Remember when you were 30-ish? After a decade in the workforce, we 30-year-olds had accomplished much and believed we possessed the prowess to master any workplace issue.
But I learned an important workforce lesson when I was around 30 years old – a lesson that, oddly enough, speaks volumes as we approach election season. Read on for a chuckle.
After working in the construction management arena for nine years, an opportunity arose for me to hitch wagons with a renowned homebuilder and chase commercial projects. In a month we landed our first job – a medical clinic for three doctors. Pumped and eager to begin, I was a young buck with an inflated ego.
The project went well, staying on schedule and providing good quality. At the 90-day milestone, painting was ready to begin. Choosing the same painting firm with which I had worked for years, I discovered they were sending us a new foreman, one with whom I had never worked.
We had a rocky start. Sheesh!! Here I was – a young know-it-all at 32 years, admittedly overbearing sometimes, with perhaps a slight attitude of my-way-or-the-highway – with an unknown foreman, Warren, a professional painter in his mid-50s.
I was convinced that his mission in life was to make me miserable. Surely he felt likewise.
Warren would not make eye contact, would not stop rolling a wall or running door frames when I needed his attention and refused to read the manufacturer’s instructions for prep (he had his own prep style). Talk about getting under my skin! Soon we could not convene without becoming confrontational.
It was on a Thursday when another heated exchange occurred. That was it for me.
The head of the painting firm was standing in his driveway as I pulled in. Livid and upset, I recited all the above and more, asking him to replace Warren with a foreman that I knew, confessing that I couldn’t take it anymore.
He listened thoughtfully, then asked if the job was on schedule. It was.
He asked if the paintwork was okay. Begrudgingly I answered, “Satisfactory.”
He paused, puffed on his cigarette, and being a man of shorter stature, eased very close to me. And then he made eye contact. Almost in a whisper, he declared, ”Allen … I didn’t hire him for his personality.”
Ouch!
Good people, we have an election nearing. Is there no merit in focusing on results rather than personality?
Allen Harris is a businessman, no stranger to the political arena and is involved heavily in state workforce development. He can be reached at allenharris593@gmail.com.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819News.com.
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