The Knife You Didn’t See Coming
You gave everything.Your time. Your loyalty. Your ideas. Your weekends. Sometimes even your peace.But one decision. One reshuffle. One boardroom vote you weren’t invited toand suddenly, the air shifted.
The colleague you groomed lobbies for your seat. The ally you defended sits silent as your reputation is questioned. The loyalty you assumed was ironclad evaporates with the signing of a contract.Betrayal never comes from your enemies. It comes from the hands you once held in trust.
Welcome to the unspoken side of leadership: Boardroom Betrayal.
That kinfe you didn’t see coming doesn’t just cut your timtle; it cuts your trust. It may not bleed publicly, but it scars deeply. And every C-suite executive, senator, governor, or chairman reading this knows the sting: the knife rarely comes from strangers; it comes from the ones you believed had your back.
The question isnot whether betrayal will visit you. The real question is: When it comes, how will you rise againwithout hardening into stone?
The Betrayal Nobody Names
In leadership, some betrayals scream but the most devastating betrayals only whisper.
• The email you were deliberately excluded from.
• The “informal” dinner where the decision was sealed without you.
• The boardroom vote where your strongest ally went silent.
And yet, when you try to name it, the world tells you:“It’s just business.” OR “It’s just politics.” OR “Don’t take it personally.” OR “Bestrategic.”
But what happens when it is personal? When the betrayal is not about politics but about dignity? About watching someone you mentored choose self-preservation over truth?
This is the betrayal executives carry in silence. Not because it doesn’t hurtbut because admitting it feels like weakness.
But here’s the truth: denying betrayal doesn’t erase it. It only buries the wound deeper.
Let me tell you a true story about Lanre’s One-Line Resignation. Lanre was the COO of a fintech company.He built the operations model. Hired the first 30 staff. He rrove the company from Series A to Series C. Internally, he was called “the backbone of the brand.”
One morning, Lanre didn’t hear it from the founder, the board, or HR. He read it on a blog: the company had quietly hired a new COO.
No warning.No conversation.Just a headline.
When he confronted the founder, he heard the classic dismissal:
“It’s nothing personal. Tough call. I hope you understand.”
Lanre smiled.
Then typed a one-line resignation letter.
And for two hours, he sat in silence—not grieving the position, but grieving an illusion.The illusion that loyalty guarantees reciprocity.The illusion that contribution protects you from erasure.The illusion that gratitude scales in the boardroom.
Lanre could have stayed bitter. He could have let betrayal harden him into cynicism. But instead, he made a different choice by reaching out for coaching.
In our sessions together, Lanre unpacked the wound no one in his inner circle had language for. We confronted the sting of displacement, the erosion of trust, and the quiet temptation to lead smaller. And then, we rebuilt.
He learned to set boundaries around loyalty. He designed rituals to protect his peace. He reframed betrayal not as a rejection of his worth, but as a revelation of others’ limitations. Slowly, he rediscovered his confidence.
Within a year, Lanre had co-founded a venture where every partner signed not just a shareholder’s agreement but a culture covenanta code of transparency, dignity, and accountability.
He went on to secure $25 million in investment funding, not just because he was brilliant, but because he led from a healed, whole, redefined center.
And in one of our coaching sessions, Lanre said something unforgettable:
“Dr. Abiola Salami, I don’t regret my loyalty. I regret giving it without boundaries. Coaching gave me back the wisdom to lead with lovewithout losing myself again.”
Lanre’s story is not an anomaly. It is the story of countless leaders I’ve worked with across Africa and beyond—leaders who came to coaching bleeding silently, but left leading boldly.
him wiser.
Loyalty is noble. But wisdom is necessary.
If you’ve been quietly carrying the residue of betrayal, let me tell you this: you don’t have to bleed alone. Coaching gives you a safe, trusted space to process, heal, and rebuild without shrinking into cynicism.
Across Africa, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, I coach CEOs, Heads of Government Agencies, Political Leaders and Spiritual leaders not just to performbut to breathe again.
Visit www.tppafrica.com for the full article
About Dr. Abiola Salami
Dr. Abiola Salami is the Convener of Dr Abiola Salami International Leadership Bootcamp ; The Peak PerformerTM FestivalMade4More Accelerator Program and The New Year Kickoff Summit. He is the Principal Performance Strategist at CHAMP – a full scale professional services firm trusted by high performing business leaders for providing Executive Coaching, Workforce Development & Advisory Services to improve performance. You can reach his team on [email protected] and connect with him @abiolachamp on all social media platforms.
For private coaching, boardroom recalibration, or executive healing strategy, connect email me directly at [email protected] to begin your private Executive Coaching Session.
