How People Skills Helped Me Close a Tough Right-of-Way Deal

One of my first right-of-way projects for a transmission line taught me two things: expect the unexpected… and always bring your best people skills.

I was assigned a parcel where the landowner was known to be a tough guy, and I don’t just mean firm on price. Word was he’d been making threats about the project.

Somehow, I ended up being the one to meet with him. I drive out, get to the property, and his family tells me:

“Oh, he’s out back… shooting stuff.”

😳Yeah, that was one of those “what am I doing here” moments.

But here’s the thing, when I did finally sit down with him, listened, treated him with respect, and walked through the plan, he turned out to be one of the most reasonable folks I worked with on that project. In the end, we got the agreement signed.

In ROW work, don’t let a landowner’s reputation or the stories you hear influence your approach. Everyone’s got concerns, if you take the time to listen, you’ll be surprised how often you can find common ground.

Hostile Landowner