Many leaders have shortcomings they don’t know about, and these can diminish their effectiveness and even derail their careers. Large, international studies have foundthat executives rate themselves considerably more effective as leaders than do their co-workers. For many, this gap in perception stems from the relative absence of trusted individuals who understand the executive’s work and will offer honest, objective feedback.
Most of us have some awareness of our strengths and yet you can’t have a total picture unless you get feedback from the outside. Once we understand what we need to work on we can then develop skills in those areas to enhance our ability to be effective leaders. But what most of us miss is that our weaknesses are equally as important to survey to find areas of growth. Ignoring your weaknesses will give you trouble as a leader especially if they are blind spots. Blind Spots get in your way and they keep you from achieving success because you can’t see what you don’t see. Most of us need to solicit help from others to see the blind spots that may indicate a potential weakness. Indeed, anything you are unaware of can be toxic to your relationships and effectiveness as a leader.
Without feedback, you tend to invent your own reality. Using feedback is a vital part of your performance, growth, and development. Understanding how you interact with others helps you understand the impact you have on those around you. The perceptions of others within your world, whether those perceptions are accurate or inaccurate, will impact your level of success.
How can we identify our own blind spots and help our direct reports do the same? We must look at ourselves honestly, invite others we respect to give us feedback, and be willing to make changes.
If you and your company’s other top leaders can learn to artfully manage the behaviors that lead to higher levels of leadership, you’ll be able to dramatically increase your ability to influence others and lead team performance.
Our offer is to provide you with your own confidential survey on the levels of Drama and Leadership in your life. You can either do the self-rater or the multi-rater. This tool will provide you with a report that:
- Focuses on personal and career development
- Discovers where you are and where you need to grow or improve
- Results in the creation of a personalized action plan
- Focuses on team-effectiveness skills, along with strengths and areas for improvement
- Allows groups to come together on goals and work better as a team
- Promotes a safe environment to share “the level of drama in an organization”
