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.
