CHIEF “WHATEVER” OFFICER

When Leadership Has Vibes but No Clue

The longer you survive corporate life, the clearer one thing becomes: The people calling the shots often have no real idea what the work actually is.

Not the pressure. Not the dependencies. Not the consequences.

Just vibes.

Welcome to the age of the Chief “Whatever” Officer.

These are leaders who speak strategy like it’s still 1998. They confuse confidence with competence. They build timelines on optimism, ego, and a half-remembered LinkedIn post they skimmed between meetings.

They haven’t touched the product. They haven’t spoken to customers. They haven’t done the job.

But they have opinions. Loud ones.

You’ll recognise them instantly by the phrases:

• “Let’s move fast.”

• “This should be easy.”

• “Why is the team complicating things?”

• “We just need to push harder.”

Translation: I don’t understand this, but I don’t want to admit that.

Their decisions feel like fan fiction. Alternate realities where execution is instant, risks don’t exist, and people magically work harder because someone senior said so.

Here’s the quiet truth no one tells you in onboarding:

The only real difference between you and the VP is this: You already know why their plan will fail.

You can see the missing steps. You can see the ignored dependencies. You can see the consequences three meetings ahead.

They can’t.

And here’s the part that hurts to accept: You are not going to educate them.

Stop trying.

Corporate India loves the myth of “managing up.” In reality, most people aren’t managing up. They’re emotionally babysitting down. Explaining basic realities to leaders who’ve already decided they know better.

That’s not leadership development. That’s unpaid emotional labour.

Trying to “save” a leader from their own delusion usually ends one way: You get labelled “negative,” “not a team player,” or “too operational.”

Meanwhile, the fantasy timeline collapses exactly as predicted.

So what do you do?

You stop over-investing in outcomes you don’t control. You hit the brief. You document everything. You protect your sanity.

Enlightenment is not in your job description.

You’re not here to fix executive blind spots. You’re here to do your role well, get paid, and go home with your nervous system intact.

SASSY TAKEAWAY

To Corporate India: Your projects don’t fail because teams lack talent. They fail because leadership is allergic to reality. If the people deciding the roadmap haven’t touched the product since demonetisation, their strategy is noise. Stop worshipping PowerPoints. Start listening to the people actually doing the work.

To Gen Z: You’re not here to cure executive delusion. You’re here to manage expectations and protect your peace. Document everything. When the fantasy timeline inevitably combusts, your receipts will save you. Guard your bandwidth. Save heroism for causes that deserve it.