Every CEO Has a Blind Spot. What’s Yours?

You are often the last person to hear candid feedback. Self-reporting lies. And the higher you go, the worse it gets.

Blind spots erode your effectiveness, cap your potential, and derail your growth — without a single warning sign.

Here are the ones I see most often:

• Talking too much instead of deeply listening.

• Jumping too quickly to conclusions or judgments.

• Chasing too many priorities, diluting focus and impact.

• Being overly optimistic and ignoring critical red flags.

• Entrenched in being right, lacking curiosity.

• Struggling with vulnerability, becoming defensive.

• Being in the weeds and losing sight of the big picture.

• Being too nice or overly accommodating, avoiding necessary candor.

• Bias to downside risks, slowing down growth opportunities.

• Narrowly focused on goals and KPIs, sacrificing high trust and relationships.

As a Vistage Chair and executive coach, I've seen what happens when CEOs uncover and confront their blind spots. In our confidential peer groups and coaching sessions, we:

Hold up the mirror:
Safe, candid feedback surfaces blind spots fast.

Take action:
Practical lessons from peers who've been there accelerate change.

Account to one another:
Follow-through and adjustment at future meetings turn insight into lasting behavior.

One CEO discovered he was over-explaining and losing his audience. Another realized her optimism was blinding her to real business threats. Both shifted — not because they tried harder, but because they finally saw clearly.

Which blind spots have you addressed? Which do you suspect you're still missing?

What is your blind spot costing you right now?