The Impact Of Blind Spots On Your Business
How hard is it to “know thyself?”
According to concepts like the Johari Window, your blind spots are the things that are unknown to you. They’re things you can’t recognize as true about yourself.
I believe we all have blind spots.
But for the most part, our eyes are more open than we think.
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Try this exercise on for size.
First, find someone you trust. Deeply.
Then, have a back and forth exchange with them about your “blind spots.”
See if you identify three things about yourself that are your personal pitfalls.
They’re your blind spots because they’re areas where you don’t exercise the best judgment. They’re your tendencies that sometimes get you into trouble.
But they aren’t totally blind. Because if you’ve done any amount of introspection (and most CEOs have done plenty), you actually know they’re there.
So here are the rules of the exercise:
- Get together with your partner
- You say one of your blind spots. They listen without comment.
- Then, it’s their turn.
- Repeat for at least three rounds.
(Confession time: I just made this exercise up. But as I was working with Kristen on this piece, we did this exercise together. It was incredibly freeing to acknowledge the parts of myself that get me into trouble. She felt the same.)
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You already know 90% of what you need to know about your own bad habits.
The hard part is admitting them to yourself.
Here’s why it matters: if you don’t surface these tendencies, your business will be unconsciously driven by them. Unchecked, these pieces of you that are so fundamental they are basically DNA will steer your company to places you didn’t plan to go.
You can try to compensate for the way you are: to some extent, that’s about all you can do.
Surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth.
Work to be as self-aware as you possibly can.
Build in mechanisms and processes to save you from yourself.
This is a bit like whack-a-mole: these traits will resurface again and again. Don’t let them hold back your business.
But also: don’t spend your whole life trying to eliminate them. You’re imperfect.
That’s what makes you…you.
***
I’ll say it again: you already know what these blind spots are.
But if you’d like to learn more about yourself, here are a few quick recommendations:
- Take the DiSC Profile. It’s an amazing tool for self-awareness, improving communication, and identifying your strengths and weaknesses. (Reply to this email if you’d like more info about the DiSC)
- Do the One Thing Exercise. This is an exercise designed for teams; your peers will shed light on the behaviors that help or hurt your organization. (Reply to this email to request a copy of this exercise)
- Find a mentor or coach. You need someone who will tell it to you straight. Someone who brings outside perspective and doesn’t depend on you for their livelihood. (Reply to this email to learn more about Executive Coaching with Crews & co.)
Being honest about your blind spots—dragging them into the light, grappling with them, and finding ways to compensate for them—is important work.
It doesn’t get mapped onto a spreadsheet or reported out in your financials. But it can have a very real impact on the choices you make: the difficult choices you’re faced with every day.
Knowing yourself makes those choices a little bit easier.
