The CEO Blind Spot: What Aren’t You Seeing?

One of the paradoxes of leadership is that the more experienced and successful you become, the easier it can be to develop blind spots.

It isn’t because successful leaders stop listening. Often, the opposite is true.

The problem is that as you rise in an organization, the nature of the information reaching you changes.

Employees may hesitate to challenge the CEO. Members of your leadership team have their own responsibilities and perspectives. Your attorney can provide legal advice. Your accountant can provide financial guidance. Your spouse or family may know you better than anyone, but they don’t necessarily understand the complexities of running your business.

Eventually, there are fewer people who can look at you across the table and say:

“I think you may be looking at this the wrong way.”

A Quick Blind Spot Test

Consider four questions:

1. When was the last time someone on your leadership team strongly disagreed with you?

2. When was the last time someone caused you to change your mind about an important decision?

3. What assumption about your business have you held for years without seriously questioning it?

4. Who regularly asks you questions that make you uncomfortable?

If those questions are difficult to answer, you may have a perspective gap.

Experience Can Actually Make It Harder

Experience is one of a leader’s greatest assets. It allows us to recognize patterns, anticipate problems, and make decisions quickly.

But experience can also create assumptions.

We tried that before.

That person could never replace me.

Our customers wouldn’t accept that.

This is how our industry works.

Sometimes those statements are correct.

Sometimes they are beliefs masquerading as facts.

The challenge is knowing the difference.

One of the most powerful ways to uncover those assumptions is to surround yourself with accomplished leaders who understand the responsibility of running a business but see the world differently than you do.

A manufacturing CEO may look at a staffing problem differently than the owner of a technology company. A third generation business owner may approach succession differently than a founder. Someone who has already navigated the challenge you are facing may ask a question you never considered.

That diversity of perspective is one of the reasons peer advisory groups can be so valuable.

The objective isn’t to have other people make your decisions.

It is to make sure you are seeing the decision clearly before you make it.

One Question Worth Asking

Think about the most important challenge facing your business today.

Growth. People. Succession. Technology. Profitability. Strategy. Your own role.

Now ask yourself:

What might I not be seeing?

And perhaps more importantly:

Who have I surrounded myself with who has both the experience and permission to challenge my answer?

I lead a confidential Vistage peer advisory group and strategic advisory practice for CEOs, Presidents, Owners, and Founders here in New Jersey. If this idea resonates with you, I’d enjoy hearing your perspective and sharing more about how peer advisory groups work.

Email me at david.mazer@vistagechair.com

Next in this series: Before You Make Your Next Big Decision, Ask These 5 Questions.