365 Days of Stories – Day 17: When Customer Leader Priorities Clash with CEO Directives
Now that I had merged the Development & Maintenance teams, I thought the last challenge was resolving billing issues and aligning customer priorities.
Coming from a large MNC, I assumed if the CEO set a priority, everyone would follow it like a bible—aligning BU leaders should be a cakewalk.
I was wrong.
Step 1: Reality Check – BU Leaders Had Their Own Priorities I set up meetings with 5-6 BU leaders, expecting alignment on the CEO’s initiatives. But instead, I heard:
💬 “The CEO has priorities, but we have our own BU-level goals. We can’t drop everything for his initiatives.”
💬 “Billing isn’t our problem. If your support team lacks skills, replace them. But we won’t approve invoices if resources work outside their assigned stream.”
Each leader was aligned on their own priorities, not the CEO’s vision.
Step 2: Navigating Internal Politics I went to my boss, explained the resistance, and asked for suggestions.
His response? 💬 “That’s how it works here. It’s a massive org. You need to find your own way.”
At that moment, I realized a hidden truth—in CEO meetings, everyone nods in agreement, but on the ground, things don’t move as expected.
So, I made a tactical decision:
🚀 Prioritize Production Stability 🚀 Focus only on CEO’s priority projects 🚀 Deprioritize everything else (regardless of BU alignment)
Whether BU leaders supported it or not, this was the new game plan.
Step 3: The Unexpected Challenge – Work Location Battles Just when I thought I was gaining control, another roadblock emerged.
BU leaders wanted me and all Team Leads to attend their weekly meetings in person at the customer office.
🚧 Problem?
Our office was far from the customer location—each meeting meant losing half a day in travel. Team Leads were critical for execution—leaving the office frequently would disrupt progress. Virtual meetings weren’t the norm back then (no Zoom culture). We proposed alternative solutions: ✅ Host meetings at our office ✅ Switch to remote calls
💬 Customer’s response? “No. You must be here in person.”
Step 4: Finding a Creative Solution This was turning into a tug-of-war between what was practical and what was expected.
We had to think outside the box—and that’s what I’ll reveal on Day 18.
💡 Have you ever faced internal politics where leadership decisions didn’t align with ground realities? How did you navigate it? 👇
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