According to science, the first things our brains notice about a person are their race and gender. Not because we’re bad people, but because our brains have evolved to put things in categories for survival. Similarity comforts us; difference can feel uncertain.
Research in social psychology has long confirmed what many leaders quietly demonstrate: we are wired for similarity. Studies show that people instinctively gravitate toward others who share their background, beliefs, education, and communication style. Familiar feels safe.
That instinct isn’t just social. It shapes workplace decisions every day. And while it may feel natural to gravitate toward “people like us,” that instinct quietly limits leadership, innovation, and career success.
Why This Matters Now
Every day we see how our fear of people who are different from us prompts fear, even violence. Pulling people off the streets to deport because of the color of their skin or speak a different language repeatedly plays out on our TV news feed and inbox. If unchecked, that fear prompts us to crawl into a bubble to protect ourselves from harm.
We must fight the urge to withdraw and understand that it is our diversity that makes us strong and that is of paramount importance in the workplace as well.
In the era of AI, hybrid work, and rapid cultural change, leaders who cling to familiarity are falling behind.
Recent research shows:
- Diverse executive teams outperform financially. Companies with ethnically and gender-diverse leadership are 25%–36% more likely to outperform competitors, according to McKinsey’s 2024/2025 data.
- AI can amplify bias if left unchecked. A 2025 MIT study found that automated hiring tools trained on historical data replicated hiring patterns skewed toward familiar profiles — even when labeled “bias-free.”
- Employees want broader influence. Gallup’s 2025 global engagement survey revealed that only 22% of employees strongly agree that leadership understands their perspective — a drop from prior years.
These trends show that leadership in 2026 isn’t just about competence, it’s about connection beyond your bubble.
How Our Bubbles Limit Leadership
We think we’re listening. But often we’re only listening for validation.
Here’s how it shows up in the workplace:
1. Hiring and promotion bias
We hire and promote people who share our background, school, communication pattern, or even leadership style. It’s similarity bias. We call it culture fit, but often it’s comfort fit. When faced with scrutiny over hiring practices, Google shifted language from “culture fit” to “culture add” to reduce similarity bias.
2. Innovation stagnation
Teams that look alike think alike. A 2025 Deloitte study found that companies with homogeneous leadership teams had significantly fewer breakthrough innovations than more diverse peers. To address this, Accenture made the decision to publicly report on inclusion metrics and has tied executive compensation to diversity goals, signaling accountability at leadership levels.
3. Isolation and “executive derailment”
Leaders who isolate themselves from frontline voices and diverse perspectives often lose relevance. Harvard Business Review identifies this dynamic as a key factor in executive derailment — not due to incompetence, but due to lack of connection and feedback.
We also face new workplace realities:
- Hybrid and remote work reduce accidental exposure to different viewpoints.
- Social media echo chambers reinforce existing perspectives.
- AI tools, if not audited carefully, reflect the biases baked into their training data.
The result? A leadership bubble that feels safe, but is quietly restraining our effectiveness and growth.
Read the full article on Substack.com.
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