The hidden risk in every team
-
Moe Hachem
- September 30, 2025
There’s a hidden risk in every team — it’s not the junior still learning, nor the guru dreaming in abstractions.
It’s the ossified senior.
The veteran who’s grown detached from the craft while clinging to authority.
The nuance
It’s rarely intentional.
It’s not driven by malice, but a systems problem.
Seniority often comes with layers of process, politics, and expectations. Over time, those pressures can push people away from the work itself — until they’re left defending authority instead of practicing leadership.
The symptoms are easy to spot
- Detached from tools and technical constraints
- Quick to dismiss juniors’ ideas, then circling back to them later as if new
- Mistaking authority for wisdom
- Eroding trust without even realizing it
This is worse than guru detachment. At least gurus dream big and inspire others to dream bigger.
Ossified seniors block progress while convincing themselves they’re guiding.
The tragedy? They often believe they’re helping.
But this isn’t just on them. It’s on the system that rewards titles over craft, inertia over curiosity, and authority over humility.
The healthiest seniors break the cycle
- They mentor without ego
- Stay close enough to the craft to understand constraints
- Take pride in the team’s brilliance, not their own
- Create space for mistakes and shield their team from pushback
Humility ages better than authority.
And organizations should be designed to protect it.
