The leadership strength that might be covering your gap
Oct 19, 2026One of my biggest strengths as a leader has also been one of my biggest blind spots.
I can see the big picture. I can see where we're heading and every step it'll take to get there. So I give everyone the training and the information they need, and then I expect them to get on with it.
What I haven't always done well is stop and ask what they've understood. From the training, from my instructions, and about the big picture we're working toward.
And I still catch myself doing it.
Last week I wrote about how the people who rate their self-awareness the highest are often the least likely to have it. This week is about the strength that might be covering your gap.
Strongest score, biggest blind spot
I had a client complete the Leadership Mirror, and he came out strongest on Holding Steady Under Pressure. Interestingly, the feedback from his team was the exact opposite.
It's exactly what Tasha Eurich found in her research for her book Insight. The people with the lowest self-awareness often rate themselves the highest.
When we unpacked his results in our 1 to 1 coaching, I asked some deeper questions, and he started to see the examples. When the heat came on, he wasn't holding steady at all. He was expecting more from everyone, getting really reactive, and getting involved in things that weren't his to get involved in. He was micromanaging his team.
From where he was standing, he just couldn't see it. His team could. They were feeling it, and it was affecting their productivity.
The 4 places leadership quietly slips
The Leadership Mirror looks at 4 areas.
Making the Call. How cleanly you make decisions and have the conversations that need having.
Holding Steady Under Pressure. Whether your leadership stays consistent when the heat comes on.
Holding the Line. Whether the standards you set are the standards you actually follow through on.
Carrying What's Yours. Whether you hold clean boundaries, or quietly carry what belongs to someone else.
I see the first and the last as two ends of the same spectrum, so I want to spend a bit more time on those two.
Making the Call
When we don't make the call, or we make it and then go back on it, it can feel like we're showing our team we're considering their feedback and their ideas.
What actually happens is our team gets frustrated with us. It's destabilising, because there's no clarity about the direction we're leading them in. They don't understand what we need them to do.
It creates confusion all round, and it puts more pressure back on us to have more of the answers.
Carrying What's Yours
At the other end is Carrying What's Yours. I see so many passionate leaders burn out here.
They want their team to feel happy and supported, so they carry their team's work and their team's emotions.
But when we carry what isn't ours, we take away our team's chance to work things through and feel the satisfaction of getting there themselves.
We also carry the emotional weight of whatever they're going through, and then we lead with that weight. We end up leading from energy that's been zapped, and it's hard to inspire anyone from there.
What sits underneath both
So what sits underneath both ends? Usually, we care about the work and we want to be liked. We want our team to feel supported and heard.
That care is a real strength. It just needs to be seen clearly, so it doesn't quietly turn into the gap.
One thing to try this week
Think about the area of your leadership you feel most confident in.
Then ask one person in your team how they experience it from their side.
See all 4 side by side
If you want to see where you sit across all 4, that's exactly what the Leadership Mirror is for. It shows you where your leadership holds under pressure and where it quietly slips.
It's free and takes about 5 minutes.
Prefer to watch or listen? Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
Which of the 4 do you think is your strongest? Tell me in the comments.
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