The hidden bias that keeps smart people quiet

"When I was a product marketing leader for a corporate regional bank, I found myself getting annoyed during an all-day strategy meeting. My frustration came from hearing the same voices, sharing the same old ideas. I wondered why other people, especially the women in the room, weren't speaking up. I remember thinking, "Well, you could be the one to speak up.""

"I felt nerves jump in my throat and doubt sink heavily in my stomach. Who was I to speak up? I thought that others in the room were smarter than me since they had higher titles and more experience. Looking back now, I realize that I had a big problem, a Pedestal Problem. I silenced my ideas because I was intimidated by the HiPPO in the room, the highest-paid person's opinion."

"A very human instinct to defer to the person who seems smarter can quickly become a structural issue within organizations. Psychologists call this authority bias, which leads us to accept information or instructions from perceived authority figures without critically evaluating the content. Pedestalling leaders can lead to dangerous outcomes, like Theranos and Uber's corporate scandals. Superhumanizing their founding CEOs, Elizabeth Holmes or Travis Kalanick, actually led to them being dehumanized. It created an allure of perfection that prevented employees from seeing and connecting to their leaders"

Many employees withhold ideas because they assume higher-paid or more senior colleagues know better, creating a 'Pedestal Problem' that silences valuable input. Authority bias causes people to accept leaders' opinions without critical evaluation, undermining diverse perspectives. Deferring to perceived authority can produce poor hiring decisions and missed targets, as leaders' intuition is ignored. Elevating founders or CEOs to near-perfect status can dehumanize them and obscure warning signs, contributing to scandals like Theranos and Uber. Organizational structures that promote uncritical deference reduce innovation, limit accountability, and increase the risk of costly mistakes.

Read at Fast Company