Blind Spots: What you don’t see can hold you back

Jennifer Hoege
5 days ago
3 min read

A January reflection for leaders ready to step into conscious growth

Every new year, leaders arrive at the same energetic crossroads: who you were last year meets who you intend to be this year. It’s the moment where ambition feels fresh, where possibility is wide open, and where the stories we told ourselves in 2025 start to dissolve into questions about what’s next.

But before you rush into vision boards, goal maps, and color-coded strategies for 2026, I want to invite you into a calmer, and a far more transformative ritual:

Look at what you didn’t see.

Because in leadership, blind spots don’t just slow you down; it silently steers your results.

It influences conversations you avoid, decisions you delay, relationships you misread, and opportunities you never recognize. Blind spots are often subtle, deceptively reasonable, and deeply familiar. And the truth is: you can be highly competent and still be held back by what’s happening just outside your field of awareness.

January is the perfect time to illuminate that space.

What did 2025 reveal about your leadership?

Before you start crafting your 2026 goals, take a moment to look back, not for nostalgia, but for data.

Ask yourself:

Where did you feel the most friction?
What patterns kept repeating?
Where did you react instead of responding?
Which decisions took too long?
Where did you avoid uncomfortable conversations?

These aren’t failures; they are breadcrumbs.

Blind spots leave clues – always

Maybe you realized you were delegating tasks but not authority. Maybe you were so focused on team wellbeing while you struggled to hold boundaries. Maybe your tolerance for “just one more thing” disguised chronic overextension.

What 2025 revealed is your foundation. What you choose to see in it shapes your evolution.

How will you remove friction before it costs you momentum in 2026?

Blind spots become expensive when it is unaddressed.

The friction you felt last year… it compounds:

A communication gap becomes a conflict.
A stretched-thin calendar becomes burnout.
A talent issue becomes attrition.
A leadership habit becomes a culture feature.

But friction is also feedback. It tells you exactly where to refine.

This year, choose the brave path: remove the friction before it becomes the story of your year.

That may mean strengthening boundaries, redesigning roles, creating clarity where you’ve been carrying assumptions, or simply slowing down enough to ask better questions.

Momentum doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from being clearer – with fewer hidden obstacles.

A simple ritual to uncover what you’ve been avoiding

You don’t need a full diagnostic to uncover blind spots. Start with this five-minute practice each week:

Name the thing you are avoiding: A conversation, decision, delegation, or truth.
Name the belief underneath it:
“I don’t want conflict.”
“It’s faster if I do it.”
“I don’t want to disappoint people.”

Challenge the belief: Is it true? Or just comfortable?
Choose one micro-action: Not a big leap – just the next visible step.
Repeat: Blind spots shrink when awareness becomes a habit.

Leaders don’t eliminate blind spots; they learn to recognize them sooner.

Stepping into a more conscious 2026

This year isn’t asking you to become a different leader. It’s asking you to become a more aware leader.

Awareness is the ultimate competitive advantage. It’s what accelerates strategy, empowers teams, strengthens culture, and rebuilds alignment. It’s what keeps organizations adaptable in a world that is perpetually shifting. And it starts with the courage to look at what you’ve been stepping over.

If you’re ready to illuminate your blind spots, refine your leadership, and create a more conscious trajectory for 2026, Hoege Consulting & Coaching is here to guide the work – quietly, strategically, and with your growth at the centre. Because what you don’t see can hold you back. But what you choose to see can change everything.

At Hoege Consulting & Coaching, I work with leaders to uncover the blind spots that quietly limit their impact, and to move past them with clarity and intention. Real growth happens when you partner with a coach who isn’t afraid to name what you might be avoiding, and who supports you as you step into what’s next.