2 Thoughts - Blindspots & Perspective

#1: Blindspots

Back in 2015, I was on a road trip with some of my smartest (and most unfiltered) college friends. After a bottle rolled down a hill, I said,
“That bottle has a design flaw.”  Ryan, never one to miss a moment, deadpanned: “Yeah. You are the design flaw, Beka. The design flaw is you.”

Still one of my favorite quotes.  Not because it’s true (rude). But because it’s also… kind of true for all of us.

Recently I talked with a CEO who abruptly lost a key leader earlier this year - and now another one’s on the verge of leaving. Last year, both were fully engaged. Something shifted.  Once could be a fluke. Twice is a pattern.  So I asked him, “What might you have done - intentionally or not - that contributed to this?”

Another CEO keeps saying, “No one on my team is proactive.”
But in the same breath, he described how much he loves the people that follow every instruction and gets mad at the people who don't do it exactly like he wants. That kind of control may feel efficient, but over time, it breeds silence.

These aren’t isolated situations. They’re common, and deeply human.  Blindspots don’t mean you’re failing.  They mean you’re ready to grow - if you’re willing to look.  But the perspective often has to come from outside yourself.

#2: One Question to Ask Yourself

Find the person on your team you trust most, who’ll tell you the truth without wrapping it in bubble wrap, and ask them, “What’s one thing I’m doing as a leader that’s contributing to this challenge?”

When they answer, go deeper with questions like, "How have you seen this show up in other areas?" or "Can you think of a time when I did it right?"