Research Uncovers Common Leadership Blind Spots

An executive coach named Mark Murphy recently surveyed 1,200 people comprising IC, Manager and Leader roles to examine the number of blind spots held by their leaders. The number came back as 3.6 on average.

There’s a 360 survey in the market called EchoSpan, and it identifies blind spots as those areas where a leader rates themselves highly whereas others rate them lower.

Blind spots are unavoidable. We all have them. While leaders with high emotional intelligence tend to be more self-aware, it’s not all encompassing. There will always be areas that one is not aware of and may warrant attention.

Murphy’s research found that the leading blind spots were in the areas of:

Lacking structure and planning
Overestimating their own ability
Missing internal team tensions
Defensive or dismissive when challenged
Playing favorites/inconsistent standards
Confusing or demoralizing communication

All the above were in the 40th percentile.

In our coaching experience, we’ve encountered every one of these blind spots with leaders we’ve worked with. They’re not unusual or uncommon. Leaders often have healthy egos that drive them to do more and be more. That’s great. Where the ego gets in the way is when they become overly convinced of their greatness and dismiss feedback to the contrary.

Executive coaching absolutely can help leaders to address their blind spots once they’re exposed. The key question is do they want to?

Revisit blind spots 2 and 4 in the list above. If a leader overestimates their abilities, are they likely to accept challenging feedback that suggests they’re wrong? Think back to the last time you received feedback that suggested you were off base in the way you approach things at work – or at home for that matter.

How did you respond? Or did blind spot 4 rear its less than attractive head?

Feedback may be the breakfast of champions, as they say. And you know how many people who compete are in the champions group? Just a few.

If you want to be exceptional as a leader, seek out your blind spots. Accept what you hear back. Look for clear ways to address them, then go about doing just that. And tell people you are addressing them by making these adjustments. You will gain a ton of respect just for getting this far. Go all the way and you’ll go up a clear notch in the minds of many you lead.

Feedback can be gained in your 1-on-1s, in team meetings or more formally via 360 surveys. Many performance management software programs also have feedback mechanisms built into them. Note that it’s not the more the merrier in the area of feedback gathering. Generally, you’re looking for patterns of feedback and once you have them, then take the next step. You can always go back to the well another time.

This path isn’t for the faint of heart or overly ego driven. If you’re ready to be vulnerable and advance your leadership or team and wouldn’t mind some sincere and concerted support, consider bringing an executive coach onto the team. This is what we do. We work with leaders who want feedback and aim to do something about it. Contact us if you’d like to initiate a conversation.

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