One of the things I’ve learned after decades of working with leaders is that our biggest challenges are often hidden in plain sight. Not because we’re unwilling to look. Because we don’t know they’re there.
I once worked with a leader who cared deeply about her people. She listened, supported, and worked harder than anyone around her. Yet her team rarely brought new ideas forward and seemed to depend on her for almost everything.
She couldn’t understand why.
Then someone gave her a piece of feedback:
“You answer every question before we have a chance to think.”
She was stunned.
She thought she was being helpful. And she was. But she was also making it harder for others to grow. What she experienced as support, others experienced as dependence.
Can you guess who that leader was?
Actually—that was ME.
And not only did I get that feedback, I got it from my 12-year-old daughter.
She often spent several days at my office when school was closed. I thought she was filing papers. It turns out she was paying attention.
Then she gave me a little more feedback.
“Mom, you’re trying really hard to be friends with your staff. I think you’d be better off if you were just their boss.”
Out of the mouths of babes.
That’s the thing about leadership. We all have patterns. Patterns we learned long ago. Patterns that served us well and may still serve us well today.
Until they don’t.
The challenge is that we often can’t see them ourselves. They’re like the water a fish swims in—ever present, yet almost invisible.
The good news is that the moment we become aware of a pattern, we gain a choice.
And choice is where growth begins.
So here’s a question for you:
What might you be doing so automatically that you’ve stopped noticing its impact?
Sometimes the next breakthrough isn’t learning something new.
It’s finally seeing what was there all along.
Warmly,
JoAnna
P.S. On June 25, I’m hosting a complimentary masterclass called The Hidden Leadership Patterns That Undermine Employee Engagement.
We’ll explore some of the invisible habits that affect trust, communication, engagement, and culture—often without leaders realizing it.
I’d love to have you join us. Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/UPPO3PlfQkidB2vlBewoTg#/registration
