Someone who believes his always right, even when, he’s, WRONG, a difficult customer here, translated…
The Manager of the Construction Site of My Client Surpassed the Case Manager, the Contract Manager, the Head of Contracts, Found the C.E.O. Directly, This, is Quite Rare, and Apparently, He’d Come, with Malice………
As I Picked Up the Phones, All I Could Hear, Were the Screams
As I’d, started up my environmental engineering company in Tennessee, ‘d received a contract from IDIQ. Later, we’d done a ton of, sales calls, but we’d, still never, quite, found a fitting case for us. At this time, my husband received a call from a mercenary company representative, he’d told, that there was a construction site in southern Georgia, that needed a contracted company to execute a few of the constructions.
We’d taken the advantage to visit the foreman, Roger the following year, turned out, we had similar backgrounds, and we’d, hit it off. What’s more interesting was, when Roger was a young man, he’d, trekked across southern Taiwan by foot, and got into contact with the natives on the island, he’d felt they were all, very friendly, because they’d let him have their bedrooms, and they’d, camped out under the stars at night. The year that followed, we’d, interviewed Lance, who was introduced to us, by Roger, although Lance wasn’t familiar with our construction site, he was, however, full of experiences, and, he was Roger’s friend, and so, we’d, hired him.
illustration from UDN.com
As the construction went on for a it, the personnel reported back to us, that Lance has a temper, as things don’t go his way, he’d, started, screaming, blaming the employees, slamming the doors, breaking the things. It was, hard for us, to imagine, because he’d always been, quite courteous at the headquarter, and, the work had begun a couple of months back, and, things seemed to be, progressing, reasonably, we can’t, seemed to find anything that wasn’t, quite right. One day, Shen-Nien received a call, and all he’d heard, where things getting slammed around, the doors slamming, and screams, then, the contract manager from the other end of the line, Mark said, “Now, do you believe me?” Mark told us, that every time someone has a difference of opinion with Lance, he’d, thrown his temper tantrums. He’d told us, it wasn’t, just that Mark didn’t do what’s on the contract, but, what Roger the manager asked him to. Based off of how it worked, if the plans are changed, it should be consented by the managers on both sides of the contracts, the client’s construction representative should NOT change things privately with our case managers on their own. And, Sheng-Nien was, the head engineer, and the representative of that particular, contract, he was the one, responsible, of communicating the thoughts of how Lance should fulfill his end of the contracts. On the surfaces, Lance seemed to be accepting this order, but afterwards, he’d, still done as he’d, wished to, and, everybody around him made many complaints, and Mark and him got into it a lot.
Then one day, Roger the manager, asked to see the C.E.O. The head of the client’s construction manager surpassed the case manager, the contract manager, the head of contracts, and found the C.E.O. directly, this was, quite rare, and, apparently, he wasn’t, the least bit, friendly, in attempting, to resolve his differences with us.
We were All, Relieved He’d Gone to Work, for Our, Competitors Now
It was, a clear morning, I’d flown to Atlanta first, then, switched to the smaller airplanes, to the construction site, located on the southern tip of Georgia. At around ten in the morn, we’d, flown close to the horizon, we are, in the clear, in the white clouds and the bluer than blue skies, down below, were the patches of southern field, the churches, and it’s as if, I could reach out my hands, and touch these things. I was, so taken by this beautiful sight, I’d, forgotten, that I was, about, to go and deal with, a difficult, hard customer soon.
As I got off the plane, and rode on the engineer’s truck of the construction work, Dave’s, he’d told me, that actually, Roger is an expert on the construction, but lacked respect for the contracts. And, just as I’d, suspected, in the few hours of, negotiating with Roger, he’d, mentioned repeatedly, that he’d, understood, how every company aimed at, making a profit, that what he did, wasn’t, against the rules of making a profit. I’d had to explain, that it’s, absolutely, necessary, that he goes, according to the agreed-upon contract, that it has, nothing to do with whether or not the company was, making a profit. But he was, so stubborn, refused to listen, unreasonable, we’d, not agreed on anything, and he’d, even started, preaching, said, that the devil ALWAYS blocked the paths of the angels. I suppose, that everybody who doesn’t agree with him, is interpreted as devil, and, Lance, who complied to his wishes and commands, is an angel then?
On the way back, as we arrived in the airport in Atlanta for our transfer, because the small airplane had a delay, I’d, rushed to the gates, as the last one who got on the plane. As we took off, the head pilot announced, that we’re, flying in inclement weather, that it may be, a bumpy ride. There was, a cute little girl, who was so animated on telling me how she and her family just got home from a vacation, with her mother, sitting behind her, reminded her repeatedly, to buckle up tight. And surely enough, the plane started, shaking hard, the young girl was about to cry as she’d, grabbed my hands tightly, she’d asked me, if we’re, going to die? And, even though, I was, quite scared too myself, I’d, kept comforting her, that we won’t, that the bumpiness will only, last, a few more minutes longer. And, fifty minutes, as we’d, gone into the air above Indiana, the air currents became, more, stabilized.
After the meetings, things, naturally, didn’t change one bit. My husband was, trapped in thinking about, how to handle Lance and this case, then, Lance changed to our competitors. And, as this, hot potato got, transferred to someone else, we were both, relieved. In no more than six months’ time, Lance was, fired, and, he’d, sued the company who’d, hired him.
Setting up the company for many years, we’d, encountered, an assortment of clients. What I’d learned was: anything and any one, can be defined, by the various angles, that we shouldn’t, jump, to conclusion about any of them.
To this very day, what happened on that day still, replayed in my mind, very much alive. In the morn as I set out, it was, sunny skies, with the hills, the roads extended beneath me, the cross on the church, so close I can, reach my hands out and touch. And, on the way back home, the thunderstorm came, the airplane was tossed around in air, with the cries of the little girl sitting beside me; the contrasts of the weather in the day and the afternoon, seemed to, resemble how he’d, mentioned the devil and the angel in religion; but in this world, who is, the devil, and who is, the angel?
And so, this is, on perspectives, because the client you were dealing with, believed that he was right, and he got fired, for no reasons at all, he was unable to see things from your, perspective, and that was, his, character flaw, which, got him sued by the next contractor he signed under, and this still just showed, how we all, have a different understanding, different perspective, different views, on the same things, and we are, prone to become, biased, when things are personal to us.