15 Oct Leadership Blind Spots: What They’re Costing Your Team and Culture
As leaders, we make countless decisions every week — some small, some with lasting impact. And yet, no matter how experienced we are, we all have blind spots in how we make those decisions.
These blind spots aren’t about intelligence or capability. They’re about perspective. They show up in the assumptions we don’t challenge, the questions we don’t ask, and the viewpoints we don’t fully consider. Left unchecked, they cost more than we realize.
How Leadership Blind Spots Show Up
Blind spots can take many forms. We may focus only on our own view without pausing to ask what our direct reports see, what colleagues across the organization notice, or how stakeholders might be impacted. We may treat complex challenges as if they were merely complicated, assuming there’s a single solution rather than opening space for broader input and adaptive responses.
At times, we default to telling instead of asking, feeling pressure to provide the answer rather than creating dialogue that might surface a better one. We may rush decisions, convinced that time is always of the essence, or assume it will be quicker to do something ourselves. Sometimes we keep conversations within the small circle of colleagues we already trust, rather than broadening the circle or even checking perspectives externally.
We may also rely on assumptions rather than asking directly, or measure progress only by the numbers — overlooking the human side of change and the way decisions ripple across trust, culture, and lived experience.
What These Blind Spots Cost
When blind spots go unchecked, opportunities slip away. Ideas that could have made a difference never surface. Decisions need to be reworked because the first solution didn’t fit. Trust frays when people feel excluded. Teams burn out when speed consistently overrides reflection. And change efforts stall when the human impact is ignored in favor of metrics alone.
Over time, blind spots don’t just affect results — they shape culture. They influence who gets included, how decisions are made, and what kind of future we’re building together.
Seeing at the EDGE
I often describe leadership as happening at the EDGE — where clarity meets challenge, and growth is no longer optional. When we bring our blind spots into the light, we elevate our perspective, develop more balanced ways of making decisions, grow our presence and impact by listening for what isn’t said, and expand what’s possible by seeing options we hadn’t considered before.
Moving Forward with Greater Perspective
Our blind spots aren’t weaknesses — they’re invitations. They call us to pause, widen the lens, and see more of the system around us.
The leaders who thrive in today’s complexity aren’t the ones with all the answers. They’re the ones who ask instead of assume, invite rather than exclude, and look beyond the numbers to the people those numbers represent. They keep building trusted relationships across the organization and beyond, and they slow down just enough to reflect before acting.
Because in leadership, our blind spots don’t just cost us personally. They cost our teams, our organizations, and the futures we’re trying to shape.
Let’s Talk About the Blind Spots You Can’t Afford to Miss
If this resonated with you — if you’re seeing how unchecked blind spots might be affecting your decisions, culture, or team — let’s talk.
An Exploration Call is a chance to pause, reflect, and explore what support might help you see more clearly and lead more intentionally.