Delayed
The leader knew.
The project had a problem. The numbers were wrong. The strategy wasn't working.
He knew before anyone above him did.
And he waited.
Not because the moment wasn't right.
Because surfacing it would cost him something.
The reputation. The bonus. The seat.
So he managed the timeline. Shaped the narrative. Waited for the problem to dissolve into enough variables that blame could travel in several directions at once.
By the time it came out — and it always comes out — the damage was twice what it would have been.
The company could afford it.
He couldn't.