Earthsoft Foundation of Guidance (EFG) is working as an NGO/NPO for students - Education & Career guidance and for Professionals for soft skills enhancements. I am working on speading , sharing knowledge; experience globally.It has uploaded important presentations at http://myefg.in/downloads.aspx. Also https://dl.dropbox.com/u/83265908/Links-events.xls has links for all ppt files. Read http://tl.gd/jm1gh5 Be mentor using your education, knowledge & experience to contribute for a social cause & do conduct free training/ workshop seeking help of existing platforms like rotary,etc Kindly spread to your friends.Thank you! - Earthsoft Foundation of Guidance Let us make earth little softer..

1. Earthsoft Foundation of Guidance
Edge-Aggressive-Reliable-Trust-Honesty-Soft-Obedient-Fun-Transparent
Making earth little softer

2. About us
Earthsoft Foundation of Guidance (EFG) has uploaded following
presentations at http://myefg.in/downloads.aspx
Also https://dl.dropbox.com/u/83265908/Links-events.xls has links
Be mentor using your education, knowledge & experience to
contribute for a social cause & do conduct free training seeking
help of existing platforms. Kindly share with your friends
•Motivation for higher study, Planning for study, Education
guidance, Career guidance, Career available after SSC & HSC
•Guidance for post graduation
•Personality development – 3 files
•How to prepare resume, Tips to attend interview successfully
•Religion related –To understand basic religion, Do &Don’t tips
•Health related - Be vegetarian, Be healthy
•Corporate - Project management, Assertiveness, Ownership
•Finance - To avoid speculation in stock market
•Social - Women empowerment, Choosing life partner
Making earth little softer

3. Index
• Leader - 10 blind spots
• Going it alone
• Insensitive to your impact on others
• An ―I know‖ attitude
• Avoiding difficult conversation
• Blaming others or circumstances
• Treating commitments casually
• Conspiring against others
• Withholding emotional commitment
• Not taking a stand
• Tolerating good enough
Making earth little softer

4. Leader - 10 blind spots
We all have blind spots - even the best & greatest
of leaders
• Unproductive behaviors
• That are invisible to us
• Are glaring to everyone else
• Create dire consequences for you, your team,
and your company
We advice for recognizing and overcoming them.
Making earth little softer

5. Going it alone
The symptoms:
• Rejecting offers of support
• Withdrawing /Isolating from others
• Shouldering the burden alone
• Not talking about your stress or anxiety
• Not including others in decision-making
• Leaving people to fend for themselves.
Why it's damaging:
It creates anxiety and uncertainty in others. When
you are missing in action, frustration builds and
people fill in the blanks, spread rumors, and
withdraw their discretionary effort
Making earth little softer

6. Going it alone
What to do: Talk with others about your tendency
to solve problems by yourself. Let others know
that you are committed to working in partnership
but you need their support. Ask them to point out
when you are withdrawing so you can stop
excluding and start including.
Making earth little softer

7. Insensitive to impact
The symptoms:
• Not recognizing a negative impact
• Being insensitive to cultural differences
• Expecting others to react the same way you do
• Criticizing and devaluing others
• Dismissing reactions of others as their problem
Why it's damaging: Insensitivity and a low level
of awareness results in an unsafe environment.
People emotionally disengage, work around the
leader, and do not speak up for fear of
repercussions
Making earth little softer

8. Insensitive to impact
What to do: Find out how you impact others by
asking for their candid feedback before you end a
conversation. Ask following
• Do you feel that I listen to you?
• Do you believe that I have confidence in you?
• Have I let you down in any way?
• Have I said anything that is limiting our working
relationship?
Making earth little softer

9. An “I know” attitude
The symptoms:
• Having an answer for everything
• Rigid and fixed views
• Lack of intellectual curiosity
• Not listening, diminishing what others to say
• Arguing with those not agreeing with your
• Refusing to explore alternatives and options
Why it's damaging: Others feel devalued, angry,
and insignificant. Innovation and creativity come
to a standstill as the "I know" leader dominates
conversations and shuts down new ideas
Making earth little softer

10. An “I know” attitude
What to do: Recognize that your blind spot
causes you to miss important information and
ideas. Without fail, ask:
• What have I missed?
• What am I not seeing?
• How am I limiting new possibilities?
Making earth little softer

11. Avoiding difficult conversation
The symptoms:
• Softening the message
• Not delivering the tough message
• Staying on the surface of issues
• Avoiding emotional discussions
• Talking in general instead of specific
Why it's damaging: What you don't tell others,
they will make up and discuss in the hallways.
Leaders who are not direct raise anxiety levels to
staggering heights, resulting in a lack of focus on
business needs. People become more fixated on
what the leader is not saying or disclosing
Making earth little softer

12. Avoiding difficult conversation
What to do: Start the conversation with a positive
context and tell others that you are committed to
their success and to the partnership. Then ask if
they are open to your coaching or feedback. Most
will readily respond yes. Then say what you have
to say responsibly
Making earth little softer

13. Blaming others or circumstances
The symptoms: Always having a reason,
excuse, or explanation ("Yeah, but…"); pointing
the finger at others; treating others as the enemy
or opposition; building silos rather than supporting
enterprise perspective; criticizing and
complaining; invalidating ideas and people.
Why it's damaging: Leaders who blame others
are perceived as petty, small, and divisive. They
polarize the organization and divide people into
camps. To avoid being caught in the line of fire,
people stay below the radar and wait and see
rather than take action.
Making earth little softer

14. Blaming others or circumstances
What to do: Stop pointing out what others did not
do, what they should have done, and how
ineffective they are. Ask yourself:
How has my behavior contributed to this problem
or breakdown?
Take accountability publicly by owning your role in
the problem. Fix yourself, not others
Making earth little softer

15. Treating commitments casually
The symptoms: Not making commitments, not
keeping them, not delivering on time, always
maintaining an escape hatch to avoid being held
accountable, not providing a clear "I commit" or "I
do not commit," making casual promises with no
intention of keeping them.
Why it's damaging: When people cannot trust
your word in all matters, they discount you,
reduce your credibility, and imitate your behavior.
The environment becomes lackluster with sloppy
promises, accepting excuses over results, and
not holding each other accountable
Making earth little softer

16. Treating commitments casually
What to do: Be crystal clear about what you are
committing to and what you are not committing to.
If you must revoke a commitment, communicate
prior to the promised deadline. Take
accountability for your impact, and ask "Is there a
new commitment I am willing to make?‖
Making earth little softer

17. Conspiring against others
The symptoms: Making negative comments;
silently endorsing a negative point of view by not
speaking up; displaying nonverbal cues of
disapproval, disappointment, or disinterest;
talking about people, not to them; enlisting others
as co-conspirators against a person or group.
Why it's damaging: When you conspire against
others, you are perceived as dishonest, deceitful,
and weak. People withdraw their trust and
constantly wonder what you are saying about
them. Your behavior erodes partnerships and you
are unable to influence change or people
Making earth little softer

18. Conspiring against others
What to do: Practice catching yourself when you
make negative comments about others. The
moment you notice yourself conspiring against
others, stop and take accountability. Apologize for
your impact, restate what you have to say in a
supportive manner, and immediately talk to the
person with whom you have an unresolved issue.
Making earth little softer

19. Withholding emotional commitment
The symptoms: Complying & going along with a
decision, resisting change and withholding
support, withdrawing your passion and
enthusiasm, agreeing intellectually but not
committing emotionally, going through motions
Why it's damaging: Leaders who are not
transparent are viewed as disingenuous,
disengaged, and inauthentic. When you withhold
your emotional commitment you separate
yourself from others and they notice it. Your
behavior slows or stops change. If you are not
committed, why should they be?
Making earth little softer

20. Withholding emotional commitment
What to do: When you are unable to fully
commit, communicate and share where you are
stuck instead of letting your behavior do the
talking. Make a clear and direct request to the
appropriate person for what you need in order to
commit intellectually and emotionally.
Making earth little softer

21. Not taking a stand
The symptoms:
• Lack of clarity & direction on small / large issues
• Not making decisions
• Reversing decisions that you have made
• High levels of ambiguity
• Lack of decisive action, paralyzed teams
Why it's damaging: People lose confidence in
leaders who wait for consensus, are slow to make
decisions, or are unwilling to take a clear and
decisive stand. Ineffectiveness results as others
spend their time trying to second-guess what you
really want
Making earth little softer

22. Not taking a stand
What to do: Stop making others read your mind
and be clear about what you want and what you
are willing to commit to. You can always take a
stand—even when you have not made a
decision—by saying, "I am not ready to make this
decision today. But I will give you my answer by
the end of next week.―
Making earth little softer

23. Tolerating good enough
The symptoms: Failure to anticipate & embrace
change, maintaining status quo or only making
incremental changes, defending why things are
fine as they are, refusing to investigate solutions
that are outside of your comfort zone, rejecting
new ideas, reacting instead of being proactive.
Why it's damaging: Others are discouraged and
resigned when the leader does not demand
excellence in all areas. No one wants to be
second best; people want to be on the winning
team. Leaders lose support and enthusiasm as
people resign to "nothing will ever change here.―
Making earth little softer

24. Tolerating good enough
What to do: Examine what is holding you back:
What are you tolerating and where are you
resigned that this is as good as it gets? Raise
your level of leadership awareness and
effectiveness and lead by example. This will
inspire others to do the same.
Making earth little softer

25. Few interesting 10 spots
1.Under-communicating strategic direction & priorities
2.Poorly communicating expectations
3.Waiting for poor performance to improve — Hope is
not a strategy
4.Buying into the myth of the ―Irreplaceable Employee‖
5.Investing too much time trying to coach radical change
6.Hiring for capability and nothing else
7.Accepting the current capabilities and limitations of
your team
8.Acting as the sole integrator of team goals and
performance
9.Believing all needed info flows up and down
10.Going quiet in times of change and uncertainty
Making earth little softer

26. Few interesting 10 spots
Few interesting 10 spots
Making earth little softer

27. Few interesting points
1.Leader must have vision. Without vision, you
cannot be a leader
2.Leader to travel into an unexplored path. & not
just along well-laid out ways
3.Leader must know how to manage success,
and even more importantly, failure.
4.Leader to have the courage to make decisions.
5.Leader to have nobility in management. Every
action of the leader to be transparent
6.Leader to work with integrity and succeed with
integrity. When failure occurs, the leader of the
organization owns that failure.
Making earth little softer

28. Few interesting points
The best management lessons did not come from
reading the books
Those came from the experience
To be a great leader, you have to be
• a coach rather than a commander,
• an advisor rather than a manager and
• a representative of your colleagues instead of
becoming a director
Making earth little softer

29. Gratitude & references
We express gratitude for making the content available free of cost
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/09/0901_blind_spots/1.htm by Loretta
Malandro, PhD;; socketwell performance advisor
http://www.onpartners.com/news/resources/top10blindspots.pdf by Allen
Sockwell and Brad Westveld
http://executivecenterofexcellence.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/10-blind-spots-
that-cause-leaders-to-fail-and-undermine-organizational-performance/
Making earth little softer

30. Thank You
Making earth little softer