I try and have compassion on people. Mr/Ms Faceless Executive doesn't really know what I do, they don't know how any of this actually works. It might as well be

I try and have compassion on people. Mr/Ms Faceless Executive doesn't really know what I do, they don't know how any of this actually works. It might as well be magic to them. Every time they deal with me, they get apparently randomly "Yes"s and "No"s and "Maybe But"s. Are those truly random? Am I slacking off (intentionally or not) by upping the number of Nos? Am I secretly giving more Yes's to a different exec that I like more? They have no idea. And they have made commitments, to clients, internal or external, to get X done by the end of the quarter etc. So their only option really is to dig their heels in and try and insist and punish me for all and any "No" they get. If it fails then at least they know that "No" was real. If it succeeds then great. And even if they suspect I am right, they're not rewarded for letting their client down but helping the business as a whole, quite the opposite in fact. They do have skills, and they are ultimately people trying to get by in a world of uncertainty. They're just not technical. And they're forced to play a game where the worst behavior often wins so it's not necessarily their fault as people when they act badly. At least those thoughts keep me sane. I am lucky to have a very good team around me. We all support each other. And the others are much more technically able and detail oriented than I am. So I try to shield them by turning aside the worst of the execs and their craziest demands and try and run interference etc.