The Leader is the Smartest – Traditional Leadership Assumptions

Assumption Description

When you expect people to fail, they probably will. You expect them to succeed, they probably will.

- Kouzes and Posner

This assumption is created when leaders believe that they are the smartest in the room and everyone else is not intelligent. This ultimately forms self-fulfilling predictions by a leader’s expectations of those who work for them.

Be a multiplier not a diminisher.

Implications for Leading

If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room

- Marrisa Meyers

This assumption is misleading. It creates a leadership that is harming a team and creating negatives. This idea is created by leaders that are diminishers, meaning these leaders are taking down the team rather than bringing them up. This leads to no room for mistakes. These leaders, diminishers, have a fixed mindset. The diminisher behavior leads to a leader becoming a micromanager and a negative work environment for the team.

Examples of the Assumption

Visionary leader

Know-it-all

Do not like new ideas that aren’t theirs.

Conceal thinkers in the workplace.

Micromanager

Make their own decisions rather than asking the team.

counter example to the leader is the smartest

Related 21st Century Leadership Beliefs

Believe in others - Knowledge can come at its own pace and can be elaborated so one should have faith in their colleagues.

Getting to know others builds trust - Communicating both professional and personal information can help one learn new resources or techniques.

Put others first - Acknowledge others’ accomplishments and help them succeed.

Supporting Resources

Vlaicu, M. (2020, January 1). What Type of Leader Are You? Multiplier or Diminisher? Medium. https://medium.com/@mirceavlaicu/what-type-of-leader-are-you-a-multiplier-or-a-diminisher-1e2806428f6.