On Being Underestimated

The biggest advantage if you let it be

As long as I can remember, I’ve always felt like the underdog. Call it a chip on the shoulder, being a natural competitor or the fact that my immigrant dad never allowed me to quit. I remember vividly when another parent called me “bossy” at the playground and my dad corrected her saying I was demonstrating leadership skills. My dad is a real one for that.

Volleyball is a tall person’s sport. At 5’7”, I spent most of my career looking across the net at girls who had every physical advantage. I was always the small dog in the fight. I didn’t let this stop me. If anything, I’m convinced being undersized propelled my volleyball career forward in such an incredible way. I knew if I wanted to compete, I’d have to work harder, want it more than my opponent and bring an extreme level of tenacity to every single play. Everything was hard fought, but I started to notice something.

Being underestimated was the first competitive advantage I ever had. It just took me a while to understand it as one.

I stopped playing competitive volleyball in my early twenties. The court eventually turned into corporate life, yet I still felt like the smallest person in the room frequently. I was never the smartest, but recognized again, in order to win, I’d have to use my competitive advantage over and over. But instead of serving aces, I had to figure out what the equivalent of a fast hit through an open seam looked like in a conference room.

The question I get most often from women on my team is how I’ve navigated being one of the few. My answer is usually the same: being the only person like you in a room isn’t the liability it feels like. Yes, there are disadvantages to being the only. But what I challenge myself to reflect on is how this can give me an edge. When your perspective is unique, that is your biggest differentiator.

The advantage isn’t just the perspective itself. It’s what people reveal to you when they don’t realize you have it.

When someone underestimates you, they stop guarding what they’re about to reveal. They explain things you already know. They show you their assumptions. They tell you what they actually think because they don’t believe you’re tracking it. This is the most tactically valuable moment in any room because you are receiving unfiltered data about how this person thinks, what they prioritize, and where their blind spots are. The moment you correct their assumption about you, that window closes. They recalibrate. You lose the raw intel.

I never walked onto any court announcing to my opponent how short I was. I hoped they would serve me thinking I was the weak link. Let the middle blocker assume I wouldn’t get set, and then rip a fast hit through the open seam in the block. I recognized the pattern and assumptions before they did. And then let my results do the talking.

Being underestimated is only a liability if you treat the gap as something to lose vs an opportunity. Someone’s underestimation is a window into their assumption, their blind spots and decision making. The real question isn’t whether people have underestimated you. They have. It’s whether you’ve been paying attention to what their read reveals about them.