Blind Spots

Dear reader, I am starting this post with a simple question to you. What are your blind spots? As leaders, we are constantly told to enhance our self-awareness, to know ourselves. Surely, nothing can be more central to our self-awareness than knowing our own blind spots. Correct?

The metaphor, ‘blind spots’, comes to us from the world of driving. In the pre-camera days of automobiles, the only aids we had to know who was behind our car and to our sides were the mirrors we had. But there will always be areas surrounding our vehicle that are not covered by our three mirrors. Which is why driving school instructors tell us to look over our shoulders before we make a turn to ensure we are not going to cut someone off or even cause an accident.

So, do you have an answer to my question yet? I am afraid it was a trick question. The proper answer is, “How would I know?” Indeed, we have no idea of what our blind spots are. In the workplace, blind spots are born of smug complacency, poor self-awareness, undue optimism, over-confidence and even arrogance. There can be blind spots in a company’s operations when early warning systems are poorly designed and KPIs are inadequate.

No surprise, we can see others’ blind spots pretty clearly. Some of these include:

• Not seeing how our behaviour as a leader affects others
• Not realizing that we need help or that we are reluctant to ask for help
• Not realizing that we are too close to someone to see their faults clearly
• Not realizing that we discount evidence that doesn’t support our view (confirmation bias)
• Not knowing that we are prejudiced against certain people (unconscious bias)
• Not knowing that our enthusiasm for a plan has blinded us to its risks
• Not being aware that a conflict of interest can skew decision making
• Not knowing that our clients' expectations have shifted
• Not acknowledging that our capabilities today can become obsolete tomorrow

What can we do then to reduce, if not eliminate, the blind spots we all have? Here are a few ways:

1. Make sure you have a friend or two you trust to speak freely. These friends will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. I once read these words by a manager, “I stopped hearing the truth the day I got promoted.” This manager would certainly benefit from having such friends.
2. Ask for feedback in a way that encourages candour and honesty. Your team members are in the best position to observe you and give you feedback. They will if you demonstrate a willingness to listen, to reflect and to act on what they tell you. They won’t if they think that this is only a ‘tick in the box’ for you.
3. Learn from your mistakes. Can you take an unflinching look at what went wrong, why and what you can learn from that experience? Mistakes can show us where we can improve in understanding, knowledge and skills. This takes a willingness to accept mistakes and that takes courage.
4. Bring in diverse points of view. Build an open inclusive culture where people are unafraid to speak. Brainstorm for a wide variety of ideas and listen. You will hear points of view that will open your eyes to new possibilities.

Blind spots are, as the late Donald Rumsfeld put it, our “unknown unknowns.” Knowing one’s blind spots and taking measures to mitigate their impact will go a long way in making us effective. I’d like to hear from you about your own experiences and thoughts on blind spots.