Law 5: Manage Your Enemies

Judgment: embrace your challenges, before someone else does.

Introduction

In this game—like every high-pressure business—you’re bound to butt heads. Sometimes it’s ego. Sometimes it’s personality. Sometimes it’s just two wolves circling the same kill.

But here’s the truth: you’re always going to have an enemy. Might be a coworker, a rival brand, a gatekeeping manager, or someone who shares blood with the owner. Doesn’t matter.

What matters is how you manage that enemy—because if you can’t, they’ll manage you.

Transgression of the Law

A department lead couldn’t stand his operations counterpart. They were polar opposites—he was aggressive and fast-moving, she was meticulous and deliberate. Every meeting turned into a standoff. Snide comments. Passive-aggressive emails. Eventually, it spilled into the rest of the team.

HR got involved.

Morale dipped.

Projects stalled.

The boss started questioning if either of them were worth the drama.

Neither won.

Because they couldn’t rise above their own beef.

Both were replaced within a quarter.

Observance of the Law

Another operator ran into a similar situation—total friction with a team member. Same energy, same ambition, same obsession with being right.

But instead of trying to win, she leaned in.

She learned what made that person tick. Found neutral ground. Killed tension with candor. What started as cold competition became respect. Eventually, they became a locked-in team. Complementary. Dangerous in the best way.

They didn’t become friends overnight.

But they built something stronger: functional tension that drove results.

Interpretation

Sometimes, the person who challenges you the most is the one who reflects your own flaws. Other times, they’re just different—and that difference feels like disrespect.

Either way, enemies will appear. Always.

Managing them isn’t weakness—it’s strategy.

Because in this business, the people you don’t get along with might hold the keys you need. They might be your boss’s cousin. They might be your vendor’s partner. Hell, one day they might become your partner.

Don’t burn the bridge until you know what’s on the other side.

Keys to Power (How to Use It):

• Stay cool. Don’t feed the conflict in public.(Law 1)

• Know their patterns. Learn how they communicate—and adjust.

• Control your face. Your reaction is their weapon. Don’t hand it to them.

• Don’t gossip. Drama is weak currency. It spends fast and leaves receipts.

• Find shared purpose. Even enemies can move in the same direction.

Reversal (When It Might Not Apply):

If someone is actively sabotaging the business or harassing your team, you escalate—with discipline, not ego. But for most tension? The move is to manage, not destroy.

Sometimes the strongest alliances come from a settled war.

Margin Notes:

“The people who trigger you the most often reflect the parts of you, you haven’t mastered.”