đźš© Tactical Memo 015: Stakeholder Power Plays
Justin Bateh
September 23, 2025
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Read time: 9 minutes
Welcome to Tactical Memo, my newsletter where I share frameworks, strategies, and hard-earned lessons for leaders navigating complex environments.
If you’re looking for my cheat sheets and deep-dive guides, the vault is linked at the bottom of this email.
The Briefing: Today’s Focus
Why Stakeholder Politics Are More Predictable Than They Look
The Rule: Every Power Play Can Be Neutralized
A Tactical Playbook: How to Handle the 6 Most Common Stakeholder Moves
What’s Happening: General Updates
A Reader’s Question: Handling Pressure From a Sponsor Who Keeps Moving the Goalposts
Why Stakeholder Politics Are More Predictable Than They Look
Many leaders treat politics as unpredictable chaos. The truth is most power plays follow familiar patterns. Stakeholders use the same moves over and over because they work on people who are unprepared.
The mistake is to react emotionally, getting defensive, avoiding confrontation, or escalating too soon. Once you see the pattern for what it is, the power play loses its edge.
Your job as a leader is not to eliminate politics. It is to recognize the moves, neutralize them, and keep control of the board.
The Rule: Every Power Play Can Be Neutralized
Think of stakeholders like chess pieces. Each type has a predictable way of moving. If you know their move, you can anticipate it, shape it, and often turn it to your advantage.
A Tactical Playbook: 6 Stakeholder Power Plays
Here are six scenarios I see repeatedly, with the plays I use to handle them.
Scenario 1: The Stonewaller
Situation: A stakeholder refuses to decide, dragging things out until momentum dies.
Common Mistake: Leaders keep waiting, sending more reminders, or begging for alignment. The stonewaller gains power because the project cannot move without them.
Justin’s Play: Give them two clear options with a deadline. Make one the default if they do not respond. Example: “If I don’t hear back by Thursday, we’ll proceed with Option A.”
Why It Works: You convert indecision into forced accountability. Their silence becomes agreement. Inaction loses its leverage.
Scenario 2: The Scope Creep
Situation: A stakeholder keeps piling on new requests after alignment.
Common Mistake: Leaders absorb the work to “be a team player.” This normalizes endless expansion.
Justin’s Play: Use the “Yes, If” rule. Always agree with conditions: “Yes, if we drop X, or yes, if we add budget.”
Why It Works: You turn their free grab into a visible trade-off. They either pay the cost or back off. It reframes you from blocker to disciplined operator.
Scenario 3: The Credit Grabber
Situation: A stakeholder positions your team’s work as their achievement.
Common Mistake: Leaders either stay silent to “avoid politics” or confront publicly, which makes them look defensive.
Justin’s Play: Pre-position recognition. Before major deliverables, brief executives and sponsors directly: “Here’s what my team is delivering this week.”
Why It Works: You seed the right narrative before they can spin it. Even if they try to grab credit, the room already knows the truth.
Scenario 4: The Goalpost Mover
Situation: You deliver exactly what was agreed, but suddenly the target shifts. Yesterday’s “done” becomes today’s “not enough.”
Common Mistake: Leaders quietly accept it and stretch resources, training the sponsor to keep moving the bar.
Justin’s Play: Document agreements in real time. After every alignment, send a 3–5 line recap: “We agreed today that X = success.” When they move the bar, reply: “That’s a new scope. Do you want to reprioritize?”
Why It Works: It makes shifting visible and forces them to own the change. You are no longer the problem. They are.
Scenario 5: The Silent Saboteur
Situation: They nod in meetings, then quietly undermine you behind the scenes.
Common Mistake: Leaders confront directly, which escalates into open conflict they cannot win.
Justin’s Play: Run triangulation. Build direct ties with their peers and boss. Make sure your version of events circulates before they whisper theirs.
Why It Works: When they try to sabotage, they discover the room already knows your framing. Their shadow campaign loses oxygen.
Scenario 6: The Fire-Driller
Situation: A stakeholder thrives on chaos, pulling everyone into urgent fire drills to look important.
Common Mistake: Leaders scramble every time, reinforcing that urgency equals authority.
Justin’s Play: Kill the oxygen. Anticipate their moves and publish timelines early. When the fire drill comes, you reply: “We handled this last week, here’s the update.”
Why It Works: Their influence depends on chaos. When you preempt it, their drama fizzles. They lose power because urgency stops working.
What’s Happening – General Updates
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The Briefing: Reader’s Question
Q: “One of my executive sponsors keeps moving the goalposts. Every time I deliver on what we agreed, she raises the bar again. The team is frustrated because they feel nothing is ever enough. If I push back, I look resistant. If I keep agreeing, we burn out. How do I handle this without looking insubordinate?”
A: Goalpost shifting is one of the most exhausting power plays because it erodes morale. Here is how I would handle it.
Lock in Micro-Agreements. After every conversation, send a 3–5 line recap email: “Here’s what we aligned on today…” This creates a paper trail without drama.
Turn the Shift Into a Formal Decision. When they raise the bar, respond: “That’s a change in scope. Should we reset priorities to make room?” This forces them to own the trade-off instead of dumping it on you.
Protect the Team Narrative. In team meetings, say: “We delivered exactly what was agreed. The sponsor has since raised expectations. That is a different ask.” This prevents burnout by showing your team they are not failing.
Escalate Without Confrontation. If it continues, brief their boss or peer group using neutral language: “We are seeing shifting expectations and need clarity.” Sponsors hate looking inconsistent in front of peers.
Handled this way, you stop looking like the problem. You look like the disciplined operator protecting alignment.
Cheat Sheet Vault
p.s… As promised, click below for my free cheat sheet and infographic vault
Until next time,
Justin
✍️ From the Desk of Justin Bateh, PhD
Real-world tactics. No fluff. Just what works.
