I was working in California for a company based on the east coast. My job was to get farmers to sell us product for our processing plant. I had a contract offering that was less attractive than competing processors. Despite a good reputation and history of performance in the field, after 3 months of very poor results, I wrote a letter to the owner letting him know specifically where our contract was not competitive hence why the low volume of contracts signed. His response was "Just put down whatever price they want on the contract...the negotiations begin when the contract is signed." I was stunned. He had no intention of fulfilling the contract terms and I did not want to sign my name to a contract he would eventually renege on.

So I wrote him a memo asking him to clarify his position and outlined my understanding of what he had said. I showed my wife the memo and told her that if I turned it in, I would most likely get fired. She read it and said, "Well you have to turn it in because you can't compromise your integrity." I have a wonderful wife. I turned it in the next day and sure enough...he read it and immediately responded, "You're done"! The end.

Alan