The "Last say" conundrum

"Why do you always want to have the last say?", asked a senior leader in our one-on-one meeting. I was not sure how to respond to that or even if I was expected to respond! After a brief pause, I said, "Pardon me, but I am not sure if I understand what you mean by last say".

The silence that followed, although brief, felt like hours to me. He looked at me and continued, "That's interesting. I am surprised you have not heard this before." I had an instinct that this could become a difficult meeting. I chose to remain silent and hear him out. But, to my surprise he chose to change the subject. 

We discussed the point of contention for which we stepped into a meeting room in the first place. He was not happy about me not consenting to an approach he had adopted to bring an operational issue under control. It was a key measure for our business unit, which he was accountable for. Many on that particular management (conference) call were unhappy. There was a flood of messages being exchanged in a parallel chat group but none took the step to voice it out. So, I took the lead and few others followed suit which led to an extended debate and discussion.

I could sense he was expecting an apology, which I resisted and stood my ground. The meeting was getting unproductive and uncomfortable, to both of us. I mustered some courage and proposed, "Is it okay if we agree to disagree and move on?" To my surprise he said "OK" and we wrapped up the meeting.

To this date, I am unclear who had the last say in that meeting!!




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