Our culture celebrates prominence more than contribution.
Everyone is encouraged to be the face, the leader, the boss. Supporting roles are framed as temporary or inferior, something to endure on the way to something better. The assumption is that if you’re not the one out front, you’re falling short.
But most meaningful work has never operated that way.
Winning requires alignment. It requires people who understand their position and execute it well. Not everyone is meant to be the centerpiece. That doesn’t diminish the role. It defines it.
Scottie Pippen wasn’t a consolation prize. He was essential. So were countless others whose names don’t lead headlines but whose presence determines outcomes. Teams don’t fail because they lack stars. They fail because no one wants to play their position.
This is where confusion sets in.
Leadership is treated like an aesthetic instead of a responsibility. Everyone wants authority without accountability, influence without cost. The result is overcrowded kitchens and unfinished work. Too many people reaching for the same space. Too few willing to hold things together.
Role acceptance isn’t resignation.
It’s clarity.
Knowing where you fit allows you to bring your full weight to the work instead of posturing for recognition. Contribution compounds when people stop auditioning and start executing.
There’s also a quiet irony here.
Many people who chase visibility would thrive with proximity. Many who want to lead haven’t learned how to support. And many who dismiss secondary roles underestimate how often those roles shape the outcome.
Even the most visible leaders rely on structure around them. No one builds alone. No one wins alone. The idea of self-sufficiency collapses under scrutiny.
Not everyone is called to lead.
Everyone is called to be honest.
If your role is to support, do it well. If your role is to build behind the scenes, own it. If your role changes over time, let it change honestly. But stepping out of position rarely produces growth. It usually produces instability.
Great teams are built by people who understand when to lead and when to assist. That balance is rarer than talent.
We don’t need fewer leaders.
We need fewer people pretending.
More alignment.
More contribution.
More Pippens.
