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Leadership Styles:
recognize
your blind spots
What is leadership? Let us define leadership in
practical terms –characteristics that are indispensable for any leader to
possess, in order to genuinely build a high performance organization, and as a
consequence of this, a truly sustainable competitive advantage
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You control a bull by grabbing it by its horns, to make it jump – and even soar – according to your dexterity.We define leadership as having the specific skills that allow you to grab your organization by its horns in order to make it soar – to reach organizational peak performance.
What are leadership blind spots?...
These are unproductive behaviors that
are hidden from yourself but are glaring
to everyone else, mainly your followers and your business rivals . The good news is that through self-awareness you can work
on “the weaker parts” of yourself and unleash your individual talents and
uniqueness in all arenas of your life. To succeed as a manager, you need
to learn how to recognize your leadership blind spots and overcome them. Too
often, leaders demonstrate behaviors that let down their success and consequently
both their team and their organization.
You can't do anything about your leadership blind spots until you can recognize them when they occur. The first step is to ask others for their candid feedback. Refer THE JOHARI
Our leadership blind spots could create bad
and unintended consequences: They corrupt decision-making, reduce our scope of
awareness, create enemies, divide teams
into warring camps, destroy careers, and sabotage business results. Becoming more
self-aware is not always easy or fun, however. Individuals must be completely
honest with themselves, and this requires patience and perseverance.
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No
one is immune to leadership blind spots, of course. But leaders are
particularly vulnerable. It's enough that they must often navigate massive
change and cope with stressful situations every day. But add to this the
overpowering belief that many leaders shoulder: "I should have all the
answers, I should know what to do, and I should be able to handle challenges
alone."
For
many, the need to be right becomes much stronger than the need to be
effective. And only the most confident leaders are willing to surround
themselves with people who will point out what they're doing wrong—and be
rewarded for their honesty. More often, everyone is forced to endure the
boss' weaknesses in silence.
Leadership blind spots are not flaws; nor are they malicious. They are automatic behaviors. The real culprits are not the blind spots themselves. The problem is when they are unidentified and mismanaged.
There
are three leadership blind spots that persistently
knock people off the career ladder and undermine organizational performance.
Below are ones that I have come across most often in my work as a management
consultant
Go it alone Syndrome The first is the instinct to go it alone. In my experience, that is the No. 1 blind spot. It's an obvious danger, when dealing with outwardly self-sufficient, independent leaders , but inwardly have low self esteem and therefore have a need to be perceived as strong and tough. If you have a tendency to shoulder the burdens of life by yourself and unintentionally exclude others—colleagues, friends, and even family—then you need to be aware that this is a blind spot. Some of the symptoms of going-it-alone include rejecting offers of support, refusing to ask for help, not talking about your stress, pressure, or anxiety, isolating and withdrawing in group situations, and not including others in your thinking or in decision-making. You may think that your independent streak is a sign of strength. In actual fact, your behavior leaves others feeling frustrated, angry, and devalued. People view you as missing in action and acting as a team of one. Instead of empowering your team, you undercut it by refusing to share responsibilities, information, and decision-making. Your employees lose their enthusiasm, and you lose their support. Impact Unawareness/ Insensitivity
The
second blind spot that I have frequently encountered is the tendency of leaders to be insensitive
to their impact on others. They're simply unaware of the damage their
behavior can create. They have a low threshold for picking up on the
reactions of others, perhaps because they have never bothered themselves too
much with what others think.
The
potential dangers of insensitivity become more critical when you are in a
position of importance eg Head of a Dept / SBU head or finally even the CEO.
Suddenly, you control the destiny of people around you. If you're making
repeated blunders that you don't even see, there's little option for your
team but to walk out the door.
If this blind spot applies to you, your intentions may be positive but your behavior is ineffective. The rub is that people judge you by your behavior, not by your intentions. Symptoms include expecting others to respond the same way you do, not recognizing cultural differences, and dismissing feedback from others about your behavior. When you are insensitive to others, people tend to withdraw their trust. They'll work around you. At best, they may tolerate you. Others may marginalize you and, if they can, ultimately fire you. Sensitivity isn't about being soft.It's about being aware of the signals and needs and contributions of the people around you. It's critical to effective leadership. |
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Avoiding Difficult/Open Dialogue
Finally, I'm
frequently struck by the tendency of many managers to avoid difficult dialogue.
This might seem odd when the previous two blind spots may evoke the image of
a boss who doesn't particularly care about what people think. But the truth
is that most of us dislike feeling uncomfortable or creating discomfort in
others.
The fear among some managers is that conflict that will escalate, or a relationship that cannot be recovered. Some resort to less obvious ways of making their dissatisfaction known. These include the organization grapevine…who then assumes the importance of the organisation’s conscience keeper. If this is one of your leadership blind spots, you have a dilemma: what you cannot talk about, you cannot resolve. When you avoid tough dialogues, problems are repeated and issues escalate. Worse, your behavior sends a message that unacceptable behavior or performance will be tolerated in the organization. You essentially give poor performers the same treatment as your stars and, worse, the people on your team don't really know where they stand. Symptoms include softening your message, talking in generalizations instead of providing specific examples, and expecting others to read between the lines instead of actually telling them where they're falling short. When you avoid difficult dialogues, you are not doing anyone a favor. People may be confused by your mixed messages. They don't understand why they're passed over for plum assignments or promotions because no one has confronted them about their work. They think you don't notice. Everyone else thinks you don't care. TRY BEGINNER’S LUCK:
Your
opinion about how you think your behavior affects others isn't sufficient.
The reason these behaviors recur is that you're not aware of what you're
doing. Second, take accountability for your impact and stop justifying your
behavior by defending your positive intentions. Third, in the absence of a
structured process, ask those who do see certain weaknesses to coach you the
moment your blind spot surfaces. Finally, stop the behavior the instant you
see it by acknowledging it. Be
courageous and say something like: "I'm beating around the bush. Let me
start again." Then, start again.
Your goal is not to
be perfect. It's to check your blind spot and recover quickly. Furthermore, until you deal with your blind spot issues,
business success cannot be fully achieved or enjoyed. By working on your
self, success must follow. Ignoring your problems and repeating the
same patterns is an unhealthy road to nowhere.
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