If They Shine, You Shine
1. The Crisis of Zero-Sum Leadership
Kamala Harris, reflecting on her early days as Vice President, 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 pattern I’ve seen across industries. Leaders invite younger colleagues into the room—fresh energy, sharper skills, new perspectives. They call it collaboration.
But when that talent delivers, the dynamic shifts. Clarity, competence, or courage show up, and suddenly the “invitation” curdles into rivalry. The person meant to validate a leader’s judgment gets recast as a rival. What follows is predictable: withdrawal, sabotage, self-preservation over stewardship.
2. The Paradox Leaders Miss
Here’s what insecure leaders fail to see: when the people you bring in thrive, it validates your judgment. Their success extends your legacy. Their competence strengthens the very system you’re accountable for.
Embrace this, and your influence compounds. Every colleague who grows under your roof multiplies the reach of your judgment. Their credibility becomes tethered to yours, expanding the system you lead.
Resist it, and the opposite happens. You shrink the ecosystem to protect your ego. Colleagues leave, opportunities bypass you, and the system contracts. Leaders who hoard the spotlight don’t just look smaller—they make the entire institution smaller with them.
👉 If everyone shines, you shine.
3. The Context Shift
This dynamic is more consequential now than ever. Work is unbundled—project-based, borderless, less tied to any one institution. Loyalty is thin. Exit is easy. Networks outlast companies.
In this reality, zero-sum leaders aren’t just difficult. They’re irrelevant. Rising colleagues don’t need to fight for space under your roof. They can build elsewhere. And when they do, they don’t just leave—they replant the future somewhere else.
The loss isn’t just one person. It’s the trajectory of what comes next.
Summary
→ Zero-sum leadership starves renewal and momentum.
→ When others thrive, your influence compounds; resist, and your system contracts.
→ In today’s unbundled workforce, fragile leaders write their own irrelevance.
→ The choice is clear: be remembered as a gatekeeper, or as a steward.
