The Crisis of Zero-Sum Leadership
Zero-sum leadership is everywhere. Kamala Harris saw it up close.
Reflecting on her early days as Vice President, she wrote:
“Their thinking was zero-sum: If she’s shining, he’s dimmed… None of them grasped that if I did well, he did well.”
That line captures a failure I’ve seen across multigenerational teams. Senior leaders invite younger colleagues into the room—fresh energy, sharper skills, new perspectives. They call it collaboration.
But when that talent delivers—when clarity, competence, or courage shows up—it destabilizes them. Suddenly, the person they recruited is recast as a rival, not a partner. Their response? Pull out of commitments. Get combative. Sabotage momentum. Choose self-preservation over stewardship.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Lead With Alignment to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.