The Secret Driver Behind Xbox’s Transformation (2025)

I am very excited to share whenever I encounter a leader who has achieved outstanding results through cracking the code of leading high-impact teams. As President of Xbox at Microsoft, brought in by Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and supported by Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, Sarah Bond has risen from general manager to president in just eight years—a meteoric trajectory that's propelled the transformation of Xbox along the way.

Her secret isn't the traditional leadership playbook; it's a shift to what truly drives breakthrough results – something I call "teamship." Teamship is where the load of leadership is shared among peers rather than the old hierarchical model of waiting for direction from above—a peer-to-peer model where the interdependent talent is unleashed and the team operates as a constellation rather than individual stars. Bond has turned this philosophy into tangible results, from exceeding growth expectations and delivering record profitability to the team’s pivotal role securing Microsoft's historic Activision Blizzard acquisition against seemingly impossible odds. And now, transforming Xbox from a console to the first gaming platform to span all screens.

The Leader Versus Manager Distinction

During one recent conversation, Bond explains her perspective with a compelling analogy about cheerleaders forming a pyramid. She pointed out that the person at the top of the pyramid depends entirely on the perfect alignment and support of every team member below, without that foundation, failure is inevitable.

Bond says, "You're not a leader until you manage people who can do a job you've never done. Until then, you're just a really really big manager.” It’s a powerful insight into the essence of teamship. Traditional leadership models fail in today's complex environment because when leaders attempt to direct based solely on their expertise, they become bottlenecks, limiting teams to what one person can comprehend.

High Bars and "Loving Rewards"

Bond's most powerful practice combines extraordinarily challenging goals with genuine emotional connection.

"The way you motivate people is with love, not fear," Bond tells me. "Why do firemen run into burning buildings? It's not about their paycheck."

In practice, this means setting what she calls a "super high bar" while providing equally strong support. When her business planning leader successfully intercepted and reshaped a seemingly impossible process transformation, Bond didn't just offer standard praise. She delivered what she describes as a "loving reward."

"What you have to do is choose to send that person love," Bond explains. Recounting how she celebrated that leader: "What you have done is simply incredible -- you pulled out all the stops, it is impossible to make it in time and now look at what you've delivered". The impact is remarkable. As one team member told me: "This is the hardest job I've ever had, and I've never loved anything so much."

Clear Celebration of Team Interdependence

When most teams solve problems, they focus solely on the solution. Bond instead pauses to celebrate the interdependence that made it possible.

"If something happens because of the combination of people in the room, always call it out," she says.

She describes an instance when her devices leader faced a crisis after a payment vendor's bankruptcy, and her software leader volunteered a solution from another business area. Instead of moving on, Bond highlighted the collaboration: " This is such a great example of how this is a team sport; by bringing this to the group to solve together we’ve shortened the timeline."

This deliberate recognition transforms how team members view relationships. Rather than protecting territories, they actively seek opportunities to support each other's success. Our research has always shown that there is significant value from untapped team interdependencies being left on the table; Bond is proving it, celebrating those interdependencies and delivering more because of them.

The Vulnerability Game-Changer In Having Each Other’s Back

Bond employs a powerful practice that transforms team dynamics: structured vulnerability.

At an offsite, the question was posed: "Think about that one important conversation in your life that you have to have that you haven't, and share it with the group."

Bond went early in the sequence and went deep by revealing an overdue conversation with a family member. She chose to model vulnerability, transforming the conversation.

Bond describes how one after another the team opened up, people’s perceptions changed and commitments were elevated. Relationships that may have been challenged were transformed. One individual revealed that her voice had been consistently dismissed within her family throughout childhood because of gender. From that moment on the team understood how important being heard was for this particular team member...Bond pointed how an “Ah-ha!” moment like this came from every team member’s share and how more deeply understanding each other as people transformed and strengthened all of their working relationships.

Refusing to Be the Tiebreaker, And Offering to Assign One!

When conflicts arise over scarce resources or competing priorities, most leaders have to step in to make the final decision about which team gets what. But Bond encourages her teams to make these tough decisions. For example, when two executives couldn’t agree on whom to promote when only one promotion spot is available, she explained to them: "What we have to do is create an objective set of criteria and get aligned. You two have all you need to do this. And if it helps, you can bring in another team member—not me —to facilitate.” This very deliberate emphasis on peer-to-peer accountability and collaboration transforms decision-making. Team members need to work together to develop fair criteria instead of competing with each other for the boss's favor. Teamship means taking shared responsibility for tough decisions and resolving issues through collective action, not escalating them upward.

The Activision Blizzard Test: Shoring Up the Team’s Fortitude As To Do Anything as a Team

Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard—a deal that faced seemingly insurmountable regulatory hurdles—gave Bond an opportunity to showcase the power of Teamship under extreme pressure. When many outsiders advised abandoning the effort, Bond responded: "Let’s not accept no. Let's figure out how."

Her key move was reframing success metrics: "The truest measure of any team is not the score," she told them. "It's what you do when the chips are stacked against you. What matters most, is what you leave on the field."

The night before a critical regulatory decision, she sent her team a message: " Know that no matter what happens, this is the greatest of teams." When they faced devastating rejection the next day, they were disappointed but not defeated. The team simply refused to give up, despite the seemingly endless hurdles, and they kept carving a path. This was because they believed they were right, and they believed in each other -- ultimately securing the historic acquisition.

Bond's approach leverages her team's full capabilities across all domains, including those where she has no personal expertise. The result is both stunning outcomes and extraordinary team engagement. This is teamship's fundamental promise, when teams share the leadership load, they achieve what no individual leader, however talented, could accomplish alone, and that's the true driver behind Xbox's continued growth and transformation with Bond at the helm.