Blind Spot

Why do managers have blind spots?

Because you see your intentions and your team sees your behaviour. You know you meant to come back to that question, that you were stressed about something else, that the idea was really theirs. Your team only sees the silence, the mood and whose name was on the slide. The gap between the two is a blind spot, and the most useful feedback lives there.

Take Blind Spot: fourteen questions, about five minutes. Answer for the last month, as your team would see it.

What does the test look at?

Five behaviours your team sees every day, two or three questions each:

• Clarity. Whether people know what you expect, and why priorities change.
• Listening. Whether people get to finish before you answer.
• Follow-through. Whether you do what you said, by when you said it.
• Credit. Whether the team’s work is seen as theirs.
• Mood. Whether your bad day becomes the team’s bad day.

What do I get at the end?

A self-view score out of 100 and all five areas ranked, weakest first, each with one thing to try on Monday. The bands describe your view, not your leadership: “A confident self-view” (70 and above), “A mixed self-view” (40 to 69) and “A critical self-view” (below 40). A high self-view isn’t good news on its own; it may be where the biggest gaps hide.

Blind Spot is built for your team to answer the same questions about you, anonymously. Team mode is coming. For now, this is your half of the picture.

How is it worked out?

Each answer runs from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Five of the fourteen questions describe a healthy habit, such as “I ask a follow-up question before giving my view”, and are flipped before scoring. Each area’s average shows how far that behaviour is from where you’d want it, by your own account. The overall average becomes the score, from 0 to 100.

The questions, areas, bands and advice are a draft written with AI and are waiting for a coach’s review. Treat the result as a mirror, not a verdict.

What should I read or take next?

Read how to find out what your team really thinks of you for questions that make honesty safe. Feedback Appetite shows how well you take what they say. The 42 Test gives your full picture across 42 behaviours, and every tool for this stage is on the New managers page.