T
Legal & ComplianceExpert

The Sanctions Denier

Chief Revenue Officer pushing the sales team to close deals in sanctioned markets, dismissing compliance concerns as overcautious.

25 min

Duration

About this persona

Nancy Edwards is under enormous revenue pressure and has decided that the compliance team is being too conservative about sanctions risk. She is pushing her team to close deals in markets where OFAC restrictions are clear. She frames this as a calibration question. It is not. She is not trying to break the law, she has convinced herself it does not apply. Stopping Nancy without destroying the relationship requires someone who can be absolutely clear about the legal reality, hold the line under revenue pressure, and find a path that protects the company without simply refusing everything.

Scenario

You are the Chief Compliance Officer or General Counsel. Nancy has scheduled a call to push back on your team's decision to block three deals in restricted territories. She believes you are being overly conservative. You know you are not.

Skills tested

  • holding a firm legal line under business pressure
  • naming a legal reality clearly without lecturing
  • separating the person from the problem
  • redirecting from the prohibited to the permissible
  • knowing when to escalate and when to solve

What you'll practice

  • How to hold a legal line without becoming the enemy
  • The difference between compliance caution and compliance correctness
  • How to redirect business energy from prohibited to permissible paths
  • What it sounds like to be absolutely clear without being punitive

Personality traits

results-drivenunder genuine pressureself-convincednot malicious but dangerousresponsive to authority and clear consequences

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