#484 The Leader’s Myth of Neutrality: Why Niels Brabandt Challenges the Illusion of Objective Leadership - by Niels Brabandt
The Leader’s Myth of Neutrality: Why Niels Brabandt Challenges the Illusion of Objective Leadership
by Niels Brabandt
Neutrality is one of the most frequently invoked claims in corporate leadership. Executives promise neutral performance reviews, neutral promotion decisions and neutral strategic evaluations. Yet in this episode of his leadership podcast and videocast, Niels Brabandt dismantles what he calls the leader’s myth of neutrality.
Drawing on a documented legal case from Berlin, Niels Brabandt illustrates how claims of neutrality can mask deeply embedded unconscious biases. A master’s thesis was graded down because of the candidate’s outfit. The lecturer even documented preferred clothing choices in writing. The case went to court, and the ruling was unequivocal: grading based on personal aesthetic preference has no legal foundation.
For Niels Brabandt, this case is not an isolated academic anomaly. It reflects a structural issue within organisations. Leaders routinely believe they are neutral, yet their decisions are shaped by prior experiences, cultural conditioning and subconscious pattern recognition. The danger does not lie in having biases. It lies in denying their existence.
For decision-makers in business, the implications are profound. Promotions must be based on measurable performance, not subjective impressions. Feedback must rely on evidence and documented facts, not on taste, familiarity or personal preference. When leaders claim neutrality without professional awareness of unconscious bias, they expose their organisations to reputational damage, legal risk and loss of talent.
Niels Brabandt emphasises a critical distinction. There is a difference between enforcing legal and ethical boundaries and enforcing aesthetic preferences. Clear violations of professional standards or harassment require intervention. However, personal style, accent, background or non-client-facing presentation choices rarely constitute legitimate performance criteria.
The solution, according to Niels Brabandt, begins with intellectual honesty. Leaders must accept that neutrality in its pure form does not exist. Unconscious biases influence perception. The appropriate response is not denial, but structured qualification. Professional training, deliberate awareness-building and evidence-based evaluation processes are non-negotiable elements of modern leadership.
Where neutrality is possible is in data. If performance metrics show repeated lateness, missed deadlines or financial discrepancies, leaders can rely on documented facts. Objective data forms the basis of defensible decisions. The discipline lies in separating measurable behaviour from personal interpretation.
In a volatile and legally complex business environment, leadership credibility depends on this discipline. The myth of neutrality creates complacency. Awareness of bias creates accountability. As Niels Brabandt argues, leaders who confront their own cognitive blind spots will make better decisions, retain stronger teams and build more resilient organisations.
For executives, board members and senior managers, the message is clear. Neutrality is not a claim to make. It is a standard to approximate through professional self-awareness, structured feedback and evidence-based governance. Anything less is an illusion.
Niels Brabandt
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More on this topic in this week's videocast and podcast with Niels Brabandt: Videocast / Apple Podcasts / Spotify
For the videocast’s and podcast’s transcript, read below this article.
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Niels Brabandt is an expert in sustainable leadership with more than 20 years of experience in practice and science.
Niels Brabandt: Professional Training, Speaking, Coaching, Consulting, Mentoring, Project & Interim Management. Event host, MC, Moderator.
Podcast and Videocast Transcript
Niels Brabandt
We need to have a neutral point of view on this. Maybe you heard these kind of lines when someone says, "Oh, we need to have a neutral point of view." Oh, we need to approach it in a neutral way. We need to have clean sheets, start from scratch, blue ocean strategy, whatever kind of metaphor someone uses. Often people say, "We need to have a neutral point of view," or someone tells you, "I give you a neutral point of view on your performance. I give you a neutral view on your exam, on whatever you delivered."
Niels Brabandt
And sometimes you wonder, is it really that neutral? Can people be neutral? And we, again, have a case, and that's why I'm talking about this today, where neutrality was claimed, and let's face it, it didn't end too well. We have to talk about the leader's myth of neutrality. And as the title already shows a tiny bit, the idea that you are 100% neutral is, let's put it mildly, difficult. So when you say you are 100% neutral, this probably is not going to be your favorite video cast or podcast today because most likely at the end of this you will see that you're not as neutral as you might have thought.
Niels Brabandt
Very important, I'm going to quote a real case here again. So the disclaimer under fair use, under quotation rights in Germany, fair use, fair dealing, I can quote this case, which I am going to quote just in a minute. Let's just assume you do your master's degree, and you do your master's degree in Berlin. In Berlin, we have a scoring system in Germany. The scoring system is that you get scores from 1.0, which is the A super plus, the best ever possible. 6.0 is the worst, and you have to score 4.0. 4.0 is the minimum to pass. So the lower the number, the better the score is.
Niels Brabandt
And someone says, "Okay, you defend your master's thesis," and someone says, "Very well done. I give you a 1.7." And let's face it, a 1.7 is really, really good. You are in the top tier, depending on what you're studying, in the top 10%, top 5%, sometimes top 1% of anyone studying there. So the situation is you do very well. So your exam, your thesis, everything's defended very well. And a couple of days later, you get everything in writing, and then you suddenly see someone says, "Yeah, you get a 1.7. Very well done." Oh, by the way, it had been a 1.3, but your outfit was not appropriate. You could have dressed up a bit more. So we basically just scored you down based on the looks.
Niels Brabandt
So what do you think of that? Do you think it's fair judgment? Do you think it's fair when someone says, "Look, this is something we did and said we didn't like your clothing"? And when you now say, "Okay, Neil, is this one of these 1972 cases which actually happened in the 1970s?" No, it's actually not. I'm referring to a case which happened just recently, but which is now facing legal steps. So I'm going to give you another case which happened just before. This happened at a well-known Berlin university. And this is the original case. Of course, everything's in German. As you're now listening here in English, I give you the English version. It's from Legal Tribute Online. That's the source.
Niels Brabandt
And a court confirmed that because, of course, it went to court, that when someone grades you down for wearing clothes they didn't like, surprise, surprise, that is not covered with legal backing. Who could have thought that? Very important here is that even then, even when you sit down there, that person who did that even put in writing, and I quote because this is why I show you this here, otherwise you will probably not believe me. You see here that in writing, that the lecturer suggested that so the student could, as it said in writing in the reasoning for the 1.7, the lecturer suggested could have tried a white line and trousers suit with a black shirt tie featuring ethnic patterns or a feminine or strict short sleeve dress.
Niels Brabandt
Where do I start? So it's either strict or feminine. That already crosses, I don't know how many lines, and then telling people what to wear during a defense of a master's thesis in public administration. And then you score people down because, in your opinion, their way of dressing was nothing you liked. And you put this in writing because you seriously think that this is going to stand when someone challenges it. How far away from reality do you have to be?
Niels Brabandt
However, most likely, when I now ask you, did you ever face situations where someone was extremely convinced to be totally neutral while they were far away from reality? Usually takes 90 seconds or less, and people who work in an organization for more than three months can quote me five different cases where exactly that happened with their senior executives. So we have to talk about what happened here.
Niels Brabandt
The reasoning here, of course, was unacceptable, not acceptable. It went to court, and the court says, "Okay, can't stand, needs to be taken down." The person got a 1.3 afterwards. However, this, of course, takes a year or two until you get the mark, and you want to apply for the job market. So this is, of course, nerve-wracking.
Niels Brabandt
And let's just face it. I mean, if you look this up, this didn't happen in 1972 in a rural university at the end of the world where people say maybe there's some hillbilly thing going on, no one knows where the world is actually standing right now. No, this happened in Berlin in 2020.
Niels Brabandt
And one case which I just had to see in one of my client engagements where someone was not promoted due to how they present themselves in the office. Needless to say that this is a case where they do not have client contact. It was not someone who is going to the client. It's not someone who is going to travel the world. It's not going to be someone. It's not someone who has to see clients every single day. They do not see clients at all.
Niels Brabandt
And you had cases where John Oliver last week tonight even reported on people having discussed their haircuts in the office, people who work in call centers. And one thing we have to really deal with because often people wonder, in which scenarios can this actually happen to me, or when can I probably be wrong?
Niels Brabandt
So first, of course, as soon as you evaluate anything, as soon as we come to a judgment regarding any kind of evaluation, most likely we have a predefined opinion on a couple of things in life. And the older you get, the more predefined aspects in life you might have figured out because you think this is the way how life works for you. Evaluations are mostly not neutral, and we have to accept that. My evaluation of things is not neutral. Other people's evaluation is not neutral, and it's perfect for that when we discuss things. But when it comes to people's careers, we have to choose different approaches, or we shouldn't be surprised when people suddenly leave your organization.
Niels Brabandt
So when you promote people, promotion, of course, is based on performance, not based on looks. And when you now say, "Hey, Neil, there is a certain minimum standard," and I know there is a certain minimum standard because often the usual claim by executives is, "If I don't set minimum standards, people will just show up in a bin bag to the office." I've heard that phrase way too often, and I'm waiting for day number one when someone shows up in the office in a bin bag. I haven't seen it as of yet in the last 26 years, so better to say 28 years in total.
Niels Brabandt
When I take my schoolwork and when I worked in offices during the time I was at school, I can now look back at 32 years of seeing offices from the inside for work, workplaces from the inside for more than 30 years, zero cases of people showing up in bin bags. And I had some cases where we had to challenge outfits from people. By the way, all of these were men. And these outfits were simply that people were wearing shorts that were so short that nearly without getting into any details, almost things fell out of there. And that is simply a case of harassment. When someone is sitting, you're standing next to them in your super short hot pants shorts, that can be harassing. And this can very quickly be sexual harassment. So, of course, we had to tell people, "Look, this is not the outfit which is acceptable because it crosses the line of the law," which is something else than just saying, "I don't like your style."
Niels Brabandt
So when you now make decisions, be aware that most likely you have something which is called unconscious biases. You see things in a more positive or more negative way based on things that happened before in your life, based on experiences. I'm not going to tell you everything's bad. However, you need to deal with it in an appropriate manner. And the solution to that is something we have to discuss right now.
Niels Brabandt
The solution to this, of course, means first, of course, you have to accept we are not neutral. I'm not neutral. You're not neutral. And without certain patterns enacted before or without certain settings, we will be less neutral than we think all day long. And that applies to absolutely anyone, of course, including myself.
Niels Brabandt
When you, for example, say, "What about taxation?" There are certain predetermined biases I hold, beliefs I hold, which I'm going to discuss with you because that is my opinion on taxation. When it comes to equal and human rights, I have certain views. Anyone holds views on almost anything, and we can discuss all of that as long as you don't cross the line of the law, obviously. But accept first that your view is not the only neutral one. As soon as you claim towards any of your employees, you're giving them a neutral feedback. They can expect quite a wide range of measures that had been taken before. And step number one of that is you're professionally qualified regarding unconscious biases, and you have an awareness of what unconscious biases actually are.
Niels Brabandt
I did a multiple-month training with Catalyst, which is the largest vendor worldwide for diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings, including a whole chain of seminar events and workshops where you really get trained professionally on how to know your unconscious biases. And in these seminars where you think and think, "I think I'm not too bad at this, right? So maybe I'm just I think I can judge that," and then they show you things that immediately you see bias here, bias there, bias there, bias there, bias there. And then you see, "Okay, we are not neutral." Things you see, things you hear from anything from outfit to accent bias to nationality and skin color bias, opinion bias, confirmation bias. There's a whole range of biases.
Niels Brabandt
Some of these biases can be very useful to use to influence people in a certain way. However, you need to be aware of your own biases first. And that is something which you need to get as a professional qualification, not via the online class which you do during your lunch break for $29. So the awareness needs to be professionally designed.
Niels Brabandt
From there, when you then accept that you are not neutral, but you can give people feedback based on proof, evidence, and facts. For example, when you say, "Hey, in my opinion, there is a certain issue with your work ethics because out of the last 28 days, 16 days you were late. Here's the list when you clocked in, and here are the 16 cases of you being late." That is something which is neutral because it's data. It's facts. It's based on the facts.
Niels Brabandt
And then, of course, the other side can make their point and say, "Hey, have to take care of someone at home," or, "My child is sick," which is understandable. And then we can discuss if being five minutes late is an issue or where you say, "Hey, we have teams of three, and they can't start at all when you're not there." And then we have to discuss how we deal with the matter.
Niels Brabandt
But the professionalism lies in actually knowing that unconscious biases exist and that our neutrality is less omnipresent and less there than we actually think. And as soon as we know that we all have our biases, unconscious ones, then we will make better judgment from there. And I wish you all the best doing so in your organization.
Niels Brabandt
And when you now say, "Oh, that looks like quite something. How can I deal with that?" Okay, let's go. So, of course, when you now say, "Hey, I'd like to have a couple of questions with you. I'd like to have a chat with you," feel free to do so.
Niels Brabandt
First, of course, when you watch me on YouTube, like this video, please. When you, of course, like, you can subscribe to my channel. When you listen to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, thank you very much for doing so. On YouTube, you can leave a comment. On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, you can leave a review, five stars. Thank you very much for doing so. Recommend this podcast and videocast to friends, colleagues, anywhere, online, offline, social media, anywhere you like.
Niels Brabandt
A couple of things we now do again because the YouTube Shorts which we took offline well, we didn't continue them during the last couple of weeks. Now people emailed us, and quite a high number of people said we'd like to continue them. So the YouTube Shorts are the ones we're now going to resume. So you will see quite a number of YouTube Shorts in the very near future.
Niels Brabandt
Apple Podcasts and Spotify, of course, is the way to go for the podcast and my website, nb-networks.biz. And then you see what I do for a living and what I'm available for as a keynote speaker, trainer, coach, name it as you like. When you just have a couple of questions, you'd like to discuss that, write me an email, nb@nb-networks.com. Most people take the path of the email because they talk about corporate stuff which they want to keep anonymous. I kept this case anonymous. I will keep any case anonymous when you text me about certain topics you'd like to discuss or simply questions you have.
Niels Brabandt
When you have something very specific, you need a trainer, speaker, coach, consultant, mentor, project intro manager, feel free to contact me as well. I'm available for all of that. And, of course, when you say, "Hey, do we have live sessions?" Yes, we do. expert.nb-networks.com. As soon as you go there and you put your email address there, no worries. You only receive one email every Wednesday morning. And as soon as you receive this email, you see full access to all the podcasts, articles, YouTube Shorts, anything in the English and German language, more than 400, almost 500 now out there.
Niels Brabandt
So thank you very much for the support on the way here to absolutely anyone listening to this every single week. And, of course, you can connect with me, connect with me properly on LinkedIn, follow me on Instagram. And, of course, you can like me on Facebook or simply follow the channel here on YouTube. Thank you very much for all the support that poured out in the last couple of weeks. I really appreciate it.
Niels Brabandt
The most important thing, however, is always the last thing I say: apply, apply, apply what you heard in this podcast because only when you apply what you heard, you will see the positive aspects that you obviously want to see in your organization. I wish you all the best doing so. As soon as you contact me, feel free to do so anytime. I'm answering every single measure within 24 hours or less.
Niels Brabandt
And at the end of this podcast, as well as at the end of this videocast, there's only one thing left for me to say: thank you very much for your time.