You never know who you will meet again: Many years ago when I was working in Northern California I met a man for the first time
who would make a big alteration in my life and I had no idea at the time what was ahead for me. I was installing and testing a system at
an airport that was under his purview. The test was not going well and we had a lot of problems making adjustments to try and get it
to work as advertised. He felt my frustrations when I shut down the test and he expressed his. After several days of research and
modifications we started the test again. This time the test revealed the reasons for the first failure. It all had to do with the type
of terrain and the type of equipment we were using. I told him that the system he wanted would not work satisfactorily and it would have
to be modified. He was not happy with my decision but I stuck to my guns and left it at that. I packed up my equipment, filed a report
and left. I figured that I would probably never see him again anyway as at the end of this test I was heading back to Los Angeles
and he was
being transferred to Korea. I tried not to leave a bad taste behind. Pride and ego can get in the way of progress. His plans had to be reworked.
Several years later I applied for a promotional position in Los Angeles and was accepted. I met my new boss for the second time. Yes, it was
the same man I had met who was not happy with my decision to scrap his plans. He had returned from Korea and was assigned as the head of the
organization that I had applied to for a position. When I applied there was an interim manager. We had a good first day as manager and worker bee.
He explained why he hired me. It all had to do with the fact that when we first met I did not waver in my analysis of the problems and provided
solid backup for my decision and treated him with respect.
You never know who you will meet again.
I was talking to Pat Krommer and she inspired me to tell this story to you.
Lance