The Psychology of Influence

"Three years? And there's no replacement budget?"

The sinking feeling in my stomach intensified as I processed the news. My key team member had just been granted a lengthy study leave to re-educate himself. With our other position still vacant, this meant my colleague and I would somehow need to shoulder the workload of four people while managing high-stakes projects with unwavering shareholder expectations.

That evening, staring at our impossible project timeline, I had an epiphany.