And that’s the way it is

Sometimes, I cannot be sweet/understanding/magnanimous when people I am relying on fail to deliver.  Such is the case with a young man whose company I hired to help us with a project for FOF. He really seemed smart, creative  and passionate. Unfortunately, the minute we hired him, he disappeared from the scene and four of of his employees stepped in to handle the project. Not one, not two, not three, but four. They talked up a storm, sent progress reports, had lengthly  conference calls with us, and, at the end of the day they didn’t do a thing I and the staff of FOF couldn’t have accomplished in a fraction of the time. To make matters worse, they told us, on three different occasions, that they were making great progress when, in fact, they weren’t making progress at all.

I had enough yesterday and told two of the team of four how I felt. It wasn’t the first time I had expressed my disappointment with their lack of progress, but I expressed it a lot more strongly. Their reactions? Uber defensive, critical of my criticism, arrogant, delusional about the facts and completely unable to accept a shred of responsibility for their lousy performance.

One of the best things about being FOF is being able to tell it like it is, without worrying about winning a popularity contest. I set high standards for myself, and for those who work with me. I have since I was a young girl and I’m unlikely to relax them any time soon. If my expectations are too much for someone to handle, they shouldn’t expect our relationship to have a fairytale ending.