Belonging is easy to manufacture—rituals, slogans, smiles that signal harmony. It reassures, but doesn’t guarantee substance. Mattering is harder to recognize. It often begins in discomfort, when a contribution unsettles what people would rather leave undisturbed. In classrooms, consulting, and workshops, I’ve seen the same pattern: meaningful work rarely begins with ease. It begins with the risk of being misunderstood.

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.

When Good Management Becomes an Obstacle to Necessary Change

Angela Merkel’s recently published memoir Freedom arrives at a pivotal moment for organizational leadership. As Yascha Mounk notes in his recent Financial Times analysis, Merkel’s legacy reveals how competent management can coexist with systemic failure. This paradox resonates deeply in today’s digital transformation landscape.

Hokusai's story exemplifies many of the key themes im exploring in a current manuscript about the importance of subjective intelligence in the advent of ai: the importance of #persistence, the value of #lifelonglearning, and the deep #insights that can come from looking closely at one's craft over an extended period.

Many organizations have recognized the need to enhance their data management capabilities. The traditional response has been to centralize these efforts, often by appointing a Chief Data Officer (CDO). However, this well-intentioned approach often leads to challenges and resistance within the organization.