This week, I paused at a paragraph in Handelsblatt.

It said: Confidants of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz report that he tends to underestimate debates, struggles to anticipate the emotional reactions of others, and expects the same level of rationality from those around him that he applies himself. Admitting mistakes, they say, is difficult for him when he is convinced he is right. He also tends to underestimate the value of discussion.

This is not about party politics, and I do not want to comment on political events. I also do not know Friedrich Merz personally, so I cannot judge whether what is written in Handelsblatt does him justice. What interests me, however, is what we can learn about leadership in our organizations from this (subjective) description of the leadership style of our highest officeholder.  

I often encounter exactly this: highly competent people, brilliant in analysis, expertise, and strategy—yet at the same time blind to the emotional realities of others.

In psychology, this is called the “rationality bias”: the assumption that other people perceive the world as rationally as we do ourselves.

Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky showed how deeply rooted this cognitive pattern is. It leads leaders to underestimate the importance of emotional signals—and as a result, conflicts are often only recognized once they have already escalated.

I remember a CEO I had the privilege of accompanying for several years. A brilliant mind—a numbers person through and through. It took him a long time to realize that his team questioned his decisions not because they couldn’t follow his logic, but because they were not emotionally brought along. Rationality was his compass, but his team lacked the fire—the connection.

Many leaders believe they simply need to analyze the situation thoroughly enough. With the help of firms like McKinsey & Companyand others, comprehensive plans are developed and translated into processes that are then imposed on employees. When the desired behavioral change does not occur, more analyses are conducted and even more arguments are produced to explain why people finally need to change. But we humans do not change because of rational arguments—we change based on feelings. Without emotions, information remains ineffective. The brain has to feel meaning—and that meaning is created through emotion.

If what has been written about Friedrich Merz is true, then it would be an example—at the highest level—of a leadership culture that glorifies rationality and underestimates emotion. But we humans do not change our behavior because we know more; we change when we feel differently.

Leadership does not mean being right. Leadership means being understood—and, above all, understanding others.

This post was published by Wolfgang Jenewein on LinkedIn on November 25, 2025. Zum Original-Beitrag