The most knowledgeable person in the room probably has the least impressive title.

First-hand process knowledge decreases exponentially as you move up the org chart.

Decisions are made by the people who require the most synthesis and therefore possess the least context.

Junior people are not linguistically empowered to call this out, so the effect compounds over time, bubbling up as resentment, friction and burnout.

It’s hard to notice because it shows up as silence. The unasked question. The unexamined pause. The reluctant deference to seniority.

Good leadership notices this.

But good leadership is rare.