Managing Difficult Situations & Critical Decisions in
an FMCG Company
Overview
A leading FMCG company engaged Leadership Ladder to strengthen its mid-level managers’ ability to handle difficult situations and make effective decisions under pressure. Operating within a complex matrix structure, managers often faced competing objectives across departments and needed stronger frameworks for navigating conflict, negotiations, and crises.
Challenges
The organisation’s managers frequently found themselves in stressful head-to-head situations due to conflicting departmental priorities. Decision-making was often fragmented, lacking an end-to-end business perspective or structured risk assessments. During crises, managers struggled to remain effective, leading to delayed decisions and disrupted execution. Additionally, negotiations with multiple stakeholders often stalled due to a lack of structured approaches, creating further tension and inefficiency.
Solutions Proposed
Leadership Ladder designed a focused program titled Managing Difficult Situations & Critical Decisions. The program introduced participants to the psychology of decision-making, the role of thought processes, and the power of structured inference. Managers were trained on in-house negotiation models, including the W-NLTTLM framework (Widening the Perspective; Now–Later, This–That, Less–More), which provided practical strategies to navigate conflicting interests and arrive at mutually beneficial outcomes. Through case simulations and practice sessions, managers developed the ability to assess risks, remain composed under pressure, and lead high-stakes negotiations with confidence.
The intervention created a cadre of leaders who could drive alignment, resolve conflicts effectively, and take timely, well-rounded decisions—even in the most demanding business contexts.