5 Tips For Overcoming Leadership Blind Spots

As an executive coach I often say, “The first step to recovery is awareness.”

In your side view mirror, there is usually one small spot where a vehicle beside you cannot be seen. This lack of awareness can cause accidents, some fatal. Likewise, leading others with no understanding of what might be getting in the way of your effectiveness will eventually lead to “career death.”

How do you overcome these blind spots and fatal flaws? It’s simple but not easy. The answer is GET FEEDBACK! Below are 5 ways to get honest, specific feedback.

1. Review your past performance reviews. What are the themes and messages you have heard before?
2. Pay attention to what others tell you informally. Most blind spots show up in both your business AND personal life. They are tough to hide. You might want to ask your significant other, as they will usually tell you the truth.
3. Participate in a 360 process. Ask your HR or leader development folks if your organization provides a tool you can leverage.
4. Get a coach or mentor. Use them as a “mirror” to share what they see in you.
5. **Go get it yourself. **When I was younger, our company had very little budget for development. After completing InsideOut Coaching, I decided to use their feedback tool to gather “awareness data.” I identified 6-8 key stakeholders, or in other words, people who were impacted by the decisions I made, and met with them once a month for 6 months and asked:

• What am I doing well?
• Where do you see me getting stuck?
• What 1-2 things might I do differently to be more effective?

I listened, wrote everything down, didn’t rationalize my behavior, and said, “Thank you. Anything else?” I got good, specific feedback that I used to change a few bad habits that had crept in. It wasn’t easy, but over time people started to see a change in me.

Feedback is the breakfast of champions. Ask any sports professional who has made it to the top of their game.

If you really want to be a champion, be honest with yourself. The best leaders I know are constantly seeking and asking for feedback. You can’t fix anything if you don’t know a problem exists. The people closest to you know you best; so go get the information you need to improve.