In a recent LinkedIn post, Leanne Bridges challenges a common leadership misconception: the fear of hiring individuals who are more skilled or experienced. Bridges argues that this fear, while understandable, ultimately hinders both individual and team growth.
The Paradox of Hiring for Safety
Leanne Bridges begins by recounting the impactful advice she received: “Hire people better than you.” She notes that this initially felt counterintuitive, evoking feelings of inadequacy and fear of being replaced. “At the time, it felt like the worst idea I’d heard,” Bridges writes. This internal conflict, she explains, stems from a belief that leaders should possess all the answers and be the most capable person in the room. This mindset often leads managers to subconsciously hire individuals who are competent but not so much so that they would overshadow the manager themselves.
Bridges observes this pattern frequently in managers she coaches, stating, “Without ever deciding to, they hire people who aren’t quite as good as them.” This is often driven by a desire for comfort and a fear of being challenged or made redundant. The perceived safety of surrounding oneself with less capable individuals, however, creates a hidden risk.
The Stifling Effect of Hiring Below Capacity
According to Bridges, the consequence of hiring people who are not exceptional is the capping of the team’s potential. “It caps the team at the manager’s level. No one on it can get better than the person leading it,” she asserts. This creates a ceiling not only for the team but also for the manager’s own career progression. If no one on the team is capable of stepping into the manager’s role, the manager cannot advance without leaving a critical void.
Bridges highlights the irony: “The thing they’re protecting is the thing keeping them stuck.” This fear of being replaced is precisely what prevents managers from evolving and moving into higher-level positions. The very act of maintaining perceived superiority limits their own opportunities for advancement.
Shifting the Focus to Growth and Development
The solution, as Bridges outlines, isn’t simply instructing managers to hire better people, as they often know this theoretically. Instead, the focus needs to be on creating an environment where hiring individuals with superior capabilities is not only safe but actively encouraged and rewarded. “The fix isn’t telling them to ‘hire better people.’ They know they should,” she explains. “It’s making it safe, and worth it, to hire someone who might one day be better than them.”
Bridges suggests a re-evaluation of what constitutes true leadership success. While rewarding managers for their direct contributions is common, she posits that the most valuable leaders are those who cultivate teams capable of thriving independently. “The one really worth their salt is the one who’s built a team that could carry on without them,” Bridges writes. This ability to develop talent and build a robust, self-sufficient team is, in her view, the true engine of business growth.
Ultimately, Leanne Bridges concludes that embracing the idea of hiring those who surpass us is not about self-replacement but about enabling promotability and fostering genuine organizational development.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Leanne Bridges on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on July 3, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →