The best leaders know they have blind spots, so I’m not going to belabor the benefits of knowing what they are. The hard part is protecting yourself from your blind spots. I believe there are two kind of blind spots, near-sighted and far-sighted.

I have a short list of the people I trust, respect, and believe are smart at things that I am not. Of these people some I work with and talk to regularly some I don’t.

For my everyday decision making I always run my thoughts by the group I work with and talk to regularly. Without a doubt they have saved me from making horrible decisions and due to our proximity they were able to correct for my near-sighted blind spots. They also know enough about the details to protect me in a way the other group cannot.

For really high level, abstract, long range decisions or frameworks I employ to make decisions I talk to the group I don’t interact with on a daily basis to protect me from my far-sighted blind spots. Their proximity allows them to see things that I cannot see and they can also see things that my other group can’t see. This group has also saved me from making terrible decisions or continuing to rely on outdated/flawed mental frameworks.

I would name names but I would forget someone. But if you think you should be on my list, you probably are and I am very thankful.

So go and curate your two lists and let them do the work of finding your blindspots so you don’t have to. And while you are at it, share this post and subscribe.