Blindspotting: Preventing Hidden Sabotage at Work

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Jul 29, 2025

Marty Dubin, an executive coach, former CEO, and clinical psychologist, dives into the fascinating world of leadership blind spots. He explains how even our greatest strengths can become liabilities, like confidence morphing into arrogance. By introducing his six key areas for identifying blind spots—motives, traits, emotion, intellect, behavior, and identity—Marty emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and honest feedback. He also shares practical strategies for evolving personal identity and creating a culture of vulnerability within teams.

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INSIGHT

Strengths Can Become Liabilities

Our greatest strengths can turn into liabilities if overused or unchecked.
Examples include confidence becoming arrogance and high standards turning into micromanagement.

INSIGHT

Six Blindspot Categories

Blind spots can be understood through six categories: motives, traits, emotion, intellect, behavior, and identity.
Identity is especially impactful when your role changes but your self-concept doesn't.

ANECDOTE

Agreeableness Cost in Business

Marty Dubin shared how his agreeable nature led him to give away too much leverage in a contract dispute.
His desire to collaborate caused him to miss being firm in a business negotiation.

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In this episode of Daily Creative, we dive into the hidden forces that can derail even the most talented and well-intentioned leaders: blind spots. We explore why self-awareness isn’t just about knowing our weaknesses, but also understanding how our biggest strengths—if left unchecked—can turn into liabilities.

We’re joined by Marty Dubin, executive coach, former CEO, clinical psychologist, and author of the new book Blindspotting. Marty shares his framework for uncovering blind spots across six key areas: motives, traits, emotion, intellect, behavior, and identity. Together, we discuss how habits and internal narratives can get stuck even as our roles evolve, and the vital importance of inviting honest feedback from those around us before it’s too late.

We cover:

Why our “super strengths” can turn into career roadblocks
The difference between our self-perception and reality
Practical ways to spot and address blind spots as leaders
How to evolve our identity alongside our changing responsibilities
Creating a culture of feedback and vulnerability within teams

Five Key Learnings:

Blind spots often stem not from our weaknesses, but from our overused strengths—like confidence becoming arrogance, or high standards turning into micromanagement.
Marty Dubin’s six blind spot categories—motives, traits, emotion, intellect, behavior, and identity—offer a holistic way to self-reflect and adjust as our careers evolve.
Our identity can easily lag behind our roles, causing frustration, stagnation, or even unintentional sabotage if we don’t let go of outdated self-concepts.
Emotional reactions, especially those that surprise us, are powerful signals of possible blind spots tied to hidden motives or identity mismatches.
Building a culture where others can “speak truth” to us—inviting honest feedback before problems arise—is essential for growth and effective leadership.

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Mentioned in this episode:

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