Imagine for a moment watching a dog chase its own tail. You know that it’s a silly waste of time but the poor dog has got no idea what’s going on. The faster they go, the faster their tail goes. For us it’s easy to see what’s going on, we can see the futility of the dogs actions. But for the poor dog, they get stuck in a repeating circle.

Now blind spots are a similar problem for people. By definition no-one knows what their blind spots are, even when they’re obvious to other people. And we can get stuck chasing our own tails, trying harder but just repeating the same mistakes over and over again. The nasty thing about blind spots is that they are the invisible reason we aren’t achieving success. But the great thing about blind spots is that if you find one then you can have transformative results.

That’s why talking about what to develop, without mentioning blind spots would be incomplete.

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The issue with blind spots is that there’s no single formula to magically uncover your blind spots. Discovering your blind spots is part of the larger topic of self leadership which is about getting to know yourself. This is beyond the scope of this module. So this isn’t a complete discussion of Self Awareness but rather a starter to point you in the right way

How to Recognize if you Have a Blind Spot?

Here are some of the signs that you are not achieving your goals because you have a blind spot that you’re unaware of:

  • If you find yourself having the same problems over and over again,

  • If you’re trying to fix something, but the problem doesn’t go away,

  • If something seems exceptionally difficult (especially when others seem to find the same thing easy)

  • If you find yourself avoiding tasks because they’re unpleasant

Quick Methods to Discover Your Blind Spots:

While blind spots are annoying because we can’t see them ourselves, the great thing about blind spots is that some of them are extremely easy to spot from an external perspective. Here are a few suggestions to reveal your own blind spots:

  • Work with a personal coach

  • Ask for external feedback from people that know you (your friends, colleagues and boss)

  • Do a “Behaviour Profile” aka “Personality Test” (If you’re a manager, start with the “Boss SuperPower at www.boss.camp/superpower

Helpful Resource: See how to ask your boss the right questions in the short course One on Ones with Your Boss

Next Steps: Self-Leadership: Developing Yourself

Discovering your blindspots falls under the umbrella of self-leadership and getting to know yourself. To be a better self-leader start with improving your self-leadership skills with self-leadership training. Self-Leadership: Developing Yourself is a quick, online training course that you can use to kick-start your self-development.

Comments:

Do you have any questions, comments or tips about working on your weaknesses and blindspots? Please share in the comments below.