If you agree to it, then at this time, I think the best course of action for the good of the project would be to continue with the teams staffed as they are. Jameson Ad Agency will of course be compensated for the time. Your employees bring a uniform excellence to their work that I must credit to your strength as their leader.
Thank you for your congratulations. I intend to do outstanding work, as always.
Respectfully,
Poppy Hanniford
E-MAIL DATED: Wednesday P.M.
SUBJECT: Re: The Future of the Project
Miss Hanniford:
I appreciate your compliment, but I believe I have learned more about true leadership after a few weeks with you than I have during a lifetime of service to my agency.
Indeed, I would like to apologize to you. You were right in your criticisms of me, and perhaps even right to the contract alone when you believed we could not work together. I've been told all my life that a shrewd and forceful personality is the only way to succeed in getting what I want--that opposition only exists to be crushed, and that anything else is weakness.
But I've also been taught repeatedly in recent days that exerting my will without regard for others isn't just dangerous for my business relationships, but also my personal ones. It's a shortsighted way to live.
My strength is also my weakness. In the end, it drove the thing I wanted most away.
I regret the way things ended between us. I regret my behavior most of all. I regret that things are so busy that I have been unable to reach you at your office.
I'm not a man of many regrets.
Yours respectfully,
William Jameson
E-MAIL DATED: Sunday A.M.
SUBJECT: Re: The Future of the Project
Mr. Jameson:
I accept your apology. Thank you. More than that, I had hoped to deliver my own.
I want to apologize for the harsh words I used outside the meeting with the publishing house. I don't usually lose my temper like that, and in hindsight I feel that I was out of line myself. Tensions ran high with this particular interview, as you know, but that was not an excuse for my behavior.
I hope the coming week finds you well. I look forward to working together to iron out the kinks with our staff. You employ good people and instill a solid work ethic in your staff. My own team can only be enhanced from working closely with them, no matter how briefly.
Thank you again, and my apologies that it took until the weekend to get back to you. I've had a lot on my mind.
Yours respectfully,
Poppy Hanniford
E-MAIL DATED: Sunday P.M.
SUBJECT: The Future
William,
I realize now that a formal apology isn't enough from me, and it isn't enough for me. In fact, rereading what I wrote, it rings completely hollow and inadequate, and it's almost enough to make me wish I had never hit 'send'. But I know that an apology to you is necessary.
So please allow me to try again.
I need my apology to be personal to you. You've come to mean more to me than I can ever hope to express in a box of text…and more than I ever successfully expressed to you in person.