The Danger of Underestimating Your Staff: A Leadership Hazard

One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is underestimating their staff. Doing so is not just an oversight; it’s a dangerous managerial flaw that can erode trust, damage morale, and ultimately weaken an organization’s foundation. When you underestimate your employees, you reveal two critical weaknesses: (1) a lack of understanding of the talent and potential within your team, and (2) poor managerial skills that prevent you from leveraging your greatest asset—your people.

However, as damaging as underestimating your staff can be, an even greater betrayal is pretending to value their input while dismissing it entirely. Leaders who engage in performative listening—waiting for employees to stop talking before proceeding with their own predetermined agenda—send a clear message: “Your perspective doesn’t matter.” This disingenuous approach breeds resentment, discourages innovation, and creates a toxic workplace culture where employees feel unheard and undervalued.

Knowing Your Team: The Key to Strong Leadership

Effective leadership starts with knowing who works for you—not just their names and job titles, but their strengths, insights, and contributions. Employees who have been with a company for years, who have worked through challenges and adapted to change, hold invaluable institutional knowledge. They have “been there, done that, lived it, and survived.” To overlook their experience is to throw away one of your most powerful business assets.

Accessing their knowledge is simple: invite them to lunch or coffee, or hold a team meeting where you – the manager – shut up and let everyone else speak. Ask probing questions that show interest and take notes. 

Many leaders assume that a university education or a prestigious degree is the ultimate credential, but in reality, hands-on experience is often the best teacher. An MBA may provide theoretical frameworks, but no textbook can replicate the real-world problem-solving skills that long-time employees develop on the job. These employees have navigated company crises, handled demanding clients, and adapted to industry shifts. Ignoring their wisdom is not just shortsighted—it’s self-sabotage.

The Damage of Performative Listening

It’s easy for leaders to assume that hosting meetings and soliciting employee feedback is enough to build engagement. But if those conversations are nothing more than a formality, employees will quickly see through the act. Body language reveals many things. One does not have to be a psychologist to understand it. People sense when their ideas are being dismissed, and the unease it creates can have long-term consequences.

When staff members realize their input is being ignored, they stop contributing. They become disengaged, morale declines and productivity suffers. More importantly, they lose faith in leadership. A strong team thrives on trust, and trust is built through genuine dialogue and mutual respect. If a leader consistently disregards the voices of experienced employees, those employees will either disengage or leave—taking their expertise with them.

I’ve seen the faces of my team light up when we’re discussing solutions to an ongoing problem and I like their solution better than my suggested one. I’ll say, “I like your idea better, let’s roll with that. Write something up and we’ll take it to the client.” Her face drops and then the biggest Chesire Cat grin pops up. People don’t hear this enough.

The Business Cost of Poor Leadership

A leader who underestimates their staff—or worse, pretends to value them while ignoring their input—will struggle to retain top talent. Employees want to feel that their knowledge and experience matter. When they don’t, they become demotivated and start looking for opportunities elsewhere. This leads to high turnover, which is costly in both time and money. New hires require training, onboarding, and time to acclimate—resources that could have been saved by investing in the people already within the organization.

In an industry with astronomical attrition rates, I’ve managed to build and maintain a team where the median time on the job is six years.  I believe it’s because I outwardly value their contribution, I stand behind them, and I give them a venue to voice their ideas. 

Furthermore, a leader who dismisses their team’s input risks making poor business decisions. The best strategies come from collective intelligence, not from one person making decisions in isolation. The companies that succeed are those that tap into the wealth of knowledge their employees bring to the table.

A Better Approach: Listen, Learn, and Leverage

Great leaders recognize that their employees are their greatest resource. Instead of underestimating them, they empower them. Instead of pretending to listen, they actively engage. Here’s how:

• Acknowledge Experience – Recognize and respect the expertise of employees who have been with the company for years. Their insights are invaluable. Look at their resume in HR if you have to. Don’t assume someone’s current role is the only indication of what they’ve done in their life.
• Practice Active Listening – When employees share their thoughts, listen with the intent to understand, not just to respond. Ask questions, clarify points, and genuinely consider their perspectives.
• Encourage Open Dialogue – Foster a culture where employees feel comfortable speaking up. Create opportunities for them to share ideas and concerns in a meaningful way. This is very easy to do. Gather your team leaders and ask them what they think before you say anything.
• Act on Feedback – Show employees that their input has value by implementing their ideas when appropriate. Even if a suggestion isn’t feasible, explain why rather than ignore it.
• Lead with Humility – No leader has all the answers. A great leader surrounds themselves with people who can challenge their thinking and offer new perspectives.

Underestimating your employees is not just a managerial flaw—it’s a business risk. Leadership is about more than just making decisions; it’s about empowering people, valuing their expertise, and building an organization where everyone’s contributions matter. True leadership is not about having all the answers—it’s about recognizing the people who do and making space for their voices to be heard.