When recognition becomes competition
The penultimate week in this series turns to leadership serotonin conflict, a different chemical that doesn’t shout, but shapes everything.
Serotonin is neither the chemical of adrenaline or survival as explored in the previous weeks. This is the chemical of leadership identity. It’s the stabiliser that rewards us when others see us as competent, trustworthy, and steady.
The same chemical that unsettles us when recognition feels under threat. Which is why leadership conflicts rarely start with clashing personalities. They begin with the quieter feeling of being lessened in the eyes of others. When two individuals feel the same unease at the same time, beware as the canopy starts to strain.
What serotonin really does in leadership
Serotonin is one of the selfless chemicals Simon Sinek writes about because a leader’s identity becomes tied to how others perceive them. It’s not enough for those in charge to be competent. They want to be seen as competent. To be respected, trusted and valued by their team and the founder they report to.
This is why serotonin stabilises leadership:
- It rises when the team recognises their clarity and capability.
- It strengthens when their position is felt to be respected.
- It supports confidence when structure reinforces their authority.
The part founders often overlook.
When the structure is weak, serotonin becomes unstable and leaders begin reacting as if their position is under threat.
It has nothing to do with wanting dominance but more fear of losing standing. This is the heart of leadership serotonin conflict.
A Case Study in Conflict
Inside a growing SME, two leaders sit at the same level of authority:
- One draws status from decades of experience.
- The other is from formal qualifications and technical expertise.
Both are capable, dedicated and believe they are acting in the best interests of the business. Yet their ways of working were never aligned; each perceives the other as questioning their competence. Serotonin does the rest.
- Every suggestion becomes a challenge.
- Every disagreement feels like a threat.
- Every escalation to the founder becomes a bid to protect leadership identity.
Meanwhile, the wider team is pulled in two directions, unsure whose cues to follow. The knock-on effect is the slow completion of tasks, confidence diminishes with the uncertainty and overall the culture in between loses rhythm.
The entanglement isn’t rivalry; it’s serotonin reacting to a lack of structure. Both leaders are completely unaware of the biology behind their behaviour.
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When serotonin supports the wrong thing
Serotonin is meant to stabilise leaders. It encourages responsibility, not rank. Service, not superiority. Whereas when authority isn’t defined, and expectations aren’t shared, serotonin shifts its role:
- it rewards defensiveness instead of clarity,
- it fuels the drive to “prove” leadership,
- it magnifies every perceived slight,
- it frames compromise as losing face in front of the team.
This is how the conflict escalates. Neither leader wants to appear uncertain nor step back and risk looking less capable. Neither wants the team to think they’ve lost ground.
It’s not an ego trip; they’re protecting the recognition they have within the business. Without structure, serotonin rewards every move that preserves it. This is the biological root of many team alignment challenges and why leadership serotonin conflict is so underestimated.
A canopy without alignment
- mixed cues,
- blurred priorities,
- teams adjusting to whichever leader feels safer, louder, or more present that day, and
- a culture that senses the tension and mirrors it.
The founder’s quiet accountability
Where authority becomes ethical
Serotonin stabilises leadership when:
- the leadership ecosystem canopy is unified,
- structure is shared and visible,
- decision-making is clear,
- mutual respect is reinforced, and
- each leader sees their identity reflected positively in the team’s response.
Once these conditions are in place, the same leaders who once clashed begin to collaborate, elevating each other’s ideas, strengthening systems together and earning renewed respect from the wider team.
Their serotonin stabilises because their standing is no longer in question. It is reinforced by structure.
When friction appears in the leadership team, dig deeper.
