Visible Blind Spots | Life Series

Welcome back to chapter two – Your Brand. This article is long over-due. To make the most of this blog, please start with the materials under the ‘Life‘ section from Chapter 1 – Back to Basics.

A quick recap from where left. In the articles Chapter 2 – Your Brand and 2.1 Your Brand | Put Your Clothes On, we discussed two types of Blind Spots – Visble and Invisible Blind Spots, and here we’ll cover it in some more detail.

Read time: 2.30 min.

Blind Spots take root from early on in our lives. An unchecked habit or actions that got you the attention you were seeking from others are some of the ways these innocent practices become ingrained.

In this snippet, we will cover Visible Blind Spots: Blind spots that are visible to others but not to us. For instance, we may habitually speak over other people without our knowledge or awareness, or have a habit of resting blame onto others for our setbacks or always wanting to have the last word.

Sounds familiar? Wait there are some more:

Have you gotten upset and reacted to an email, and went back to the email only to find that you misread the context and behaved immaturely? Confession not necessary. We all have done this more than once, which as you can see is a Blind Spot opportunity for adjustment.

How about ignoring an exciting idea because it has come from someone you dislike? There’s a Blind Spot right there.

There are probably a handful of such Blind Spots that we keep repeating and coming in the way of our success. The key here is to focus on not the one-off behaviours we enact occasionally, but those that have become consistent, like second nature. Just like we don’t consciously think about breathing, some practices become deeply etched in our sub-consciousness and lose its awareness.

I think this is enough to get the point across. Now let’s get to the point. How do we spot and address our Blind Spots?

Spot the Blind Spots
We wish it were that simple to identify our blind spots. It’s simple but not easy. There are several books on this topic if you wish to dive deep. We will cover this topic to a level sufficient enough to get you well on your way to uncover and address those blind spots.

There are three stages:

Stage 1: Define Your Brand

Your brand can be translated as your reputation. How would you like to be perceived?  What is your ideal reputation? To find those answers, consider the following questions:
Define in one or two words as to how you would like to be known. Before you define your ideal reputation, make sure they are aligned with your values. You want to set an ideal state for yourself not because it will make you look better but because that defines you. Some help:

* Calm and composed
* Thoughtful
* Reliable
* Humble
* Empathetic leader, etc.
* Humourous
* Compassionate

Stage 2: Self Assessment of Gaps

Now that you have established your ideal state – your Brand. Let’s do some critical self-assessment of the gaps between where you are now and your target state. Let’s figure this out using one of the above examples.

You may use this template for your self-assessment.

Stage 3: Critical Feedback from Others

To get a broader perspective of your gaps, connect with people who can provide observable feedback on how you are perceived. You can collect that information from close friends, manager or colleagues. Since you are looking for a balanced view, select your audience carefully as the feedback can also undermine your confidence and ability to overcome the gaps.

Be prepared to adjust your attitudes and behaviours so that they are closely aligned with your brand. Take notice of your effect on yourself and others, and keep that feedback loop open.

Coming next – the second type of Blind Spots: Invisible Blind Spots.

Share your thoughts.

Success to you!

Razak
CommonInterest