"In my role as a Project Manager with a large private organization, one of my first steps on any new project is setting a budget. Last year, I led the effort on a project focused on waste reduction in our manufacturing facilities. In the initial meetings for new projects, our CFO is always involved, so she has a high-level overview of what the project will entail. In the meeting, she berated me for the initial budget I was proposing and insisted that the amount just wasn't correct or feasible. Rather than taking offense at her thoughts, I wanted to make sure that she and the rest of the group had a solid understanding of all that was taken into consideration for setting the budget. After I explained and showed them line by line how the proposed budget broke down, she was thankful and said she didn't realize that team member labor was part of that equation. I think that my ability to understand why she was conflicted and to keep a calm, cool head in that situation was vital."
