How Maersk Strengthened Leadership Without Direct Authority for Functional Product Owners
From communicating updates to influencing stakeholders, navigating resistance and leading change
Maersk Global Service Centres' Functional Product Owners operate in a complex environment where success depends on cross-functional alignment, stakeholder buy-in and shared accountability.
They regularly work with senior leaders, business stakeholders, product teams and operational teams across functions and regions — often without having formal authority over the people whose support they need.
For such roles, technical or process expertise alone is not enough. Leaders need to communicate with executive presence, influence decisions, handle disagreement and move people through change.
The Leadership Reality
🤝 Shared Accountability | 🌐 Cross-Functional Dependencies | 🔄 Continuous Change |
Outcomes depend on people outside the leader's reporting line. | Different functions bring different goals, priorities and expectations. | Product, process and digital changes require stakeholders to understand, support and adopt new ways of working. |
What the TNA Revealed
Dishah's pre-training assessment showed that participants needed practical leadership capability in four connected areas.
Influencing Without Authority | Ownership & Accountability |
Align senior and cross-functional stakeholders without relying on hierarchy. | Create clarity when responsibility is shared across teams and hand-offs. |
Navigating Resistance | Leading Change |
Handle disagreement, conflicting priorities and difficult conversations constructively. | Explain the WHY, reduce resistance and build commitment to adoption. |
The cohort was looking for immediately usable techniques, not concept-heavy leadership theory.
Customised Around Real Product-Owner Situations
The 2-day Master Program was designed around situations participants actually faced:
Competing Priorities | Cross-Functional Misalignment | Resistance to Change |
Two stakeholders both believe their requirement should come first. | Progress depends on another function that has different priorities. | Users are comfortable with the current process and hesitate to adopt a new one. |
Participants worked on Maersk-relevant scenarios involving digital process adoption, stakeholder alignment, pilot approvals, difficult conversations and change implementation.
The Capability Shift Delivered
Before | After the Intervention |
Communicating what I need to say | Structuring messages around what the stakeholder needs to hear |
Detailed, tactical updates | Concise, strategic and executive-level communication |
Depending on escalation or hierarchy | Influencing through logic, relationships, credibility and social proof |
Defending a position during disagreement | Navigating conflict towards constructive, win-win outcomes |
Communicating only what is changing | Explaining WHY, future state, plan and stakeholder role |
Driving tasks and implementation | Building alignment, ownership and commitment to change |
Less Theory. More Leadership Practice.
The classroom was built around experiential learning, practice and feedback.
Executive Presence Practice: Confidence, composure, body language and communication under pressure.
Influence Exercises:
Storytelling & Persuasive Messaging
Conflict & Difficult Conversations
Change Leadership
The Master Program was supported by a customised leadership playbook containing workplace exercises, reflection tools and real application challenges.
Learning Beyond the 2-Day Classroom
The intervention was designed as a journey rather than a one-time event.
2-Day Master Program→ Intensive experiential learning and practice
Leadership Playbook→ Tools for application back at work
Monthly Refresher Sessions→ Reinforcement, reflection and continued practice
This helps participants revisit key behaviours and apply them to new stakeholder and leadership situations over time.
Participant Response
15 Participants. 15 Five-Star Reviews.
The program was facilitated by Amit Sharma and Sirisha Tadepalli and reinforced through monthly follow-up sessions.
The Larger Leadership Shift
From Position → Presence → Influence → Alignment → Change
For Product Owners and cross-functional leaders, leadership is increasingly less about who reports to you and more about who is willing to align, support and act because of your influence.
Are Your Product Owners or Functional Leaders Accountable for Outcomes — But Dependent on Stakeholders They Don't Direct?
Let's diagnose what is limiting their influence.
Discuss Your Leadership Development Challenges at
+91 - 9429691917
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