What is CEO Blind Spots?

 

From overconfidence early in a tenure to a lack of strategic clarity later, blind spots can emerge throughout a CEO’s journey (this what McKinsey determined in their research). Like the seasons of the year, the CEO journey progresses through four stages. Each stage brings a unique set of opportunities and challenges, just as spring, summer, fall, and winter do:

 

·        Spring: Stepping up to the role. In the two to three years before the board decides on the next CEO, you should be gaining the experience, developing the skills, and demonstrating the qualities of an exceptional leader. Doing so will position you as a natural choice when the time comes and will prepare you to take the reins should you get the job.

 

·        Summer: Stepping into the role. During your first two years in the CEO role, you should get the organization to work at full potential productivity in the direction you’ve chosen. During this time, you should take bold actions that set the tone for your entire tenure.

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

 

·        Fall: Staying ahead while in the role. After starting strong, your next challenge will be to shape the company’s long-term journey and combat complacency—both your own and that of your employees. This means creating successive “S-curves” (periods of intense activity and radical improvement) that will boost performance at every level: you as a leader, your team, and the organization.

 

·        Winter: Sending it forward to the next CEO. In this final stage, you’re preparing to hand over the reins to your successor. That process involves recognizing when to leave, navigating the transition gracefully, and discovering your next journey.

As with many high achievers in other fields, those in the business world who achieve the most tend to be those who are the best at getting better. CEOs typically have blind spots, and these are the areas where chief executives, on average, tend to be “unconsciously unskilled”—that is, unaware of what they don’t know. 

CEOs, on average, regardless of tenure, score themselves higher than direct reports score them 100 percent of the time, and higher than boards score them 80 percent of the time. That 20 percent of time when the board is more bullish than the CEO tends to be in the leader’s early tenure—which makes sense given that the board is undoubtedly optimistic about its CEO choice; meanwhile, the CEO is still learning the role and therefore not yet feeling totally confident. 

In addition to the finding that most CEOs feel illusory superiority across all seasons, McKinsey’s research pointed to a short list of blind spots unique to each season in the role.

Summer: What gets in the way of starting strong? 

In the early years, new CEOs tend to be most overconfident about their ability to shift the culture. They typically come into the role with a clear point of view on where the organization needs to go, yet they underestimate the difficulty of aligning and mobilizing the employees to get there. The soft stuff—influencing behaviour change at scale—is the hard stuff, especially when getting started. 

New CEOs also feel overconfident in terms of how well they’re managing their personal effectiveness. It often takes more time than they anticipate to balance being who they want to be with who the organization needs them to be in the role. Their time and energy also become fragmented in ways that take away from successfully and sustainably doing what only they can do as the CEO. 

Fall: What gets in the way of staying ahead? 

In the middle years, a blind spot often emerges related to having a clear and compelling vision for the company. Once a leader’s initial set of bold moves has largely played out positively (if the moves haven’t, the CEO is likely on their way out—involuntarily), their intense focus on a clear North Star dissipates. Without the inspiration, boldness, and mandate for change that CEOs feel early in their tenure, they find it hard to press “reset”. 

Winter: What gets in the way of sending it forward? 

During the latter years of a CEO’s tenure, strategic clarity becomes an issue. For some, this can be the result of a desire to protect one’s legacy by preventing any potential late-in-the-game ball drops, especially as it relates to hitting near-term earnings targets. Others may make overly risky moves to avoid a growth slowdown or to relieve boredom. Teamwork can also suffer, often because the CEO has undermanaged the dynamics of the succession process, allowing potential candidates to jockey for position and signalling to lower performers that they won’t likely survive the transition. 

CEOs need some honest, forthright coaches with whom they could “bounce-off” ideas and plans. And it is in these interactions that one can identify blind spots and address them. 

Reference:

Seeing CEO blind spots, McKinsey Quarterly, 3 September 2025