How to Turn Resistance into Support
I witnessed a Junior Manager confront the C-Suite. Lessons for Scrum Masters who wish to make a difference.
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Hi Everyone,
Something extraordinary happened at work last week, and I can’t stop thinking about it.
It was during a particular high-stakes meeting with the C-suite, an event meant for the company's highest-ranking people.
Yet, somehow, a junior manager walked into the room (how she got the meeting invite is still a mystery to me).
She wasn’t just the least experienced person in the room but also the lowest-ranking.
What happened next left me amazed.
She took control of the room.
She won over the executives, one by one.
I watched her transform a room full of skeptical executives into advocates and, most importantly, “initiate” a change that our organization desperately needed but everyone was too afraid to address.
It wasn’t luck.
It wasn’t arrogance.
It was a masterclass in how to challenge the status quo while building bridges, not burning them.
And as I observed her, I realized there were lessons here that every Scrum Master could learn.
Lessons about courage, leadership and organizational psychology.
Let me take you through what I witnessed.
Let’s get started.
Here’s what happened
This was the quarterly strategy review meeting — a “sacred” ritual where the C-suite gathered to make decisions that would shape the company's future. The kind of meeting where even VPs waited for invitations.
But as the saying goes — “Power moves in silence.”
A junior manager — new to the company, still earning her credibility — walked into this meeting with a proposal that threatened the status quo.
As she presented, I could sense the collective thought bubble saying: 'Who invited her?'
I could feel the resistance.
After hearing the first “no,” at that moment, she had two paths:
Path 1: Double down with data. Talk louder. Push harder. Defend every detail.
Path 2: Create space for concerns.
She chose the second path. And I’m so glad she did that.
Because the first path was an obvious ticket out of the company.
What she did was subtle yet so powerful.
She put down her carefully prepared presentation (this is important to note), looked around the room, and simply said:
“Please help me find what I’m missing.”
These 7 words completely transformed the dynamic in the room.
For a moment, there was utter silence.
A normal person would sweat with anxiety, thinking, “Why did I do this…”
She? She…waited.
Her patience paid off, and comments began to come in.
But that’s not the amazing part.
The amazing part is how she handled those comments.