Do you know what your blind spots are as a leader? What do you not know or perceive about yourself?
Watch Out for Blind Spots
A blind spot for a leader is something that others perceive and can see in you, but you cannot see it yourself. The problem is those blind spots deteriorate the relationship between you and your team members and could impair the results you can generate.
The reason a blind spot is a problem is that those behaviors start to get out of hand and can even result in a complaint or a problem that will escalate to human resources. You could find yourself in a meeting where you must answer for some of the ways that you treat people.
The reason a blind spot is a problem is that those behaviors can start to get out of hand and could even result in a complaint or a problem that gets escalated to human resources. Share on X
Types Of Blind Spots
What types of blind spots are there?
They generally focus on your relationship with your team or the relationship you have in assigning tasks to your team. It could mean that they get confused or may be irritated by how you do things, but you are not aware that they are getting irritated or you are not reading the signals.
Here are a few strategies for how you can help eliminate those blind spots. Consider these suggestions as being like when you check over your shoulder when changing lanes on the road.
How Can You Get Better Visibility Of Those Blind Spots?
Tip Number One: Reflect
Be honest with yourself and think about the interactions that you have with your team. Ask yourself:
- What kinds of reactions do you get from them?
- Can you be self-aware that it might not be the exact reaction you want?
Sometimes you might receive a slight chuckle to your humor, but you can read into it that some folks are not as amused as you think that they are. Taking a moment to self-reflect, to check in with yourself, to see if that is happening can be a great way to start eliminating your blind spots.
Tip Number Two: Ask For Feedback
This can be a bit tricky. If you just ask people who report to you, whose careers you may be able to influence, can get a little tricky for them to give you feedback.
If you say, “Oh no, you can be totally honest with me,” you must make sure that it is safe for them to provide you with their feedback. Avoid getting defensive when they express some of their observations or concerns.
Many employees have been burned when their supervisor or their manager has said, “You can be completely honest with me. What could I do to be more effective?”
So, when you are asking for feedback, be prepared to accept it, even if you do not necessarily agree with it. Even if you are not prepared to completely accept that feedback and implement it, you should at least say, “Hey, I really appreciate you being open and honest with me.”
It takes a lot of emotional self-security to make sure that you will not use that information against them. Otherwise, you will basically be sending the signal, “Do not ever give me feedback again in the future.”
Tip Number Three: Examine Your Results
As a leader, your actions influence your team greatly, and maybe more than you even realize, the results that your team generates. That is why these little quirks or things that you do with your team, or to your team, might actually be impairing your results.
Can you see any evidence of that in terms of whether people meet your expectations or generate the results that you are looking for? If you see some variation in that, or it is just not as consistent as you would like it to be, then the first place you should look is in the mirror.
What are you doing that could be contributing to the very problem that is causing you frustration and annoyance as a leader?
As a leader, your actions influence your team greatly, and maybe more than you even realize, the results that your team generates. Share on X
Eliminate Your Blind Spots and Identify Areas for Growth
Once you have gotten good at eliminating some of your blind spots, you might then identify several leadership behaviors and skills that you need to work on.
Of course, that is where we come in. You can either look back in our archives at other Leader Feeder episodes or go to your HR team and say, “Hey, we would like to bring in some training from Unique Training and Development or Front Line Leadership.”
It starts with a conversation and you can access all the contact info on our website at uniquedevelopment.com.
If you prefer social media channels, of course, you can see us on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and even Twitter. We appreciate anyone who connects with us because we really want to start that conversation and see how we can help you become the kind of leader that does not have blind spots and who demonstrates leadership excellence every day.
