Milwaukee, the grand finale

I failed to integrate into the team. I found them all too old and dull to hang out with after work and did my own thing. I started to go to the gym and since I stayed in Milwaukee over the weekends, I got a nice bunch of friends who I obviously preferred to spend time with rather than that project team.

It was a fatal mistake. One day, Chad, the project auditor, arrived and did an audit. I told him the truth what was going on. In those early years I thought I were able to change something and turn the project to the better. In the project team nobody listened to me and my concerns. I was then already too far away from them. Plus I was the only foreigner who was also the youngest one. I manoevered myself into that corner.

That bully colleague from North Carolina called me all sorts of names and blackmailed me. My company did not give me a proper work visa for the US but urged me to enter the country with a "business trip" visa waiver form. So yes, I was an easy target for blackmail. The project managers sat in my management workshops and openly during the training called me a liar and unable to train.

So yes, things went extremely bad. I cannot even tell anyone how hurt I was and how terrible I felt. Now, in the aftermath, I know I learned from this experience. Such a situation would never ever happen to me again. And from a learning perspective I am actually glad it happened. I flew back to Europe and left that company. I moved to Berlin for a few months and re-orientated myself.

Milwaukee, the project (2)

Julie and I did a good job in defining the project training need, and we developed a pretty neat training and coaching programme. We wrote it down on that Brown Paper on the photo.

The project was in the healthcare sector and the client managed old people's homes and day care centres. We were tasked to "sort out" their headquarter's administrative operations. We worked in Accounts Receivables, Accounts Payables, HR, Finance, etc.

The project team was absolutely incompetent. The 2 project managers tried to prove who is the best of them, and the 3 consultants were something else. All were in their 50ies who seemed to have failed in real life and then became brand-new consultants. The worst was that Texan woman from Austin, who was an alcoholic, and how nobody on the project understood. Her breath smelled of alcohol in the morning. The one from Chicago was nice, but no experience whatsoever, the other one from North Carolina was a bully and told clients to "shut up" when talking to him.

Milwaukee, the project (1)

I am going to spend a bit more time to describe this project. So, I arrived and got greeted by a big man with extremely black sunglasses, New York mafiosi type with a twist of Californian sunshine state surfboy. "Hey buddy, how's it going?". I was a "buddy", that was new to me. British English is different! The only thing missing was a "high five".

All the European project managers I knew by then were stiff and pretty much up their back. But hey, I was in the US and things were different here. So, the 2 of us started up the project. The other team members were to come later. What is definitely different between the US and Europe, American consultants tend to be older than their European counterparts.

I think this has to do with the role of a consultant. In the US it is more like that the client can rely on their "wisdom" and gets "hands-on experience", whereas in Europe a client buys "university high flyers", long hours at the job, and career orientated consulting sharks.

Needless to say, I was the youngest (and most experienced in terms of consulting and company methodology) on the project. This project manager got changed quite quickly and was replaced by 2 project managers who shared responsibility. The only highlights were Julie, who was then responsible for the US in terms of training, and Chad, who was the auditor.

Between Poland and the USA

During that Polish project I had the feeling that I have done training more than enough and wanted something else. I got very sick in Warsaw and think in the aftermath that it was stress-related. I stopped working for 2 or 3 months, applied for jobs, went out, and took things rather easily. A friend of mine even dragged me to a modelling agency. I was curious but also very suspicious. Well, see the pictures which they have taken. I was in my late 20ies then.

In those days Europe did not do very well (businesswise for my company) but the US had quite some opportunities for me. One day I got a call, it was the day when I was supposed to get some casting dates, and it was from my company asking me whether I would like to go to the US for work.

I took it as a "hint from above" and happily accepted. I sold my car, found someone for my room and left London a few days later. Final destination: Milwaukee in Wisconsin.