[Stakeholders] How do you work with a difficult stakeholder without becoming defensive?

Instruction: Explain how you handle a stakeholder relationship that is tense, skeptical, or high-friction without escalating the tension yourself.

Context: Assesses whether the candidate can manage tension while staying useful and composed.

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I try to separate the person's style from the delivery issue underneath it. If I get too focused on their tone, I usually stop being useful. So I look for what they are actually worried about. Is it speed, trust, visibility, control, or a bad prior experience with projects? Once that is...

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