HUMILIATION - The stepping stone to success and perfecting the art of shamelessness

Being a customer facing executive, I seldom get into confrontations and verbal battles with the customer on things ranging from delivery comittments to commericals and every thing in between and outside. I cant imagine a single meeting where the customer will not have a bone to pick with me from the time he knows I have landed at the airport. Well I signed up for it, is the self realization that comes at the end of the day when you retire with a shot of fizzed out cola. No jokes, you feel your life is worth nothing after some 2 paise officer who cant even read his own emails lectures you about project management and system architecture while the whole world keep giggling in the background on the stupidity of the officer and you have to live through the whole 2 hours of it.

IN all my career, wether I liked it or not I was sent to fight customer fires with nothing but my own urine. Some how I had the guts to take the hit. Some times I returned home depresed and dejected, but I woke up the next day even more charged up, cos I really felt happy about looking back and saying I left that anguish behind. I never carried forward the disgust and ill feeling of having been humiliated by a customer or my colleagues as I felt that they were all a fall out of circumstances the organization has built up. I am just passing the message to the some one by recieving it. It happens invariably and is a part of project managment.

But after 9 years of getting screwed by various customers, american, middle eastern, Indian and african what I gained is flexibility. Allowing me to bend at what ever angle was required :)There were times when I wrote 10 page emails to senior management showing my utmost displeasure in taking up these assignment and being labeled as the fall guy, but those emails always spent one night in my outbox before I decided to delete it the next morning. Its the best expereince you can gain.

Rejection, refusal, re-whatever you put after it best left ignored when you get it on your face. Whats even more exciting is to go back the next day with out any sign of pain or agony to the same customer and talk about the Sun, moon and potatoes. It works but you have to dare.