Enemy in the Next Office: How to Lead Through Blurred Lines and Shared Turf

Unfortunately, today’s workplace can be a battleground. 62% of employees admit to having a work nemesis according to an HR study cited by Korn Ferry in September 2024. There are many reasons for this antagonism—personality clashes, conflicting ideologies, or just plain competition.

The image accompanying this article depicts an all-out brawl in a conference room. Thankfully, such scenes are rare among professionals. But it visually captures the rage and emotion often felt by senior leaders placed in difficult positions—especially when companies create overlapping leadership roles in today’s crowded C-Suites.

Many modern executive titles are introduced to fill real or perceived gaps in organizations. However, these new roles often overlap with existing ones—creating confusion, tension, and conflict. For example:

• A Chief Digital Officer has been hired and now shares responsibility for technology with the Chief Information Officer.

• A Chief Customer Experience Officer is placed between the Head of Sales and the Head of Marketing.

• A Chief Growth Officer has been appointed to lead the company’s growth strategy, but the Chief Commercial Officer thought that was their job.

Too often, these roles are created without redefining existing roles or updating job descriptions. Decision rights aren’t clarified, and supporting processes aren’t updated. Leaders are left to figure it out on their own—and so are their teams.

While it may sound incredibly irresponsible, it’s a common reality in many companies today. Compounding the problem, many CEOs and CHROs often miss the indicators of turmoil caused by creating these overlapping leadership roles. Executives are astute and know not to appear difficult. Therefore, quiet disdain, passive aggressive behaviors, and covert turf battles underpin the corroded culture.

Whether you’re the eager new leader with a freshly minted title or the longtime incumbent feeling blindsided or slighted, the way you handle this situation will shape your credibility, your team’s morale, and your ultimate impact. Here’s how to lead with clarity and calm—when your role wasn’t designed that way.

Have a Candid Executive-to-Executive Conversation

Before jumping into tools like RACI, sit down one-on-one with the overlapping executive. Acknowledge the potential overlap openly and express that your shared goal is organizational success—not turf protection.

• Agree upfront: What is the best outcome for the company? How can we avoid duplication or confusion for our teams?

• Get agreement on principles first (e.g., speed, simplicity, customer outcomes) before discussing specific boundaries.

Define the “Swim Lanes” at the Highest Possible Level

• Try to divide based on accountabilities, not tasks. For example: “You own customer segmentation, and my team and I own the use of the customer segments on our website.” “You own category creation; I own the determination and outreach to customers in new categories.” “You own data, platforms, tools, and engineering, and my team and I own the AI model and its output.”

• Align around outcomes and let teams figure out how they collaborate within that framework.

Establish Joint KPIs or OKRs (objectives and key results)

• Create shared metrics that require collaboration between your teams (e.g., a unified customer satisfaction score, digital revenue, or data availability SLAs).

• Try to tie both your bonuses or incentives partially to those joint KPIs. Nothing aligns behavior like shared skin in the game.  Articulate the need for incentives tied to joint OKRs to the CEO and CHRO.

Align with the CEO and CHRO Early

• Don’t just accept "work it out" passively. Brief them together (after your executive-to-executive discussion) with your proposed clarity map and actions.

• Explain potential risks if left unresolved (duplicate work, delays, employee confusion, wasted budget).

• Seek their endorsement—not just of the plan, but of your mutual accountability in reinforcing it.

Communicate Clearly to Both Teams

• Create a joint communication (both of you on the same stage or Zoom) to explain how the partnership will work. Share OKRs/KPIs with the teams.

• These situations are tough, and your teams know it. Be as authentic as possible.

• Set the tone: No competition, no ambiguity, all escalation paths clear.

• Define what success looks like for the teams together.

Personal Behavioral Accountability

• Avoid passive-aggressive behavior. Don’t gossip, belittle, or speak negatively about your overlapping “partner”—not with peers, not with your team, and not even in venting moments. Protecting your own integrity helps safeguard your well-being and sets a healthy tone for your team’s culture.

• Lead with authenticity and professionalism. Consistently demonstrating strong, grounded leadership is the best response to the (intended or unintended) competitive dynamic you’ve been placed in. Your behavior becomes your reputation—and your best defense.

Use RACI (or RACI-esque) Charts Strategically

RACI charts often fail because they are done as a bureaucratic checkbox. Here's how to make them useful:

1. Focus on the Pain Points, Not Everything. Don’t RACI everything—target the areas of friction, overlapping accountability, or interdependence. Use them as conversation tools to resolve those problem areas.

2. Simplify It. Many RACIs are too detailed and jargon heavy. A simpler version—“Who decides (and leads), who contributes, who needs to be informed”—often resonates better than the standard RACI. There’s misconception around Responsible and Accountable.  And there’s confusion around Consult and Inform.

3.  Add a Clear “Decision Rights” Column. Many people misinterpret the “Accountable” role. Be explicit: Who has the final say? This is crucial where roles overlap. Be explicit and transparent.

4. Keep It Living and Visible. Post the key RACI for the joint teams somewhere accessible. Don’t bury it in SharePoint. Have it visible where teams work (Confluence, Teams, etc.). Revisit quarterly. Things will shift, and the RACI should evolve.

 Final Thought

You can’t control whether the CEO or CHRO chooses to restructure roles—but you can control how you respond. Treat the overlap as a leadership challenge, not a personal offense.

Model collaboration. Reduce ambiguity for your team. Focus on delivering results faster and better despite the structural flaw.

In doing so, you’ll not only protect your team’s morale and performance—you’ll stand out as the kind of leader who thrives under pressure and puts the business first.

 If your organization needs help creating clear roles and functions, or if you need help cleaning up overlapping functions, contact info@Org.Works or visit us at https://org.works/

 [1] September 18, 2024. https://www.kornferry.com/insights/this-week-in-leadership/how-to-handle-a-work-rival