What's a great general contractor?

General perception or reputation have often nothing to do with reality. We once had one of these “famous” general contractor (GC) build a house for us and his work was rather disappointing. 

He had built many houses for folks with deep pockets, had a huge margin of maneuver and, of course, his work might have looked impressive on the surface, but the man missed all the great qualities that generally are the hallmark of a great manager, like being a people person or listening attentively to name some of the most important ones.

Recently, an acquaintance suggested that our next door neighbor was “the best GC” in town, when in fact the man is anti-social, blinded by his enormous ego and appears to have a few screws lose. Hard to believe this kind of assertion.

A great GC should be someone who is not well grounded, can creatively solve problems that could otherwise be onerous to the owner, can lead his subs into greatness and can perfectly execute budget-sensitive projects when money and time are tight; none of the visible and popular nonsense!