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8 Tips for Avoiding Your Leadership Blindspots

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Summary

This article discusses the need for leaders to maintain a healthy dose of self-doubt and to be aware of potential blindspots that can easily be overlooked. It outlines 8 tips for surfacing blindspots, such as avoiding yes-or-no questions, asking for supporting data and examples, paraphrasing to surface next-level details, managing the downside of deadlines, and giving an opening for contrarians. The author, Robert Bruce Shaw, provides advice on how to recognize and address blindspots, based on his book, Leadership Blindspots: How Successful Leaders Identify and Overcome the Weaknesses That Matter.

Q&As

What are the two conflicting needs leaders face?
The two conflicting needs leaders face are to act with a deep confidence in their abilities and strategies, and to be aware of their vulnerabilities and the need for a healthy dose of self-doubt.

How can leaders surface and address blindspots?
Leaders can surface and address blindspots by asking the right questions in the right way.

What techniques can leaders use to identify blindspots?
Leaders can use techniques such as avoiding yes-or-no questions, asking for supporting data and examples, paraphrasing to surface next-level details, asking for “out of the box” alternatives, and giving an opening for contrarians.

How can leaders avoid leading the witness?
Leaders can avoid leading the witness by asking open-ended questions and avoiding questions that are really statements.

How can leaders encourage a more in-depth analysis when faced with a deadline?
Leaders can encourage a more in-depth analysis when faced with a deadline by managing the downside of deadlines and providing an opportunity for others to offer dissenting points of view.

AI Comments

👍 This article provides great tips and advice for leaders to help them address and uncover blindspots. It's filled with useful information and strategies that can help to equip leaders with the tools they need to be successful.

👎 This article is overly long and could have been condensed to the most important points. It's difficult to stay engaged after reading the whole article.

AI Discussion

Me: It outlines 8 tips for avoiding leadership blindspots. It suggests that leaders should be aware of their own vulnerabilities and need for self-doubt in order to accurately assess their situations and surface potential weaknesses or threats. It also provides guidelines for asking the right questions in the right way in order to surface potential issues.

Friend: That's interesting. What are the implications of this article?

Me: The implications of this article are that leaders need to be aware of their own blindspots and be willing to ask the right questions in order to uncover potential weaknesses or threats. Leaders should also pay attention to any evasive answers they may receive and ask for supporting data and examples to ensure that decisions are based on facts and not speculation or opinion. It's also important for leaders to provide an opportunity for dissenting points of view and to manage the downside of deadlines in order to ensure that important questions are not overlooked.

Action items

Take time to reflect on your own leadership blindspots and identify areas where you need to ask more questions or seek out opposing points of view.
Make a list of open-ended questions that you can use to surface blindspots in your team or organization.
Develop a plan for how you will manage deadlines and provide an opportunity for contrarians to voice their opinions.

Technical terms

Closed-end questions: Questions that can be answered with a yes or no.
Open-ended questions: Questions that allow for a variety of responses and provoke a fuller discussion.
Lead the witness: Pushing to confirm one's own assumptions about a situation and wanting to move quickly to a plan of action.
Evasive answers: Avoiding giving direct answers to direct questions.
Paraphrase: To restate what someone has said in different words.
Out of the box alternatives: Asking for an opposing point of view to that favored by a leader or the majority of his or her team.
Deadlines: A set time by which something must be done.
Contrarians: People who express an opposing point of view.