Johnnie Nguyen, I was trying to diplomatically communicate that the text would have to do more of the heavy lifting because the photos weren’t great, without saying it. We talked a lot about what it was he wanted the images to show and do and why they might be missing the mark. We also talked more broadly about what his process and passions were. That opened the door for him to show me his passion projects. Those images had everything that his layout was lacking and I told him so. He confessed that he knew the layout images weren’t good but thought that that was what he was supposed to do. He got confused by too much technical direction. I convinced him to trust his gut; he knew how to take great photos. That broke the ice and cemented the trust in our relationship.
A useful tip for good communication is to learn to listen to the silences. Sometimes, what’s not being said is more important than what’s being said.
I realised that when Jack or Johnnie were silent, one of two things was happening: either they didn’t understand what I was saying or they didn’t want to do it. They didn’t want to admit to either.
Building trust helped them believe that I would follow their wishes regardless of what I wanted, which then encouraged them to express themselves so that I would know what route to follow.
Trust dictates the strength of the relationship and the quality of the work. Whatever skills you have are useless if your collaborator doesn’t trust you or your input.
