Written by: Marisa Murray, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
In June 2023, millions around the world were captivated when news broke that a deep sea submersible named Titan had gone missing. Designed by the company OceanGate, contact with Titan had been lost while it was on a dive to the shipwreck of the Titanic. After a few days of hopeful search, the worst was confirmed—the submersible had imploded, a tragic ending for the five souls aboard, including Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate.
Given the fact Titan’s final dive was intended for the Titanic, it’s difficult not to compare the two tragedies. Both were built in the name of innovation. Both were unable to reach their intended destinations. Both ended up side-by-side at the bottom of the ocean.
Leaders—pay attention. There is a lot to learn here. And it’s not the lesson you think it is, because in many ways, the tragedies of Titanic and Titan couldn’t be more different.
In the aftermath, reports have come out about the numerous warnings Stockton received concerning Titan’s design, including staff resignations resulting over safety concerns. Yet the CEO pushed ahead, touting the necessity to “break things” on the way to innovation. A recent article in Vanity Fair reported how members of the deep-sea community discussed Titan as a “tragedy-in-waiting.”
In other words—Titan had lots of fair warning, lots of dangers which had been made known. Experts understood that it would result in an unsurvivable catastrophic failure and loss of life. The tragedy is how nothing was done to prevent it.
With Titanic, there were known dangers as well, like the most famous decision to have insufficient lifeboats for passengers. But also unknown dangers like the brittling effect of the cold water on the metal hull, and a “miraging” effect on the water concealing icebergs. The tragedy was that everyone may have been saved but in the moment of crisis, nothing could be don
In hindsight, the evidence is clear both disasters were imminent. That’s the thing about hindsight—everything is always clear after the damage is done. It’s always obvious what should have been done once it’s too late. In the moment, it’s not always so clear.
This is the nature of blind spots. They are the problems you either don’t see coming—or the ones you choose not to see.
They are not exclusive to large organizations either. They can crop up anywhere. I’ve seen them in startups and I’ve seen them in Fortune 500s. With Titan, we have an example of what a blind spot ignored looks like in a startup. With Titanic, an example of what it looks like in a large corporation.
When it comes to blind spots, leaders can sense there is a problem—but they can’t see the problem itself. They recognize something isn’t working, that they are not having the impact they would like, but they don’t know exactly what it is or how to address it. While there are many different blind spots, they can all be catastrophic when left unaddressed—or noticed too late.
I’ve made a career helping leaders find their blind spots—and then address them full on. The beautiful part of this process is seeing not only how addressing the blind spot fixes a problem, but often provides the elusive breakthrough they have been reaching for. In my work, I’ve identified seven key blind spot areas:
Often, blind spots hide in plain sight because they are closely linked to our strengths. The late Stockton Rush was fearless as a CEO. There’s no denying that. But from my view of the situation, it was this same fearlessness which caused him to turn a blind eye to the safety concerns brought to him. His view of success differed greatly from that of his colleagues in the deep-sea exploration community.
In the case of Edward Smith, captain of theTitanic, he had over thirty years ¹ experience as a naval officer. The voyage was to be the last hurrah of a distinguished career. He operated under a false assumption that anything large enough to damage the Titanic would be easily visible. Worst case scenario—his vast expertise assured him that the engineering of the ship would permit them plenty of time to address any damage. Certainly, this was not the only factor in the sinking of the Titanic, but it was one blind spot of many which led to the disaster.
Likewise, blind spots are often behaviors masquerading as strengths while causing unintended consequences in our collaborations. In time, they then erode our performance. The way I define them in my work is “the gap between one’s intention and one’s impact.”
A similar sentiment can be found in the Vanity Fair article about the Titan tragedy: “There’s a vast chasm between intention and execution.” The question then becomes “How do you close the chasm where your blind spots hide?”
The key to identifying a specific blind spot is this impact piece. You can’t know your impact without asking other people. As humans, we all tend to be hyper-focused on our own intentions. We make decisions and act upon our intentions because they are clear to us. We forget our intentions are invisible to others—they can only experience our impact on them. If your impact is veering away from your intention, then—congratulations—you know you have a blind spot.
Blind spots can be located when the leader’s impact is off course, on a different trajectory than the intention they are striving for. Depending on the severity of the blind spot, the gap between intention and impact can become a massive performance eroder for the organization. Not to mention, the severity is amplified by our relative level of responsibility within the organization.
The best leaders are always trying to narrow the gap between their intention and impact so the two end up being correlated. Doing so requires proactively seeking out your specific blind spots. To do this, you have to develop a clear, unfiltered understanding of your impact. You gain this not from your own perspective, since that’s usually where the blind spot lives, but through the eye of the beholder—that is, the people being impacted.
Among the small expert community of deep-sea submersibles, everyone was bracing themselves for the impact that Rush would have. It was like watching a high-speed car crash in slow motion, yet their feedback was ignored.
The lesson for most leaders is that it’s rarely too late to listen—we all have blind spots but we can find them and fix them. We are blinded by our own good intentions. In Rush’s case, his intentions were clear when he once said, “The ocean is the universe. That’s where life is.” ² It appears he was blinded by his well-intended desire to share the wonders of the ocean with others.
But to be a leader that others can trust with their followership requires more than just positive intention. It requires an ongoing commitment to humility, introspection and actively seeking out feedback to find your blind spots and close the chasm between your impact and intention.
The simplest first action you can take is by reading my new book, Blind Spots: How Great Leaders Uncover Problems and Unleash Performance. In it, I go deeper into each of the seven blind spot areas, including real-life case studies of how leaders turned their blind spots into breakthroughs.
Start today. Be brave enough to face your unknowns: Collect the feedback. Analyze your impact. And then take action.
P.S. Want to gain invaluable insights into your blind spots right now – that’s why we built www.feedbackfriend.ai. Get the feedback you need for free today.
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube, or visit my website for more info!
Marisa Murray, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Marisa Murray is a leadership expert and executive coach with three Amazon best-sellers: Work Smart, Iterate!, and Blind Spots. She is CEO of Leaderley International and a TEDx speaker, dedicated to helping individuals and teams achieve superior performance. Her epiphany that "Blind Spots are the Key to Breakthroughs" inspired the creation of FeedbackFriend.ai, an AI-powered tool democratizing feedback access. Recognized by Manage HR magazine in the Top 10 Emerging Executive Coaching Companies for 2023, Leaderley serves clientele from the upper echelons of Fortune 500 companies. Through Marisa's writing, coaching, speaking, or 360s—her mission is to cultivate leaders that accelerate positive change.
References:
[1] Susan Casey, “TheTitan Submersible Disaster Was Years in the Making, New Details Reveal,” VanityFair.com, August 17, 2023, accessed August 22, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/08/titan-submersible-implosion-warnings/amp.
[2] Sam Roberts, “Stockton Rush, Pilot of the Titan Submersible, Dies at 61,” New York Times, nytimes.com, June 22, 2023, updated June 23, 2023, accessed August 23, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/us/stockton-rush-dead.html.
