El Capitain

Being comfortable with my job comes only in lulls. Most of my professional life is still about proving myself and here I go again. I've been seconded to a new VP for a new program. I call him "El Capitain". To says he is brusque and high-handed would be like a New Englander's calling a hurricane "a bit of weather." Understated to the point of disingenuous. And we're pretty sure El Capitain isn't comfortable with women in his leadership circle - because until me there weren't any. When a Vendor closes a deal with my division in a certain range, it's my job to manage that. For example: a kind of network switch is sold at a discount on the promise that my company buys and installs at least 10,000 of them in the next 18 months. I put on my superhero costume for two jobs: first, meet the terms of the contract (I get a global team for that); and second, prove the value to my company (did we get a good deal?). I'm 6 days into this new contract and getting my feet under me. I find out he's jetting out to my town next week to check and direct my progress. Joy, joy, happy joy. How did I find out? From my vendor rep, who's handholding him out at conference in Vegas. J: Let's not worry about my company getting you the right project manager today. We've bought ourselves a week. Me: How did "we" do that? J: Oh, you didn't know? El Capitain and I are flying to meet with you at your local corporate offices next week - I'm bring ing most of my team to see what we can do now to support you. Me: Support me by keeping the commitments you keep. I want a PM, now. And I'll reschedule the bigwig meeting. J: Oh, you didn't know? We already did that during our lunch break. Me: Saves me the bother. Do a better job of keeping me in the loop. Around here, it's the long run that measures success. J: OK. Sorry. I was just following El Capitain's lead. Oh. Man. It's going to be a long. damn. project.