As an executive coach, I’ve had the privilege of working with senior leaders across industries and geographies. These individuals are often highly accomplished and deeply driven, yet even the most successful leaders encounter blind spots—behaviors or tendencies that can derail their effectiveness.
What’s particularly striking is that these derailers often begin as strengths. Traits such as boldness, diligence, or perfectionism can propel leaders to early success. However, when these strengths are overused or applied without self-awareness, they can quickly become liabilities.
I know this firsthand from my own corporate journey. For years, I prided myself on being bold and diligent scoring nearly 100 in both traits on Hogan’s personality scale. At the time, I viewed these scores as evidence of my drive and commitment to excellence. But working with my own coach revealed a crucial insight: my greatest strengths were also my potential derailers.
Boldness sometimes manifested as overconfidence, making it harder for others to challenge my ideas or offer alternative perspectives.
Diligence led me to micromanage, unintentionally stifling creativity and autonomy within my teams.
Recognizing these patterns was humbling but also empowering. With guidance, I learned to notice when my strengths were crossing the line into derailment—and how to course-correct before they became problematic.
Common Leadership Derailers
Through coaching hundreds of senior leaders, I’ve observed several recurring derailers that often remain hidden until surfaced through 360-degree feedback or self-reflection:
1. Overconfidence
- What It Looks Like: Dismissing feedback or believing your way is always best.
- Impact: Erodes trust and alienates colleagues.
2. Micromanagement
- What It Looks Like: Over-involvement in tasks; reluctance to delegate.
- Impact: Stifles team autonomy and creativity.
3. Conflict Avoidance
- What It Looks Like: Hesitating to address performance issues or difficult conversations.
- Impact: Escalates tensions and weakens team cohesion.
4. Resistance to Change
- What It Looks Like: Clinging to familiar strategies or processes instead of adapting.
- Impact: Missed opportunities for innovation; stagnation.
5. Emotional Blind Spots
- What It Looks Like: Struggling to understand or manage emotions—your own or others’.
- Impact: Reduces trust and collaboration within teams.
How Leaders Can Identify Their Derailers
Uncovering blind spots requires intentional effort and openness to feedback:
Seek Honest Feedback: Use tools like 360-degree assessments to gain insights from peers, direct reports, and stakeholders.
Leverage Validated Assessments: Instruments such as Hogan Assessments or PrinciplesUs™ offer data-driven insights into personality traits and potential derailers.
Engage a Coach: A skilled coach acts as a mirror, helping you recognize patterns you might not see yourself.
Reflect Regularly: Self-awareness grows through consistent reflection on your behaviors and their outcomes.
How to Address Leadership Derailers
Awareness is only the first step; meaningful change requires action:
1) Reframe Strengths: Recognize that overused strengths can become weaknesses.
- Boldness becomes overconfidence when it stifles collaboration.
- Diligence becomes micromanagement when it limits team autonomy.
2) Set Boundaries: Balance assertiveness with active listening and openness to others’ perspectives.
3) Build Emotional Intelligence: Invest in developing empathy, self-regulation, and awareness of how your behaviors impact others.
“The most effective leaders are those who can recognize when their strengths become liabilities—and have the courage to adapt.”
Final Thought Leadership derailers are not signs of failure—they are opportunities for growth. By proactively identifying and addressing your blind spots, you can transform potential pitfalls into powerful assets for yourself and your organization.
Which of your strengths might be tipping into a derailer, and what’s one step you can take this week to bring it back into balance?