Silent killers of communication: Unspoken biases and how they sabotage team dynamics
“Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.” This quote from Verna Myers is brilliant but today, in fast-moving, tech-driven workplaces, it’s no longer enough. This is because the biggest threat to healthy team dynamics isn’t always what’s said or done, it’s what goes unnoticed.
Unspoken biases are the new silent killers of communication. And in the age of AI, they’re multiplying in complexity and subtleties.
As an Executive Performance Coach working with high-level leaders in finance, luxury, and tech, I see this so often: brilliant, well-meaning managers unintentionally sabotaging collaboration, not through what they say, but through what they fail to intentionally question.
From inclusion to relevance
We’ve entered a new era, one that will not stop. Never. One where tools like Copilot /Power BI, Salesforce Einstein or Google Gemini, (to name just a few out of the 10000-odd available) are embedded in daily operations at all levels of our organisations. The pace of innovation is exhilarating, but it’s also introducing new, subtler forms of bias that leadership training rarely addresses.
What’s needed now isn’t just inclusive leadership, but relevant leadership: clear, strategic, and grounded in an honest understanding of how people’s strengths, and their differences of course, show up in this new world.
And most importantly? It’s leadership that’s intentional by design, not reactive by default.
Let me share something with you.
Early in my career as a junior institutional sales broker in London, I learned how easily unconscious bias can shape performance without anyone realizing. When I needed deep research before a Bloomberg pitch, I leaned on Olga she was a meticulous, analytical thinker. When it was time to present in person to clients, I turned to Mike for his natural charisma and presence, he was even funny when needed.
It would have been easy to default to Mike’s style because it mirrored mine. But I realised: real leadership means resisting that pull. Instead of reinforcing sameness, I learned to leverage contrast, using both their strengths to drive stronger results and engage with them in different ways.
That rooted what I know so well today: communication and leadership must be intentional and relevant or else bias will fill the silence.
Today’s biases are less obvious but more dangerous
Fast forward to now: one of my clients in private banking recently faced what I’d call a classic situation in his team.
Clara, a senior strategist, is known for her thoughtful, rigorous market insights. She takes time to test, try and use new tools thoroughly. Thomas, more junior, quickly adopted their new power bi platforms and became the team’s “tech expert” almost overnight.
My client, let’s call him Paul, didn’t mean to pick favorites, but he began leaning heavily on Thomas, praising him as “adaptable” and “future-ready.” Clara, meanwhile, felt sidelined, despite years of consistently great contributions.
And this is how unspoken bias starts. How communication begins to erode, not with a loud bang, but with a quiet drift.
Bias today isn’t just about interpersonal preferences or traditional hierarchies. It’s about how we interpret competences, especially in a digital environment. Without realising it, we start rewarding visibility over depth, speed over wisdom, and tech fluency over critical thinking.
The way we assess value needs to evolve. If it doesn’t, we risk rewarding what is loud and fast over what is thoughtful and effective.
A 2025 report from Gallagher on team performance and AI adaptation revealed that high-functioning teams are not necessarily the fastest adopters, but the most aligned. Leaders who prioritize strategic influence over reactive decisions, and who intentionally balance individual strengths, consistently outperform peers in retention and innovation.
How can leaders stop these silent killers?
Here are five ways leaders stop these silent killers.
1) Pause and reflect with intention
Ask yourself: Am I rewarding the loudest voice, the quickest response, the flashiest dashboard?
Or am I intentionally creating space for deep thinkers, cautious testers, and those whose value shows up in the quality of outcomes?
2) Don’t let visibility replace value
Make sure responsibilities reflect people’s real strengths. Tech fluency should work in harmony with your narrative. Clara may not adopt AI instantly, but she could lead rigorous quality control, ensuring outputs are accurate, compliant, and trustworthy.
Thomas, meanwhile, can champion innovation and exploration, piloting new tools and guiding others.
3) Make conversations safe and amplify your team’s impact
Communication breakdowns often begin when people stop speaking up. Create regular, structured spaces to share friction points, fears, and breakthroughs with new technologies.
You know the drill, we have read this a thousand times: when people feel safe, they contribute. When they’re silenced, they disengage.
4) Use data to check bias
Review who’s getting high-visibility project, who is regularly mentioned in meetings, who is sent to boards or management meetings?
Are your decisions based on strategic alignment or on perceived “readiness”?
Use structured feedback sessions with your team to intentionally challenge assumptions that may be steering team dynamics off course.
5) Favor readiness over speed
I get the pressure is on to ramp up your teams. Competition is tough and markets volatile. Yet, learning doesn’t look the same for everyone. Make it clear: adaptability is a culture, not a finish line.
Remember: the goal isn’t to make everyone a tech expert within the next 12 months. The goal is to create a team where each person understands their unique contribution, its impact and is given a fair chance to evolve.
Bias evolves – so must the way we lead, listen, connect and communicate
Bias doesn’t exactly look like it used to.
As technology reshapes our workflows and our interactions, human bias reshapes how it shows up. What was once about similarity, contribution and harmony is now about speed and output. What used to be about visibility is now about fluency. And the cost is the same: missed potential, fractured trust, and communication that stops doing what it should be doing: motivate, federate, impact.
To lead well today, we need to pay attention to how bias moves through conversation, recognition, and silence. It takes awareness and intention. And above all, it takes staying connected to the people behind the tools, to how they think, feel, question, and contribute.
Because the real risk isn’t just about falling behind on technology.
It is falling out of sync with each other.
Audrey Daumain is a leadership communication expert with more than two decade’s experience advising senior leaders in global corporations on communication and diplomacy strategies. She is the creator of Smart Perspective™– a proven system that builds a robust work culture fostering peak performance. Her vast management and mediation experience combined with a profoundly human-centric approach reinvigorates businesses by illuminating new ways of engaging in today’s complex workplaces.
