Leadership Blind Spots That Hold You Back

As a leader, chances are really good, you're likely focused on solving the most obvious problems. You're trying to fill an important vacancy. You're trying to address missed goals. You're trying to decrease turnover or you're addressing tension with teammates. But some of the most dangerous issues don't show up in the metrics. No one brings them up at the weekly staff meeting. Some of the most dangerous issues are subtle and if left unaddressed, they can actually start to erode what you're trying to build. And these problems in your organization, they're not always visible at the top. They're often deeper in the organization, closer to kind of the day-to-day activities. I'm talking about the problems that are below the surface. And when I say below the surface, that does not mean that they're less important. It's just that they're further away from your site. And the challenge is this, if you don't intentionally look for these problems, you might not see them or discover them until it's too late. So let's work together to bring them to light. Here's what's gonna happen. Oftentimes, you'll see what I call surface level alignment. You're in a meeting and you say something and everybody kind of nods in meetings, but then they complain in private.

Sometimes you'll have what I call silent turnover. There might be people that are quietly quitting. They're just not bringing their best. Or some people leave the organization without telling you why. Or even worse yet, they stay when they don't really care. And these symptoms, they're generally a reflection of one of four deeper problems we're gonna talk about today. We're gonna discuss two of them in detail. And then next month, we're gonna dive into the following and final two. I'm gonna give you all four of them now. And these are the things that you're gonna wanna watch for. You will have leaders, number one, that lead up well, but lead down poorly. Number two, you'll have leaders that hit the goals, but hurt the team. Number three, you'll have leaders that care about people, but tolerate underperformance. And number four, you'll have leaders that keep control, but kill the ownership. Let's talk about the first two in this episode. Number one, if you lead long enough and your organization grows big enough, I promise you, unfortunately, you will have leaders that lead up well, but lead down poorly. Now, this one is not easy for you to spot. Because what's gonna happen is, you might have a leader that reports to you,

and you like this person, you believe in them, they're talented, they're sharp, you've seen them be effective working with you for years, and maybe even other senior leaders agree, like, yeah, she's really strong, or yeah, he's really talented. But what you don't realize is sometimes, they're good leading up, in other words, they're good relating to you, but they're not great leading down. And the challenge is, you have no idea, because your experience with this leader is like really solid. But for a lot of people that are under the leader, sometimes they have a different view, and their different view creates a different story. Honestly, I'll tell you right now, this was a blind spot for me for years. I didn't learn about this in seminary, I'd never read about it in books, and so it was a problem that I didn't recognize until probably a decade or so into my leadership, and then one day it started to hit me, because there was a leader that reported to me that I believed in and I trusted. This guy was always responsive, always prepared, he was sharp in meetings, I'd ask him questions, he'd have good answers. And then occasionally I would hear from someone else like a different version of this story.

Someone would say, hey, he's kind of controlling, and I'd think like, doesn't seem controlling to me, or they say, he's kind of demanding and difficult to work for, and I'd go on, this doesn't make any sense, because it's not my experience. Well, the wake-up call came shortly after we promoted this guy, and in just a few months, he released a solid team member. And shortly after that, there was another one, and so we were like, wait a minute, like those are two pretty good players, and so we asked him about it, like what happened, and his answer was super believable. Like, well, there's a work ethic here, and there's a cultural problem here, and we've tried to work on it, and we couldn't get there. And so because we trusted this guy, we just took him at his word and believed him that his assessment was probably accurate. Then shortly after that, another team member that worked for him quit, and he was in real serious developmental conversations with a fourth one, like, wait a minute, this is too much. Something's not working here. And so we just kind of dove in, and we reviewed the exit interviews of those that left, and we talked to current team members and former team members that had worked with them. And we discovered a pattern that was really really clear. He was not effective down. He led up with skill

I look back now and go actually he had the gift of brown nosing like literally he was really really good with those above him But when he would relate to people that reported to him, he led down with kind of a controlling and dominant spirit. So we addressed the problem and Dealt with it, but the bigger problem was the damage was already done and it still breaks my heart to this day But we lost good people and worse yet. We hurt good people and you said well that happens in a church like, you know, unfortunately This happens in all organizations. You want to do your very best to work against it You're always gonna try it to avoid it But sometimes when you lead a lot of people sometimes you get a leader in there That's not always effective leading down and it took me a while to realize this is actually not an uncommon or isolated problem especially for those of you that are leading a fast-growing organization or a fast-growing ministry because what happens is as your Business expands or as your nonprofit expands those who lead up well often rise quickly You see the brilliance in them because they're brilliant with you And so you tend to promote them but just because they're good with you doesn't mean they're good everywhere So I finally found the language to describe it and this is the way I talk about it Now I say this some leaders are strong up the ladder, but weak on the ground Some leaders are strong up the ladder, but weak on the ground You're gonna want to watch for this in your organization just because they're good up doesn't mean that they're good down and this can become a significant problem because You won't necessarily see it. They're gonna say the right things to you and you may not notice the whole time they're creating Challenges down line. How do you recognize this if you've got it going on in your organization? I'm gonna give you three thoughts to recognize a leader that's good up but not down The first thing you want to look for is unusually high Turnover if you've got a leader and under that leader you see multiple people being removed. They're being fired They're quitting they're unhappy or they're requesting transfers Can I work for somebody else if you see that pay attention look for unusually high Turnover the second thing you're gonna look for is what I call blame shifting patterns Look for blame shifting patterns if this leader takes all the credit for the wins like yeah I'm amazing, but rarely takes responsibility for the losses You actually might have a problem Because a great leader should always brag on their team members and give credit freely and take responsibility when things go wrong

I always tell our team as leaders. We don't cast blame We take responsibility We don't say our people won't we always say we have not led them to we don't cast blame we take responsibility So if you got a leader and they're good with you, but something's not going well, and it's always someone else's fault That might be a problem look for excessive turnover look for blame shifting and then look for team silence Look for team silence if you've got someone they're pretty good with you But their team members are in a meeting and they don't speak up They rarely offer ideas. They don't challenge anything. They don't push back. They don't ask questions Their silence often signals fear not alignment They're they're afraid maybe if they speak up they might get reprimanded for it So you know watch for silence with their team members or they're unusually quiet now to be really clear You're not going on a witch hunt. It's not like you're going I'm gonna go look at all my great leaders and find the bad ones You're not you're not looking for things that are wrong But you're also not burying your head in the sand you want to be aware you want to be intuitive You want to be listening and if you see patterns that could signal that there are deeper problems You want to take those things seriously because one of your top leadership objectives is to see problems early and solve Problems quickly see them early and solve them quickly and it's not good news But I'll tell you the truth if you lead long enough And you grow big enough you will have ineffective leaders Downline your job is to spot them early and fix those problems quickly So what are we doing? The first thing is we're watching for those who lead up well and then lead down poorly The second thing we're gonna watch for we'll talk about this today in the next episode two more the second thing For today is this we're gonna look for the leaders that hit the goals But hurt the team those that get it done, but they don't get it done in a way. That's Creates a great culture and this one is again is a little bit tricky because you can have a team member That's getting really good results. Like the numbers look great The deadlines are met they hit the goals but behind the wins Sometimes their team members are actually struggling and you may not know it

It could be that they've got team members that are many of them are burning out, or they're resentful, or you've got people that used to love their jobs, but now they just endure their jobs, and you don't want that. And believe me when I tell you this one's difficult to spot because you'll have leaders in your organization that are getting the desired results, but occasionally those results will come with an unseen cost. It feels like this. The results speak for themselves, you think, but the team beneath them, sometimes they don't feel seen. They don't feel valued. They don't feel supported. And there's a couple of issues that could be going on here. Sometimes the leader just drives their team too hard. You know, you gotta get it done. You gotta get it done at all costs. And there are seasons when you're gonna have to lead like that, but you don't wanna lead like that for too long. Yes, there are seasons when we push it, but we don't wanna always live under the gun. That's not good for anybody. So you've got leaders that drive other people too hard. Other times, the problem isn't pressure, it's actually neglect. It's not that the leader's like pushing too hard. The bigger problem is sometimes when it comes to the people,

the leader actually cares too little. And so you got a leader that is driving results and loves what the team produces, but forgets to actually love the team as people. And what'll happen is the leader says, hey, let's celebrate the win. You know, we hit the goal at work, but that leader doesn't celebrate what matters away from work. He doesn't see the team members as people that have birthdays and family members and good things at home and challenging things at home and life events. And so he or she is gonna care about everything at the office, but ignore the blessings and the challenges away from the office. And so I wanna be really, really clear and don't wanna be muddy on this. As leaders, we're always gonna push for results. We never apologize for leading toward excellence and creating an organization that serves people well and creates value. We're never gonna apologize for results, but we don't just create wins. We love people. We don't just drive progress, but we care about the people on our teams. And what we have to do is like, we genuinely have to care for them so much from the heart that we don't just feel it,

we show it. And I wanna just stay there for a minute because there are some of you that you feel it, but you don't know how to show it. And you gotta figure out how to show it. You don't just, you just don't just like in your marriage, like, well, you know, well, I love my spouse, but you don't say it, show it, tell them, like it's not gonna work. You can't just feel it, but you have to deeply express it. And so I've learned over the years when I ask a question after a project, I don't just ask, did we win? That's not the question I ask anymore, but I'm gonna ask, did we win in the right way? Did we win in a way that honored the people? Not just did we hit the target, but did we get the work done, the project done, and the people got better? The people felt valued, the culture got stronger. No one had to lose themselves just to hit the goal. And again, it doesn't mean that there aren't seasons where we go hard. We do, but we care about the people. And then after, if we lead through a hard season, like, hey, let's take a breather, you know, give them some extra time off or whatever. Bottom line is this, we don't just care about the results, we care about the people. Now, some leaders do push for the wins

and they do care for the people, they just don't show it well. We talked about that. And so if that's you, what I wanna just tell you right now is don't ever assume that your team knows that you care. Don't assume it. And like I told them in 1997, that doesn't matter. You gotta do it all the time, all the time, all the time. And that's why I always tell myself the four most important words in leading and loving people is this, I notice and you matter. I notice and you matter. I notice what you did. I notice the effort you put in. I notice how much you care. I notice that this is more than just a job for you, it's a mission. I notice and you matter. And here's the key, it's I notice you. It's not just I notice what you do, but I notice you as a person and you matter. And I'll speak as a Christian leader, and I know that there are those of you from different faith backgrounds, and I'm super glad that you're here, no matter your faith background. But from my spiritual perspective as a follower of Jesus, I say it this way.

If you get results, but don't love people, you're not leading in a way that honors God. Let me say it again. If you get results, but don't love and care for people, you're not leading in a way that honors God. What do we watch for in this problem? We're getting results without loving people. We're gonna watch for two things. Watch for performance without appreciation. If the team hits the target, but the team doesn't feel valued, It's not a win. I notice you matter. We care. The second thing is watch for what I call surface-level buy-in, surface-level agreement. The team kind of agrees in meetings, they nod their head in conversations, but behind the scenes, they disagree or they're checked out. And I wanna be super clear, this is not necessarily the same as quiet quitting. There are some people who quiet quit because they're lazy, they're mad, they're resentful, they just wanna milk the system. That's a whole nother problem. But there are other people, they're not lazy, they're not resentful, they're just tired of bringing their best and being taken for granted. That they're sick of feeling like a tool to serve your vision instead of a person

that matters making a difference. And so, again, I wanna drive this in and I'm saying to myself, because I have to be reminded of it, the bottom line is this, you can't lead people effectively if you don't love people deeply. You can't lead people effectively if you don't love people deeply. Please hear this, write it down, take it off at 2.0 speed. If you're listening fast, let this sink in. If you care about results, but not people, eventually you'll lose both. One more time, if you care about results, but not the people that you lead, eventually you'll lose both. So let's recap, we've covered a lot. Stick with me, I've got kind of closing thoughts too. I wanna tell you just very directly, there's way more going on in your organization than you realize. And the more you grow, the more influence you have, the higher you rise, unfortunately, the less you tend to know. And on paper, things can look pretty good. But under the surface, you may have team members that are struggling, you may have team members that aren't getting along, people feeling resentful, you may have a culture that used to be healthy

and is not as healthy as it once was. That's why we created the free leadership assessment. It's quick, it's practical, it kind of gives you a clearer picture, some good questions to ask to help discover what's underneath the surface. Just go to cglp.com, download the leader guide and you can get yours. Let me tell you what's coming up in the next episode. We're gonna hit on the final two problems that hold back your team. Because again, chances are pretty good, you may have some team leaders, number three, that care about people, but tolerate underperformance. Super common problem. And number four, you may have some leaders that keep control, but kill ownership. We're gonna talk about those in detail in the next month's episode. Now, if you realize that you have some problems, maybe like these, and you could have some challenges deeper in your organization, I wanna just speak directly to you and tell you right now, do not be discouraged. The fact that you recognize that means you're ahead of most people. What do you do? I'm just gonna encourage you leader to leader, maybe pastor to pastor, friend to friend.

Remain humble. Trust your instincts. Trust what God put in you and what you believe He's showing you. Here's what you're gonna wanna do. You're gonna wanna listen for what you hear and listen for what you don't hear, and you should be hearing. Look at what you see that you should be seeing and look for the things that you should be seeing that you're not seeing. And then just connect the dots. Trust your intuition. If someone says this and someone says that, and you kind of see this, and that doesn't quite feel right and didn't quite sound right, just dig in a little bit. Ask some more questions. You're not going on a witch hunt like trying to find all the bad leaders. That's not your tone. That's not your heart. You care about people. So you wanna make sure that people are loved and well led. And then you might even watch for some of these issues in yourself because sometimes even with really, really good intentions, we don't know that in our passion and love for the mission, sometimes we become stronger

or more dominant than we should be. It's not our heart, but actually our actions don't reflect what's in our heart. The bottom line is this. God has trusted you to love, serve, and lead people. And that's a tremendous calling. And if you care about people, I notice and you matter. You notice what's in them and you help them see that they really do matter. You can pull out of them even more. And suddenly they're more fulfilled. They're more passionate. They're a part of something that's bigger than themselves. And that's when you have something special. Don't settle for anything less than special. God has given you everything you need to do everything that He's called you to do. With confidence and make a difference in this world. Hey, great news. Guess what? Today, you got a little bit better. And what do we know? We know that everyone wins when the leader gets better. E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E