"
There are 2 "standards" for wiring cat-5 cable though - maybe he's using
one and your patch leads use the other?


That doesn't matter.
So long as the wiring within a cable is the same at either end, then you can
mix A and B patch leads and fixed wiring.
A patch-lead or fixed wiring terminated using A at one end and B at the
other will be a crossover cable.

The only diff is that the TX will be carried on the orange pair over one
section, and the green pair over the next.
And the RX will be carried over the green pair on one section, and the
orange pair over the next.

The electrons are colour-blind.

So long as 1+2 are a twisted pair, and 3+6 are a twised pair, the actual
colours used are irrelevant.

--
Ron