"When can we talk on the phone?" Her voice sounded a little excited, and I knew the tone very well from our coaching. Something was up. "Tonight would be best, we can talk at length then," I replied. "That's fine. I'll call you around 7:00 then, ok?" "Yes, that's fine." Shortly after 7:00 pm the phone rang. I picked it up, and Mrs. Lenz immediately sputtered, "The first four weeks are barely over, and already the first conflicts are occurring." "Mrs. Lenz," I said, "that's perfectly normal. You position yourself, and the others don't just watch. That's what we were talking about". "Of course," she replied, "I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly. I took over the new department, introduced myself accordingly, as we had discussed. And that's worked out well so far. But today at the management meeting, Mr. Schnelle suddenly claimed a project for himself that actually belongs in my department. And with a rather adventurous justification." "And how did the colleagues and the boss react," I asked. "Some colleagues grinned, others looked rather uninvolved. And my boss, that is our boss, just dryly remarked that we should sort it out between ourselves. What's the best way to handle it now?" I replied with a counter question. "Have you had all the get-to-know-you conversations in the department and with your colleagues?" "Yeah, sure." This came off spontaneously and convincingly. "What exactly is this project about. Why does it belong in your department?" She briefly explained to me that the project fell under her jurisdiction in terms of topic, content and process, but of course other departments would have to work on it as well. "So it's about who runs the project?" I asked. "That's exactly my impression. But it could be worse than that, namely that the issue is gone with it." "What reason could there be for that?" "Mr. Schnelle argues that he has already done a structurally similar project with his people and knows the service provider to be involved there very well. This would make everything go faster." I nodded and said, "A popular procedure to change responsibilities. How well do their staff know the subject? Have they done anything similar before? Has there been an RFP for the service provider?" "In terms of competency, I trust my staff to do it. Because of the RFP issue, I'd have to find out what the in-house practice is. I have the feeling that the guy wants to test me because, after all, some of my colleagues were grinning like that?". "That may well be. So you'll have to counter it." "And how do I do that?" "Well, your boss has asked you to settle the matter among yourselves. So take the initiative. First, clarify the issue of tendering. Then talk to your staff about who is well versed in this subject. Check which other department is still involved with this project and discuss in advance with the respective colleagues whom he would send to the project. Then write your boss an email or talk to him on the phone about how you intend to implement the project. Consider alternatives for the potential service provider. All of this needs to happen quickly." "Oh God, I actually have enough to do". "Yes, I know that, but right now there is terrain to claim, and that is the priority". "Okay," she said, "and then how do you want to proceed?" "Once you have everything in place, invite Mr. Schnelle to your office as soon as possible, preferably with one of your staff who is competent in this subject. You will find that Mr. Schnelle is at least surprised, for he will not expect it. Open to him very calmly how you intend to set up and carry out the project." "Do you think he will put up with that?" "I don't. But if you do nothing, you've already lost. If it comes to serious conflict, you go to the next round". "But only if you're in". I laughed and said, "Let's see ...." A week later she called again. "So, how did it go", I asked. "Very well, I guess it was just a test ...." "...Which you passed until the next one." We both laughed and she said, "But that's why I have you". If you do nothing, you've already lost.