Congratulations, Your Assumptions Are in Charge
Chandra Eden, The True Me Yogi
Own the Room
Author: Amy Jen Su and Muriel Maignan Wilkins
"There are countless studies that show that what you think, believe, and focus on affects what you are able to achieve. Your assumptions - the ideas and beliefs you hold about yourself and your team, others and their teams, and the terrain and playing field you operate in - become self-fulfilling prophecies. They have a seismic effect on your leadership presence. Negative assumptions - that you do not have what it takes or that you are not senior enough to substantially contribute - can undermine your presence. Positive ones - that you were promoted for good reasons or that you add value to every conversation - make you more confident and bolster your presence."
Congratulations, Your Assumptions Are in Charge
Most people like to believe their thoughts are private little weather systems. A drizzle of doubt here, a sunny streak of confidence there. No big deal. Except your brain is not a mood board. It’s a command center. And it does not distinguish very well between what is true and what is repeatedly assumed.
You don’t rise to your potential. You settle into your assumptions.
What you believe about yourself quietly dictates how you show up before you ever open your mouth. Your posture, your tone, your timing, your willingness to speak or stay silent. Leadership presence isn’t something you put on like a blazer. It leaks out of your internal narrative. If that narrative says, “I’m not quite ready,” your body follows orders. If it says, “I don’t belong at this level,” your voice will conveniently soften, hesitate, or wait for permission that never arrives.
The irony is that many of these beliefs feel responsible. Sensible. Mature. Doubt disguises itself as humility. Overthinking pretends to be preparation. Second guessing masquerades as being thorough. But under the hood, these habits are just fear with better branding.
Your assumptions about others are just as influential. If you assume the room is smarter, more experienced, more dominant than you, you shrink. Not dramatically. Subtly. You stop contributing fully. You filter your ideas. You wait for confirmation instead of offering clarity. And then you read the room’s response as proof you were right all along.
Self fulfilling prophecy achieved. Gold star.
The same thing happens at the team level. Leaders who assume their people are disengaged manage with control. Leaders who assume their people are capable manage with trust. Guess which team performs better. Guess which leader feels more at ease in their own authority. Assumptions shape behavior. Behavior shapes outcomes. Outcomes reinforce assumptions. It’s a closed loop that runs quietly until someone notices they’re stuck inside it.
What makes this especially tricky is that negative assumptions don’t announce themselves as sabotage. They sound like inner commentary. “I should probably listen more.” “I don’t want to overstep.” “I’m still learning.” None of these are inherently wrong. But when they become default settings rather than conscious choices, they erode presence from the inside out.
Confidence doesn’t come from pretending you know everything. It comes from trusting that you bring something. That you were invited into the room for reasons you may not fully see but don’t need to disprove. That your perspective has weight even when it’s still forming. Presence grows when you stop auditioning for worth you already possess.
Positive assumptions are not delusion. They are alignment.
Believing you add value doesn’t mean every idea lands. Believing you were promoted for good reasons doesn’t mean you never struggle. It means you stop interpreting every moment of uncertainty as evidence of fraud. You give yourself permission to occupy your role fully instead of hovering above it, waiting to be exposed.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth. If you assume you don’t have what it takes, you will behave accordingly. If you assume you do, you will grow into the edges of that belief. Not instantly. Not effortlessly. But inevitably.
Leadership presence isn’t built by convincing others. It’s built by examining the quiet assumptions running the show and deciding whether they deserve the authority you’ve given them. Because the terrain you think you’re operating in often isn’t the terrain at all. It’s a story you’ve been rehearsing.
Change the assumption, and the field changes with it.