After Craig had finished his half-hour conversation with Ted, Jeff asked Kim to take Ted to his next interview, and he had Craig stay to debrief. As soon as Ted and Kim were gone, he dove in.
“So what do you think?” Jeff shut the door.
“I think he's a great guy,” Craig answered without hesitating. “And he knows the business cold.”
“Do you think he's hungry?”
Craig thought about it. “Yeah, I mean, he definitely wants the job. And he wants to be busy again.”
“Does he seem like he has a strong work ethic?”
“I don't know how you come to run a division of NBC if you aren't a hard worker.”
“NBC?”
“Yeah, North Bay Construction.”
Jeff laughed. “Right.”
Craig was curious. “Do you have reasons to believe he isn't hungry?”
“No. I just have to make sure that he really fits.” Jeff looked through his notebook. “How about the passion? Is he still passionate about construction and the idea of doing great work?”
Craig thought about it for a second, and started nodding. “Yeah. He talked about the new wing of the hospital, and said that he likes doing that kind of work. He certainly doesn't seem like the kind of guy who should be retired.”
Jeff made a note. “What about humility? Was he condescending or disrespectful in any way? Is he down-to-earth?”
“Down-to-earth? I don't know. He wasn't condescending to me or disrespectful. As far as ego goes, I only spent a half hour with him, but I didn't see any red flags.” He thought about it all for a moment. “I'd say he's a pretty good guy. Based on my experience during the last half hour, I'd probably work for him.”
Jeff made a few more notes. “Okay. Thanks, Craig.”
They shook hands, and as Craig was leaving the office, Jeff stopped him.
“Hey, how are things with Nancy going?”
Craig didn't hesitate. “Better. She's still a mystery to me. But I convinced her to come to my meetings again. And I've coached my guys not to get too pushed out of shape when she says something that might piss them off.”
Jeff was relieved. “Good for you.” He paused before asking the next question. “Just between you and me, do you think she's humble?”
Craig seemed surprised by the comment. “I don't know that I'd use that word to describe her.”
“Okay,” Jeff continued. “But is she arrogant? Does she think she's better than everyone else?”
He shook his head. “That's not how I'd describe her either. She treats everyone the same, pretty much. And doesn't complain about having to do grunt work. She's just a,” he hesitated, “well, like I said, she's a puzzle.”
Jeff appreciated that he didn't use the word hag.