365 Days of Stories – Day 21: Leadership Conflicts & The Hardest Decision I Had to Make

As we shifted focus to the next level of projects, I knew we needed a long-term strategy for success, not just firefighting. I asked my boss why the architects couldn’t report to me, given that I was accountable for the entire delivery. His answer was strange: “Build your own architect team and don’t worry about the existing one.”

At the time, I didn’t fully understand the implications of this advice, but I trusted him and moved forward. We positioned our Tech Leads to take on architect roles, something they were very capable of. The issue, however, was that they didn’t have the authority to sign off on designs, so we were still dependent on the existing architects.

Even though the Tech Leads controlled the design, we couldn’t bypass architect approvals. The architects weren’t happy with the leadership conflict impacting their work quality. They were only valuable if engaged by the development team for design, but since we were advised to build our own architect team, we started bypassing them.

This created tension between the architects and development team, and the customer soon noticed. Despite having 10 senior architects, their morale dropped as they were caught in the middle of a leadership conflict. I wasn’t happy, but felt helpless to fix it.

I suspected my boss couldn’t challenge another leader who had been with the company for over seven years and was highly respected by the customer. This issue was affecting the entire account, but it seemed ignored.

Then, nearly a year later, I received an email announcing that I would now report to my peer—the very person who had led the architect team. I was shocked. This wasn’t what I had been told, and it felt like a betrayal. I couldn’t accept it.

It wasn’t just about my dignity—it was about the team who had stood by me for the last 1.5 years. I couldn’t walk away and leave them vulnerable to poor leadership. My self-respect was at stake. I couldn’t just accept this for the sake of my job security.

If I were the old Partha, I might have just left and found another job. But this time, I decided to fight against the system. I felt that as the leader of a 130-person team, I couldn’t just abandon them under these circumstances. I had to escalate.

I escalated the issue to my new super boss, who had recently taken over, but the response was not what I expected. I felt like I was fighting alone, and my team would be left behind in unsafe hands.

After two months of struggling to change things, I made the difficult decision to leave the company. It wasn’t easy, especially after all the work I had put into the account. But in the end, I had to protect my integrity.

The biggest lesson learned: Don’t fight a battle if your boss isn’t equally fighting alongside you. It’s not worth it. Follow a leader who takes bigger risks than you, not one who stays on the sidelines.