Never confuse loudness, workplace politics and speaking broken site English with actual competence. 😂
Some people dominate sites with noise, confidence and unnecessary radio commentary,
until the day substance is finally required.
A year and a half ago, I arrived at my current project as a Pipe Fitter.
The crew was mostly Filos, a handful of Koreans and a bigger group of Aussies.
One Zimbabwean:
Me. 😭😂
Straight away, I was the obvious outsider.
To make things harder, my leading hands were Filos and many times they would discuss the job in their own language right in front of me.
Then suddenly everybody would start moving pipes and fittings with serious urgency while I stood there looking like a tourist at the airport. 😭
Half the time I had to quietly ask afterwards:
“Boss, what exactly are we doing?” 😂
I was surviving on half information and full confusion.
Now younger me would have reacted emotionally.
And once you react emotionally on these sites, nobody cares what pushed you there.
You simply become:
“The angry African guy.” 😭
So this time I stayed calm.
Observed.
Listened.
Studied the environment.
But there was one thing I knew:
I’ve spent years building gas plants in Australia.
I understand piping.
I understand sequencing.
I understand construction flow.
So while others were comfortable with titles, cliques and acting like shareholders of the company, I quietly started identifying gaps in planning and execution.
Then I started offering solutions.
Fortunately, the Supervisor listened.
To his credit, he openly admitted:
“Mate, I’m a Mechanical Fitter. Piping isn’t really my strongest area.”
That honesty opened the door for me.
From then on, I started soaring like a lone eagle. 🦅
One particular guy who thought he owned the whole LNG industry hated every minute of it. 😂
A few months later management elevated me and gave me my own area to run.
That’s my playground.
Give me responsibility.
Give me decision-making.
Give me drawings and a deadline.
That’s where I become dangerous. 😎
Ironically, some of the same guys who once made life difficult for me were now allocated under me.
Again:
Emotional control won the day.
Fast forward to today - Sunday 10/05/2026.
The Supervisor has now left the project.
Now there’s nowhere to hide.
No senior guy to lean on.
No pretending.
Substance is now required daily. 😭😂
And all I can say without exposing too much is:
Tazo is kicking goals. 😎
Everybody now comes to me for solutions.
Performance review season is also approaching and suddenly people are becoming very humble.
Very respectful.
Very cooperative.
Very obedient. 😭😂
The same people who once treated me like an outsider now approach me carefully like church members approaching the pastor after a sermon.
Because plot twist:
I’m involved in the performance reviews. 😂
Life is funny.
If you ever find yourself in a similar situation:
Control your emotions.
Stay patient.
Keep improving yourself.
Even take instructions from pretenders if necessary.
Because eventually the day always comes when noise runs out,
and substance is required.
And when that day comes,
you better actually have substance.