A Cautionary Tale on Professional Misunderstandings

*Full Disclosure: Events and wording have been summarised, sanitised and anonymised for public consumption.*

A while back, something happened to completely destroy my confidence…or it would have if I wasn’t working with such an incredible team. I’ve now got enough distance and confidence to put this out in the world in a way that doesn’t cause me undue stress and anxiety.

See, I had an associate job booked, an in-person minute taking job requiring travel to be booked. Excellent.

I sent chaser email after chaser email to get the details I needed.

Silence. For two damn weeks.

And then just over a week before the meeting, as I’m trying to schedule everything around this trip…an email dropped into my inbox.

“I’ve done my due diligence and I can’t work with you due to opinions expressed on your website.”

I’m sorry, what?!

I used to have a “You’re Not Ready To Work With Me If…” page on my website, and it turns out that that section on my website had caused this person to believe I was incapable of impartiality.

I mean, okay, I can sort of maybe possibly see where you might come to that conclusion…if you read what I was saying totally wrong and took the opposite meaning of the words as what I meant?

But nothing in our (extremely limited) communications suggested that, and they didn’t bother to even try and talk to me about their requirements or standards WHICH I’D BEEN ASKING ABOUT FOR OVER 2 WEEKS.

Two points in response to this ridiculousness, made public for everyone to learn from.

a) My friend…that’s my PERSONAL business website, I am entitled to qualify my clients however I would like, and I signed a contract with the consultancy so regardless of my personal beliefs and feelings, I’m bound by their rules and conduct. It’s called being professional. Look it up.

b) You already signed the contract too, muppet-features. You’re as bound by those standards of professionalism as I am, and this was NOT adhering to them.

Please note I did not say either of those things in response. I was professional.

The whole interaction could have gone disastrously wrong. This could have been the flame war to end all flame wars and my business and reputation would be in tatters. But at the end of the day, I just want to do my job (that I’m really good at) and get paid. No drama.

So I called my contract manager and explained what had been sent. 

He calmed me down, told me he’d handle it, and that he (and the company) had my back.

And then I got a phone call from the owner of the company, reassuring me of the same thing. They had my back, I’m one of their associates and it would be sorted.

This could have broken me. Because this was sent under the guise of professionalism and ‘due diligence’. 

What it actually was? 

A thinly (and I mean ‘last scrape of butter from the empty tub because you ran out 2 weeks ago and forgot to buy more’ thin) veiled threat because I’m a world of different that they just don’t understand. 

I don’t know what precisely sparked it, but I could read the insult and threat behind the “professional” wording loud and clear.

But because I’m super picky about who I work with, I had a kickass team supporting me. I’m eternally grateful to be working with them for 2 years and still going strong.
 

I’m not to everyone’s taste. I know that. But threatening someone’s job over a perception that you don’t have enough information to prove is unfair at best, and downright cruel at worst.

Be you. No-one else does it half as well 😉