Who Do You Work For? If you're fighting for your function, you're not leading. You're lobbying.

In most corporations, leadership is structured around functions like marketing, finance, and HR, and business units, like sales or operations. There may also be overlays for geography or client type. It’s neat. It’s logical. Everyone has clear goals.

But clarity doesn’t always create cohesion. In fact, it can kill collaboration.

Each leader gets a set of objectives. The marketing executive needs to drive awareness and demand. The HR lead is focused on talent strategy. Sales is tasked with generating revenue.

This all makes sense.

But it doesn’t make magic.

Say what you will about the energy sector, but during my time at ExxonMobil, I learned one of the most fundamental lessons of leadership I’ve ever encountered: general interest matters more than personal wins.

At ExxonMobil (at least when I was there) employees were evaluated and compensated not just for how well they did their jobs but for how well they acted in the interest of the company as a whole. It wasn’t just a platitude; it was built into performance reviews. It showed up in bonuses. And it shaped behavior in powerful ways.

Imagine this in your company: The head of the western division, let’s call her Adria, comes across a major opportunity. But instead of grabbing it for her region, she passes it to the eastern team, who are better positioned to deliver. It’s the right call for the business.

Now imagine Adria explaining to her boss why she missed her numbers this year. Her boss isn’t pleased because his numbers depend on hers. So, Adria’s principled decision? It hurts both of them. No good deed goes unpunished.

Meanwhile, HR knows they’re struggling with employer branding but won’t hand over talent attraction to Marketing because “that’s our job.” Never mind who has the better tools, reach, or skillset.

This is what happens when leaders are rewarded for protecting their silo instead of advancing the enterprise. The system breeds turf wars. Collaboration becomes optional. And leadership becomes lobbying.

If no one is accountable for the general interest, no one leads it. And without it, strategy stalls.

How Does This Happen?

Simple. It happens because siloed managers write job descriptions and KPIs for leaders in those silos, who then write more KPIs for their teams. The whole structure reinforces narrow accountability: you do your job, I’ll do mine.

The classic Western management model is built on “divide and conquer.” And it shows.

Why Does This Happen?

There are a few reasons.

First, humans love to sort. We sort laundry, emails, students, apps, books, groceries, and spreadsheets. Categorizing things gives us a sense of order and control. It’s how our brains make sense of the world.

Second, your CEO is playing a zero-sum game in the market. In a market-share battle, more for you does mean less for me. That mindset, us versus them, can quietly trickle down through the organization, turning internal teams into competing tribes.

Third, leadership development programs rarely teach lateral accountability. Every coaching or feedback training I’ve ever attended has focused on supervisor-subordinate communication.  How to coach your team, how to have difficult conversations…with your team. Peer to peer feedback and accountability is barely mentioned, let alone practiced.

And finally, it’s cultural. In the West, the dominant message is “I win.” Even when we say “we,” it often just means “me and my team.”

The Result

In a company, “I win, you lose” doesn’t just create tension, it creates dysfunction. Success is hindered globally, even if it is found locally.

The whole system suffers. A high-performing IT team doesn’t matter if Sales is struggling with a broken client interface. Landing a massive new account means little if Operations can’t support it. These trade-offs are clearly irrational but we make them all the time and fail to realize what we are doing.

Why? Because we’re incentivized to lobby for our own function. We fight for what’s “ours,” even when it costs the business overall.

Enterprise thinking gets lost. Strategy fragments. Silos win.

How to Fix It

• Call it out. When you see siloed decision-making, whether in KPIs, hiring, project ownership, or resource allocation, name it. Awareness is the first step to change.

• Challenge the thinking. Be an advocate for the “general interest” perspective.  Talk about it.  Engage in debates about it.  Be a thought leader.

• Push for cross-functional KPIs. Start small. Look for natural intersections like Sales and Marketing, or HR and Operations and align goals that serve both.

• Make decisions cross-functionally. For high-impact choices, assemble a diverse group of stakeholders. Broader perspectives lead to better outcomes.

• Model lateral accountability. Give feedback across functions. Seek input beyond your domain. Build the muscle, even when it’s not expected.

So the question stands. Are you building your kingdom, or are you leading the enterprise?

Because if you’re not actively working across silos, you’re reinforcing them. If you’re not advocating for the greater good, you’re defending your turf. And if you’re not willing to be uncomfortable for the sake of the business, then maybe you’re not leading at all.

Speak up. Lean out of your silo. Choose the company over the department. That’s where real leadership begins.