During our trip away over the Easter weekend, I was in a conga line of vehicles behind a car towing a caravan.  When the opportunity to pass came, I put on my indicator and started to pull out to pass when at that very moment a black SUV roared up beside me looking to pass the caravan at the same time.

Through a stroke of good fortune, both of us realised what was happening in that moment…I pulled back into the lane and the SUV roared on ahead passing the caravan.  Accident averted!

As I settled down, I remembered that when I was learning to drive, the instructor had drummed into me ad-nauseum to always check my blinds spots when I was changing lanes.  I understood that in this situation, I had not checked my blind spot, I just assumed there was no other vehicle about to pass at the same time!

As a coach, I later reflected on that moment and remembered that the research shows the human tendency is to judge ourselves by our intent, which makes us blind to how others perceive our behaviours. These blind spots will often thwart productive conversations.  We become stuck “in a box” of  self deception and hard-wired for defensive reasoning.

We do not see the roadblocks we are putting in our own way, which stop us from creating the success to which we truly aspire.

Overcoming these roadblocks is one of the reasons, every business owner & leader should invest in a business coach.   The business coach is there to help you see the blind spots and support you along the journey to overcome those blind spots.