The gap in your leadership style is costing your organization millions in lost talent and unrealized potential. Recent Deloitte analysis reveals 82% of senior executives overestimate their leadership capabilities, while only 34% of their direct reports rate them as highly effective. A recent report by McKinsey’s Leadership Index demonstrates organizations with self-aware leaders generate 41% higher shareholder returns.
Through decades of intensive executive leadership coaching partnerships, I’ve guided thousands of leaders to confront their perception gaps and transform their effectiveness. My research and hands-on work with leadership executives reveals a critical pattern: when leaders overestimate their impact, organizational performance declines.
The Whispers Behind Closed Doors
Your team masters the art of working around your leadership rather than through it. When direct reports orchestrate pre-meetings before your meetings, they’re crafting sophisticated avoidance strategies that undermine organizational effectiveness. The signs of resistance appear in subtle but significant ways – hushed conversations that stop when you approach, decisions made without your input, and initiatives that progress despite your involvement rather than because of it.
Blind Spots That Burn Money
Every dismissed suggestion and interrupted conversation erodes your leadership capital. The real cost manifests in diminished innovation, suppressed creativity, and the gradual disengagement of once-passionate team members. The financial impact compounds silently but devastatingly as your blind spots widen and deepen.
The Excellence Exodus
Your most valuable talent isn’t leaving – they’re already gone mentally. High-potential performers don’t announce their departures with dramatic exits; they quietly disengage, update their professional networks, and take their invaluable institutional knowledge with them. Their physical departure is merely the final step in a long process of disconnection.
Perception Isn’t Performance
When you celebrate wins, your team exchanges knowing looks that speak volumes. Your perception of successful leadership diverges sharply from their lived reality. This misalignment creates a credibility gap that widens with each misread situation and dismissed concern.
Truth Triggers Transformation
Your leadership style remains anchored to past successes while your organization evolves around you. The methods that earned your current position may now be the very barriers preventing your next level of leadership effectiveness. Transformation begins with the courage to confront these uncomfortable truths.
Your next step goes beyond checking boxes—it’s about evolving your perspective and approach. Schedule monthly anonymous feedback, work with a coach to address blind spots, and set clear metrics for impact. Partner with peer executives for honest accountability. By balancing authority with influence, you’ll cultivate a leadership style that inspires transformative change and drives real progress.
Lead from Within: Everyone sees your blind spots but you—turning that awareness into action is what shapes your next chapter as a successful leader.
#1 N A T I O N A L B E S T S E L L E R
The Leadership Gap
What Gets Between You and Your Greatness
After decades of coaching powerful executives around the world, Lolly Daskal has observed that leaders rise to their positions relying on a specific set of values and traits. But in time, every executive reaches a point when their performance suffers and failure persists. Very few understand why or how to prevent it.
Additional Reading you might enjoy:
- Unleash Your Inner Leader: Learn to Develop Your Leadership Style
- 7 Things You Need to Know to Improve Your Leadership Style
- What is the Worst Leadership Styles and Why
- What is the Best Leadership Style That Outlasts All Trends
- Are You Aware of the New Leadership Style That is Emerging
- 2 Types of Leadership Styles: Learn How to Choose the Right One
- How To Develop A Leadership Style That Resonates With Your Audience
- The 2 Rare Skills You Need to Be a Great
Of Lolly’s many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World. Her writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and others. Her newest book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness has become a national bestseller.