Embrace Your Blind Spots
Why might you need a coach like me? As a colleague in advertising told potential clients: “It’s simple. You’re good at what you do. But no matter how good you are, you can’t see yourself.”
He echoed a point made by German systems theorist Niklas Luhmann. Regardless of who we are, Luhmann wrote, we’re always viewing the world through a single set of eyes looking out of the front side of our head.
And those eyes are attached to a particular mind that’s part of a particular body with a particular set of sensations, experiences, emotions, and memories.
And that particular body is looking at the world from a particular place and time.
Our eyes can take in quite a bit of information. They can move up and down, left and right. We can put on glasses, look through night-vision goggles, peer through a microscope or telescope.
But at the end of the day, Luhmann wrote, we’re only looking out the fronts of our heads. We can’t see behind us or that far to our side. Although we might look in the mirror, what we’re seeing is our reflection, not how we really appear to others.
In other words, we’re surrounded by blind spots.
Germans have many expressions for “blind spot,” but the one I learned first was “toter Winkel,” which literally means, “dead corner.” I find the phrase delightfully dreadful. I instantly think of a dark corner just out of sight with a boogeyman in it.
That image makes a deep existential point. Our blind spots matter. And they are always haunting us.
Luhmann argued that no matter how ”mindful” we become, our blind spots will be there. What we need, he said, is another set of eyes who can help us see what we aren’t seeing.
As a coach, I provide that second set of eyes.
Imagine having a place where you can come to reflect on what’s going on in your work.
Imagine hearing feedback from someone whose only interest is helping you develop as a leader.
Imagine becoming aware of where your blind spots are—and comfortable knowing what you don’t know.
Imagine creating a team of people who support you by helping you see what you can’t.
Ready to start? Book your free Discovery Session here.
