Picture this: You’re in a team meeting, confidently outlining next steps based on what you believe everyone agreed to last week. Suddenly, a team member speaks up: “Wait, why do you think that?” or “I never said that.” The room goes quiet. You realize you’ve been operating on assumptions that nobody else shares.
This moment—awkward as it is—reveals one of leadership’s most insidious traps: the unchallenged assumption. Leaders are paid to make decisions quickly, often with incomplete information. But when we fill knowledge gaps with assumptions and treat those assumptions as facts, we create a foundation built on quicksand.
The danger isn’t just embarrassment. Uncontested assumptions breed miscommunication that cascades through everything your team does. You assume Sarah understands the project timeline, so you don’t clarify deadlines. You assume the client is satisfied because they haven’t complained. You assume your team knows their priorities because they seem obvious to you.
Each assumption becomes a small crack in communication. Over time, these cracks widen into chasms. Projects miss the mark. Team members work at cross-purposes. Clients feel misunderstood. What started as a leader trying to be efficient ends up creating chaos.
The solution isn’t to second-guess every thought, but to build verification into your leadership routine. Instead of assuming agreement, ask: “What questions do you have about this approach?” Rather than assuming understanding, check: “How does this align with what you’re already working on?” When you sense resistance, probe: “What concerns you about this direction?”
The most dangerous assumptions are the ones that feel most certain. When you find yourself thinking “obviously” or “of course,” that’s your cue to pause and verify. Your team would rather clarify expectations upfront than clean up miscommunication later.
Sometimes the most productive thing a leader can hear is: “Actually, I see it differently.”
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
– George Bernard Shaw
Header image by Diva Plavalaguna/Pexels.
