Talk it through with Aurelius
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Aurelius · Work & Leadership
Knowledge + Guidance

This client is running me ragged. What do I do?

Your phone buzzes and your stomach drops before you even look. That is not a client problem anymore. That is a habit you and your team built together, reply by reply. Notice what you are actually reacting to. It is not the client's demands — it is your own fear of disappointing them. You cannot control what they ask for. You can control what you agree to carry. Sit down with your team. Decide together, in writing, what you will do for this client — and what you will not. Then hold that line as one body, not as separate people each making private deals to keep the peace.

◆ How this problem reads on the two dials
GuidanceKnowledge
More coaching
A little to learn
1:1 with AureliusWith others (a Pod)
Some one-to-one
Practise with peers
The reader already knows what the client is doing; what they lack is a method for drawing and holding a line together, so guidance carries the page.
How the two dials adapt to you →
What’s really going on

You did not lose control of this client. You handed it over, one late reply and one panicked concession at a time. Take it back. Decide what you will do and what you will not, before they ask. Then act only on that. Everything else is noise you chose to hear.

🔒 What you’ll build togetherUnlock by starting
A moveWrite down, right now, the three things this client is allowed to ask of you and your team — nothing more.
A moveBefore you answer their next message, wait one hour. Ask yourself: is this urgent, or does it just feel urgent?
A moveBring your team together and agree on one shared answer to their most common demand. Use the same words every time.
A moveSay out loud, to your team, what you've been giving away for free — extra hours, instant replies, apologies you don't owe.
A movePick one boundary this week and hold it in front of the client, even when it feels rude.
PractiseDraw the Line · a Pod of 4 · 30 min

What changes unlock by starting

  • You and your team respond to the client with one voice instead of scattered concessions.
  • You stop checking your phone with dread, because you know what you owe and what you don't.
  • The client's demands shrink to fit the space you actually give them.
  • You decide what to do about this client in minutes, not in hours of dread.

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One object, two jobs: a public answer to a real problem, and — the moment you start the chat — Aurelius’s live plan for your version of it.