Think Like a Leader
Ouch! Why are we always last to see our own blind-spots? We are well used to checking our blind-spot when driving, but somehow ignore the everyday ones in our work and personal life. Remember that it is what we don’t know about ourselves that weakens us.
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Feel Like a Leader
Feelings can be a notoriously unreliable guide to helping us see and understand objectively what is happening round about us. While we should never suppress our feelings, we do need to be able to recognise their limitations - and understand how our ego contributes to our own blind-spots.
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Act Like a Leader
A blind spot is ‘an area in the lives of people in which they continually do not see themselves or their situation realistically’. When driving, we can fit a ‘blind-spot’ mirror. So, what actions can we take to improve our all-round vision as leaders? Trusted colleagues and cultivating honest feedback are the key actions we should take.
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Tom Henschel is an expert in workplace communications and executive development, and, over the last 25 years, has worked with hundreds of senior leaders to achieve ‘The Look & Sound of Leadership’. Classically trained at The Juilliard School, Drama Division, Tom was a professional actor for more than twenty years. This podcast has been airing since 2008, testament to the clarity of his teaching.
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John Maxwell asks – and answers - what happens when a leader has blind spots? It affects so many more people than the leader alone. It can have a far-reaching impact — on the leader, their followers, and the entire team, department or organisation. He lists a few basic, and common blind-spots, exhibited by leaders.
- A narrow perspective
- Insecurity
- Out-of-control ego
- A lack of character
Read how he expands on each of these by following the link;
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Another TEDx Talk. Brian Wagner looks at life differently than most people. He has a gift for helping others identify their personal blind-spots and overcome their self-limiting beliefs. His talent developed out of his childhood diagnosis of a severe genetic disorder that would eventually impair his vision, but not his outlook on life. Brian inspires and motivates others to embrace their personal blindness, whether it be physical or mental, through a process he called A Radical Vision.
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Sometimes stopping to enjoy the view gives us the opportunity to look around and take-in what we might otherwise have missed. This single-track road runs across the tip of the Rosneath Peninsula in Argyll.
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What Are Your Blind Spots? Conquering the 5 Misconceptions that Hold Leaders Back
By Jim Haudan and Rich Berens, 2018, and published by McGraw-Hill.
The authors claim that many leaders have no idea how to engage their employees, often because of insidious ‘blind-spots’ in their thinking. These can ‘delude’ leaders and significantly impair their judgement – and subsequent actions. And frequently these leaders can’t see beyond their own ‘great ideas’ which breeds employee apathy and disengagement.
Haudan and Berens suggest there are five ‘primary’ blind spots that can be hugely destructive. These are; that leaders believe that profit trumps purpose; that their company has a compelling story, when it is actually often banal; that rational arguments engage employees more than emotional ones; that people can’t be trusted unless you hold them ‘accountable’; and that truth is always told in their organisation.
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...without a little reflection, there is no Insight Added.
'Books are, at their heart, dangerous. Yes, dangerous. Because they challenge us: our prejudices, our blind spots. They open us to new ideas, new ways of seeing. They make us hurt in all the right ways. They can push down the barricades of ‘them’ and widen the circle of ‘us.'
Libba Bray
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Lead well
Graham and Lesley
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