The Mirror: The Discipline of Honest Words

It was supposed to be a routine project; large yet doable. A proud project to win, a proud project to show success with. The 7-Eleven Headquarters move at City Place. It was a loud, large win, one of the larger contracts in Move Solutions history at the time. Move Solutions had proposed, earned the work, scheduled the crews, spent enormous moneys, and was already Day Two of being on-site when the “word” came down from the client.

The project was on “pause”. We were fired. Mid-project. Emotions in the air. No giant issues, just stress and egos woven together. Clients get stressed, require smart management, and leadership of the client.

Being the bottom of the totem pole, most office moving companies pack up, load the trucks and move on to the next job. The easier path is to take the news at face value, head back to the warehouse, and let the relationship close quietly.

Michael Monette chose a different path.

What Michael did

He took the call, pointed his car towards the building in question. He took a breath. He stepped away from the moment and walked through the building, past the offices where the news had just been delivered and made his way to the door of the person who could revisit the decision; the one who had made the decision.

He didn’t bring a presentation. He didn’t bring a counterproposal. He brought one honest thought into the room with him:

This just got complicated for both of us. This hurts both of us. Let’s see if we can find the path that works for everyone.

The conversation he asked for lasted one meeting. He listened more than he spoke. He acknowledged whatever the client had been weighing. He didn’t argue the decision; he asked about it. By offering understanding, the client found understanding. By the end of the meeting, both sides had a clearer picture of what each other needed, and Move Solutions was back on the job with a stronger relationship than before. The project ended well, became a reference relationship.

What it revealed

The story isn’t about who was right in the original decision. The reasons companies pause a vendor relationship are usually a tangle of pressures and timing that have very little to do with the work itself. The story is about being fired, it is about what happened in the next hour. Most companies treat that hour as a closed door. Move Solutions treats it as a conversation that hasn’t happened yet.

There’s discipline inside the company that doesn’t get written into proposals or service agreements. It’s the discipline of staying open when a moment gets complicated. The discipline of believing that most of the tangled moments between vendor and client come from simple misunderstandings, and misunderstandings can be cleared up. The discipline of walking into the room, calmly, and looking for the path that works for everyone. The discipline of replacing anger with respect. The discipline of keep the ball moving forward.

Why it matters now

Forty years later, Move Solutions has built some of its strongest client relationships in the industry out of simple and honest conversations. Work always begins the same way. Have a plan, match it to resources and process-controlled environment. Show up in person. Listen first. Speak plainly. Trust the conversation to find its way to the right answer.

The 7-Eleven moment at City Place wasn’t a “save”. It was a demonstration of professional composure; calm habits being formed in real time. Show up. Stay calm. Believe the person across the table wants the same outcome as you do. Find the few words that get you both back to a better conversation.