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When trying to grow a business, it's easy to overlook the less obvious elements that can hinder the whole thing. As someone who has always been heavily involved in moving my business forward, I've seen that even well-intentioned leadership can have blind spots – areas where, despite your best efforts, your approach can hinder success.
These aren't just small oversights. If you focus too much on the big picture, critical areas can sometimes go unnoticed and get in the way of real growth.
I want to point out three blind spots in leadership that may be holding you back.
1. The product-driven blind spot
I have always been a product-focused CEO. I am very optimistic by nature and never settle for a product being “good enough”. I always try to improve the product. When people tell me something can't be done, I go into overdrive trying to prove them wrong. I also regularly solicit feedback from our customers on what improvements they would like to see in our products. Over time, this resulted in an ambitious list of product improvements for which there was no clear roadmap. While this did not negatively impact revenue growth, it did impact efficiency and adoption as we were launching so many new products at once, sometimes even before they were fully tested.
Our Chief Technology Officer has constantly changed his priorities and focus to accommodate my growing list of product ideas. One of my best decisions to date was promoting one of our VPs to Chief Product Officer. After he took over, we were able to refine our product development processes and ultimately improve our speed to market. Our product roadmap is better prioritized and product releases are more evenly distributed. This strategy gave us more time to properly train our team before releasing to our customers. As a result, our product releases have been more successful and adoption rates have been higher.
Related: Stop ignoring your blind spots – start accepting them instead
2. The blind spot of feedback ignorance
Every successful company is powered by a strong, collaborative team. Our company lives by our core values – TEAMS, which stands for Teamwork, Empower, Accountability, Mutual Respect and Serves. We are a very team-oriented company and I value the feedback and advice of my team. As CEO, it is simply impossible and unsustainable for me to be involved in every detail of the organization. So I have had to learn to trust my team to provide me with thoughtful feedback and actionable solutions. These insights should always be objective and in line with our long-term goals. If I see a decision being made or an initiative going in a direction I wouldn't necessarily have chosen, then it is my job to step in and get the team back on track, even if it is unpopular.
The duty of every CEO is to influence decisions, not necessarily to make every decision. One of the core principles of our company is “empowerment,” and I believe it is critical that our leaders have the authority and confidence to make important decisions. I look for leaders who fully understand the company's vision and who can be trusted to make decisions that I can support.
Related: What makes a great leader versus a great manager?
3. The blind spot of resistance to change
Change can be scary, and we humans have a natural tendency to resist it – especially when everything seems to be going on as usual. I've observed that waiting too long to implement important changes can be just as damaging as changing too often.
Companies are like living, breathing organisms. Decisions or strategies that worked in the past may no longer be effective as the company grows and evolves. That's why leaders should embrace change rather than avoid it. A recent example from our own company is our support model. We had the same support model for years, and for a long time it worked really well. In the last two years, we've launched several new products and nearly doubled our customer base, so we realized we needed a different structure to better serve our customers.
This change in direction required a fairly extensive reorganization, which was met with resistance. Not only did we implement a new support structure, but we also opened a new support center, which came at a high cost. The delay did not necessarily slow our growth, but implementing the change resulted in noticeable improvements in efficiency, customer retention, and overall customer satisfaction.
The blind spot here is the fear of disrupting the status quo. Change is always greeted with raised eyebrows and incongruity, at least in the first phase of implementation. Change, good or bad, is resisted with equal intensity. As leaders, however, we must be willing to anticipate the need for change, recognize the signs, and act before the situation forces us to. It's a delicate balance – if you make changes too frequently, you disrupt the team; if you delay too long, you miss opportunities.
Related: 4 Financial Blind Spots That Could Be Stopping You From Making More Money
Stay close to your customers
One final blind spot worth mentioning is when executives or business owners get too far removed from their customers. Sometimes we have a tendency to think there are a lot of people between us and the end customer. However, you have to remember that maintaining a close connection with your customers is crucial. In our company, we have an executive sponsor program where each manager is assigned to a group of customers to provide an extra layer of support that improves the customer experience.
Although executive sponsors are not responsible for day-to-day account management, this relationship with the client provides valuable insights that might otherwise be lost. Additionally, clients feel more valued knowing that our company's top leaders are actively involved and truly care about their business.
Overcoming blind spots
Weak spots in leadership are often overlooked but can significantly impact a company's progress. Business owners and leaders must be able to identify and address these weak spots immediately, whether it's aligning product innovations with a clear implementation plan, acknowledging team feedback, embracing change, or maintaining a connection with their customers.
This judgment and initiative can open new opportunities for your organization and the development and growth of your team, ultimately leading to even greater success.
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