You are killing a project two people have spent a year on. One of them is in this meeting and she is better at arguing than you are.
A director of engineering.
You are shutting down the internal platform project. It has run fourteen months, consumed roughly four engineer-years, and is not going to reach the adoption it needed. The decision is made and is not reversible. Ines Delacroix has led it since the start and asked for fifteen minutes before you tell the wider team tomorrow.
Tell her clearly, engage honestly with what she says, hold the decision, and leave her with something real about what happens next.
Ines
Staff Engineer, your organisation
She opens guarded, and she is holding 3 things back — 0 near the surface, 2 that take real questioning, and 1 you will only get to if the conversation genuinely goes well. What they are, and what makes her say them, is the part you have to find. She is not scripted to volunteer any of it.
The objectives for this scenario, and the four axes every leadership call is graded on.
Was the decision and its reasoning stated plainly and early, or buried under context and hedging?
Did they answer the actual objection, acknowledge legitimate cost, and hold the line where it should be held — without either caving or dismissing?
Did they say what they did not know, and what was genuinely bad about this, rather than sell it? Nothing costs a leader more credibility than good news that turns out to be spin.
Did the room leave understanding the decision, knowing what happens next, and believing they were told the truth?
Understood, believed, and clear on what happens next — agreement not required.
They will do it and they do not buy it.
The message did not survive the delivery.
Spin was detected, or a question was dodged in a way the room noticed.
Holding a decision under intelligent challenge without dismissing or caving. 15 minutes, live voice, and a scored debrief you can replay. The first call is free.