# The Invisible Stakeholder Who Almost Derailed His First Big Project | Mukhtar Kadiri

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/scrum-master-toolbox-podcast-agile-storytelling-from-the-trenches-445588/the-invisible-stakeholder-who-almost-derailed-his-first-big-project-mukhtar-kadiri
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/scrum-master-toolbox-podcast-agile-storytelling-from-the-trenches-445588/the-invisible-stakeholder-who-almost-derailed-his-first-big-project-mukhtar-kadiri.md
Podcast: [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches](https://stenobird.com/podcast/scrum-master-toolbox-podcast-agile-storytelling-from-the-trenches-445588)
Published: 2026-05-11T10:05:00+00:00
Episode link: https://scrummastertoolbox.libsyn.com/the-invisible-stakeholder-who-almost-derailed-his-first-big-project-mukhtar-kadiri
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/scrummastertoolbox/20260511_Mukhtar_Kadiri_M.mp3?dest-id=246429
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/scrum-master-toolbox-podcast-agile-storytelling-from-the-trenches-445588/episodes/the-invisible-stakeholder-who-almost-derailed-his-first-big-project-mukhtar-kadiri
Duration seconds: 867

## Resource

Mukhtar Kadiri: The Invisible Stakeholder Who Almost Derailed His First Big Project Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes . "Nobody really told me, okay, this is what success looks like. And that's a very dangerous thing, because you can just go in there and be busy and be executing." - Mukhtar Kadiri Early in his career, Mukhtar was sitting on the bench with nothing to do — and his days felt numbered. When a low-priority project came along, he jumped at it, eager to prove himself. He met the contract holder, understood the terrain, laid out a plan, and started executing. Then a stakeholder he hadn't even mapped called him into her office and blasted him. The project wasn't aligned with her vision — and it turned out she was more powerful than the contract holder, even though she appeared nowhere on the org chart. That moment forced Mukhtar to rethink everything. He started scheduling one-on-ones with every stakeholder he could find, asking each one what success looked like from their perspective, and then asking them to point him to the next person he should talk to. What emerged was a comprehensive success criteria that no single person had articulated before — because even the leaders hadn't sat down to define it. Mukhtar learned that in complex, ambiguous environments, success isn't handed to you. It's your job to surface it, articulate it, and get everyone aligned. As he puts it, don't be fooled by org charts — the real stakeholder map is one you have to build yourself through one-on-one conversations. Self-reflection Question: When was the last time you validated your stakeholder map beyond the org chart — and could there b…

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## Transcript

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