What Coaching Reveals About Leadership Blind Spots

Leadership Self Awareness

Leadership is not reserved for the special few. It does not require a title or rank. Everyone “leads” in some way, even if they only lead themselves.

I assure you, that there is “better” within each of us (with an important caveat). Yes, there are some natural “born leaders” out there, but, from my perspective, many of these folks are reluctant to accept the role and/or, because their skills come easy, they do not appreciate what they have to offer. People want to follow them, because they have some leadership qualities even when they reject the title.

Then there are those that are “born” into the title but lack the skills (like in royal families and some family businesses).

In both cases, these natural born leaders find it hard to stay under the radar and many of them are just not as effective or successful as they could be. Everyone can see it, except, perhaps, the leader themselves. Their reluctance to assume the role, or their title or position often shields them from leadership accountability, but it is impossible to hide their leadership gaps. This cohort of folks are in the minority. Most of the leaders in organizations today were not born into their role, they grew and advanced into it. That is good news for the ambitious among us. It helps support the thesis that leadership skills can be developed and leaders can be created.

Cue the lightning, so we can bring Frankenstein’s monster to life. This analogy might not be too far off. These “created” leaders are often promoted because they are good at what they do or for the results that they get. That does not necessarily make them great “leadership” material (we will discuss this in more detail later). Of course, they must have some leadership skills to get results, but they also have gaps and blind spots, some significant enough to derail them.

Now, the caveat; to be a more effective leader, you will need heightened self-awareness and an unrelenting focus on personal development and self-improvement. Unfortunately, like Frankenstein’s monster, many leaders do not like to look in the mirror. 

Leadership Gaps

If self-awareness is so important, we must consider what leaders need to be more aware of. Let us start with a benchmark. The “best” definition of leadership comes via Copilot (and The Center for Creative Leadership):

Leadership is a social process that creates direction, alignment, and commitment within a group so people can achieve results they could not accomplish alone.

This description highlights “the group,” “others,” “people,” but there is no mention of what is required of the leader themselves. Furthermore, when we consider the “top ten” qualities of a great leader, the search comes up with such attributes as:

• vision and clarity
• strong communication skills
• emotional intelligence
• decisiveness
• accountability
• adaptability and learning mindset
• ability to empower and delegate
• integrity and authenticity
• resilience and perseverance
• ability to inspire & motivate

This list seems comprehensive and it does not specifically include self-awareness. You could argue that learning mindset and emotional intelligence give a nod to it, but these qualities also have an organizational focus.

Leadership “self-awareness” is usually lower on most of the lists I found. This is a blind spot in the understanding of what it takes to be a truly effective leader. So, it is not surprising that leaders do not focus on themselves. It is not on their list either!

They are busy working on the “top ten,” driving results. It might even feel a bit selfish to them to spend time on self-awareness. It is certainly a lower priority, given the limited amount of time in a day. They would rather spend it on “others.” Unfortunately, they often do not see themselves as others do, including the people they are supposed to be leading and/or the senior managers who want/need to promote them. Often these “followers” have already lost faith in them.

The greatest challenge that leaders face today is not managing strategy, navigating change, or driving performance, but it is seeing themselves clearly and then adapting their leadership approach to be more effective. Just having the title does not make you a good leader. Being born with some natural abilities will not guarantee your leadership success. It requires a desire to be a better leader.

Leadership development takes real effort and is only possible with an objective evaluation of leadership capability, identification of gaps, recognition of blind spots and the accountability that comes from coaching.

Leadership Blind Spots

Leadership development is a lonely exercise. Most leaders do not have anyone who they feel safe enough to confide in. They have been promoted out of their social group and often feel alone “at the top;” exposed but afraid to ask for help.

As leaders move up in an organization, honest feedback often becomes more difficult to obtain. Employees may hesitate to challenge senior leaders for fear of damaging relationships, appearing disloyal, or creating conflict. Peers may avoid difficult conversations because they do not want to create tension. Even well-intentioned colleagues may soften their feedback to preserve harmony.

Over time, leaders can become increasingly insulated from candid perspectives. Success can also contribute to the problem. When leaders achieve positive results, they naturally develop confidence in their approaches. While confidence is essential for effective leadership, it can sometimes discourage curiosity about alternative perspectives. Behaviors that once contributed to success may continue long after they have stopped serving the leader or the organization. The very qualities that helped a leader rise can unintentionally create blind spots if left unexamined. For example: 

• A leader who unintentionally dominates conversations may suppress innovation because team members stop sharing ideas. 
• A leader who avoids conflict may allow performance issues to persist. 
• A leader who struggles with delegation may become overwhelmed while simultaneously limiting the growth of others. 

Counterintuitively, recent social science on the subject shows that the leaders that ask for help are more trusted (Leading Together: The Power of Asking for Help and Trusting Your Team (2026) – Dr. Julie Donley, further validated by Brene Brown and Mel Robbins).

So, leaders should be more vulnerable and ask for help, but most do not. These leaders have learned to lean on their strengths and try to hide their weaknesses. And they have been rewarded for doing it.

The mindset goes something like this: “If I am already a success in the company, why do I need to get better?” No matter how experienced, intelligent, or operationally successful a leader may be, they have blind spots: patterns, behaviors, assumptions, and habits that are visible to others, but remain hidden from themselves. These blind spots can limit effectiveness and create barriers to growth. Ironically, the more authority and success a leader accumulates, the more difficult these blind spots can become to recognize and address. This is where I usually get invited into conversation. 

Understanding why blind spots exist is essential for leaders who want to maximize their impact and continue growing throughout their careers. A blind spot is any aspect of behavior, thinking, or leadership style that you fail to recognize but that affects how you lead others. It is a gap in your leadership capability that could derail your leadership trajectory. Here are some examples:

• A leader may believe they are empowering their team, while employees experience them as controlling. 
• Another leader may view themselves as decisive, while others perceive them as dismissive of alternative viewpoints. 
• A highly driven executive may see their standards as motivating, while team members experience them as unrealistic or intimidating. 

These gaps between intention and impact often develop gradually. Because leaders operate from their own perspectives, they naturally interpret situations through their own experiences, beliefs, assumptions, and results. Over time, these perspectives become so familiar that they are rarely questioned. The result is a leadership paradox: the people most responsible for leading others often have the least visibility into how they themselves are leading. 

If they do not want to be a better leader, coaching will not help.

There are a number of ways that Leadership Development is initiated for a leader and only one way for it to work. 

• It can start when a company wants to develop their next tier of leaders and they identify a cohort. They see their leadership succession as a strategic objective and invest ahead of the need. Let us call this a “Leadership Acceleration Program.” It includes the delivery of business acumen and leadership content along with coaching (both the group and individual) The development occurs over an extended period, usually a year. 
• Another channel is when a senior executive wants to promote someone. The senior leader recognizes their potential, but they also have some concerns. Perhaps the candidate is great with numbers and not with people, or they are not emotionally intelligent, or they are overly competitive. Cultural misalignment comes into play, also. 
• Lastly, sometimes the emerging leader asks for coaching. They know they have some gaps and want to get better. 

In my experience, these are the three main ways that leadership development happens. The only way that any of these avenues will work is if the leadership candidate has the desire to get better. They must “want it.” If they do not want to be a better leader, coaching will not help. If a leader wants to be more effective, coaching helps.

One of the most valuable outcomes of coaching is helping leaders understand the difference between what they want (their intention) and what others experience (the results). For example:

• A leader may want to provide direction but can come across as controlling. 
• They may want to move quickly but inadvertently exclude key stakeholders. 
• They may want to maintain exacting standards but create an environment where people are afraid to take risks. 

Coaches can help them see their leadership approach differently. They can expose their blind spots. Then the leader must do the work of changing and improving. Coaches help developing leaders by observing, providing context and feedback, giving “homework,” and, most importantly, holding them accountable. This is another reason a coach from outside of the company may be more effective than the boss or human resources professional within the company. They can remain neutral and objective and the candidate can be more vulnerable about their areas of weakness. Their promotion may be on the line, but the coach is not going to make that decision. 

For some context, let us look at another arena. Consider Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade. These three guys are recognized as basketball “greats.” How did they get there? They wanted to be the best (like some of the leaders in your company).

They were already considered one of the best in the game, but they wanted to be THE best. That meant that their best was not good enough anymore. If they wanted to be THE best, they needed to get better. They knew that they could do it, and they all knew that they needed a “coach” to help them. They wanted an experienced, objective, outside perspective.

This is where Tim Grover comes in (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim S. Grover). He was hired to evaluate their capabilities and create a training plan to leverage their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. It was a lot of effort, and it worked! Even though Tim could not play basketball as well as Michael, Kobe, or Dwayne, he had a clear understanding of the skills they needed to improve to become THE best. By the way, Tim only accepted the job, because he knew that they would do the work to get better. You should consider this aspect before you engage a coach for yourself or others. 

How Coaching Creates Awareness

Many leaders recognize the importance of self-awareness and actively seek opportunities for reflection. They read leadership books, attend workshops, and complete assessments designed to enhance personal growth. These efforts are valuable, but they often have limitations.

Self-assessment and reflection are inherently constrained; leaders cannot easily identify what they cannot see. This is like trying to read a label from inside the bottle. No matter how intelligent or introspective someone may be, certain patterns remain difficult to recognize without external input.

This is where coaching becomes particularly powerful. Effective coaching helps leaders uncover blind spots by creating a structured process for observation, reflection, feedback, and discovery. Unlike managers, colleagues, or direct reports, coaches occupy a unique position. They are not influenced by organizational politics, reporting relationships, or performance evaluations.

Their primary objective is to help leaders gain clarity and grow. A skilled coach asks questions and provides context that challenges assumptions, identifies hidden patterns, and encourages change. An effective coach can help a leader examine their beliefs and behaviors driving their decisions and create a plan for improvement.

For example, a coach may help a leader recognize that their tendency to interrupt others stems from a desire to be helpful, yet the impact is that team members feel unheard. Once that awareness emerges, the leader gains the opportunity to make intentional changes. This awareness is the first step toward transformation.

The Most Effective Leaders Continue to Be Self-Aware and Grow

The greatest value of coaching is that it develops a leader’s capacity for ongoing self-awareness and growth. The goal is not simply to eliminate one blind spot. It is to strengthen the leader’s ability to recognize and address future blind spots as they emerge. They learn how to present a more effective leadership approach. Leaders who engage in coaching often become more curious, more reflective, and more open to feedback. They learn to seek diverse perspectives, challenge their assumptions, and remain adaptable in changing environments. In a world where leadership demands continue to evolve, this capacity for continuous growth becomes a significant competitive advantage. The strongest leaders are not those who have all the answers. They are those who remain committed to growing, even after achieving success.

Leadership is a journey of growth, influence, and decision-making. Blind spots are inevitable. They are part of the human experience and an unavoidable aspect of leadership. What separates exceptional leaders from average ones is not the absence of blind spots but the willingness to uncover them, then adapt and change to be more effective. Coaching provides a powerful mechanism for doing exactly that. By creating space for honest observation, meaningful feedback, and better self-awareness, coaching helps leaders see what they could not see alone. And when leaders gain greater clarity about themselves, they become better equipped to lead others with authenticity, effectiveness, and impact. 

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P.S. Coaching isn’t always about finding answers. Sometimes it’s about discovering the questions you didn’t know to ask—or the blind spots you didn’t know existed. If that sounds helpful, I’d love to connect.