What Are Your Blind Spots? – Conquering the 5 Misconceptions that Hold Leaders Back
Uncover your blind spots and reset your leadership approach for long-lasting success in any business
Far too many business leaders today are using outdated practices to engage and motivate their people―and they’re failing miserably. Truly resilient, thriving organizations are those that are purpose driven and focus on more than pure profits. Purpose, or an underlying company philosophy, not only drives strategic change, but also encourages customer loyalty and employee engagement. In order to succeed, leaders must be willing to discard old ways of thinking and detrimental business habits―and recognize their blind spots.
Authors Jim Haudan and Rich Berens identify the five most common leadership blind spots that hamper success: Purpose, Story, Engagement, Trust, and Truth. They take you straight into the board room of well-known leadership teams to illustrate how these blind spots play out and the impact they have on organizations. You’ll learn how to identify and overcome your own blind spots and embrace positive, forward-thinking new practices.
What’s Your Blind Spot equips you with the tools needed for a personal leadership reset. You’ll discover how to increase engagement, productivity, and growth in your own organization. This is an invaluable guide for executives, managers, team leaders, and human resource professionals looking for an effective way to engage and motivate employees at every level of an organization.
About Jim Haudan (Toledo, Ohio Author)
Jim Haudan is a different kind of CEO, with a passion that goes beyond leading Root to success. For more than 20 years, he has been helping organizations unleash hidden potential by fully engaging their people to deliver on the strategies of the business. With his background as a coach, it’s not a stretch that the company Jim co-founded focuses on tapping employees’ discretionary efforts – the kind that produces winning results.
From its headquarters in Sylvania, Ohio, and office in Chicago, Root partners with senior teams at major companies worldwide to build creative ways to execute strategy. A unique blend of 150 business experts, analysts, artists, writers, and educators, the Root team draws an organization’s people into the business by appealing to basic human curiosity and intelligence and by combining insights, art, visualization, and dialogue in innovative ways.
Jim believes that business results don’t come from creating a great strategy, but by meaningfully connecting it to all of the people in the company to bring it to life. And the Root team agrees, resulting in eight straight years on the Great Place to Work® Institute’s 25 Best Small and Medium Workplaces and being among the 2009 Top Small Workplaces according to the Wall Street Journal and Winning Workplaces Inc.
Root’s clients include some of the biggest names in business, such as Gap Inc., Petco, Dow Chemical, Pepsi, Novartis, Taco Bell, and Hilton Hotels – more than 500 companies and tens of millions of people. The impact of Root’s approach on so many people and organizations over two decades is captured in Jim’s national best-selling book, The Art of Engagement: Bridging the Gap Between People and Possibilities (McGraw-Hill, 2008).
Jim is a frequent speaker on leadership alignment, strategy execution, employee engagement, business transformation, change management, and accelerated learning. He has spoken at TEDx BGSU, Tampa TEDx, the Conference Board events, and numerous client meetings. He also contributes regularly to business publications and blogs, including Switch & Shift, where he was on the Top 75 List of Human Business Champions. He lives in Sylvania with his wife, Michelle. They have three children, Brad, Brooke, and Blake. When he’s not traveling the globe visiting clients,
he enjoys relaxing with his family at their lake cottage, golfing, fishing, sailing, photography, and attending Jimmy Buffett concerts.
About Rich Berens (Co-Author)
For over 10 years, Rich has had the opportunity to lead Root and its artists, designers, researchers, programmers, and MBAs in creating breakthrough approaches to change that have reached millions of people around the world.
Rich has personally worked with dozens of Global 2000 organizations, including Hilton, Verizon, Masco, Petco, Procter & Gamble, Daimler, and many others to help align leaders and drive strategic and cultural change at scale.
Rich is a frequent author, thought leader, and speaker on the subject of leadership, transformation, and how to create lasting change. Rich’s latest project is a new book called What Are Your Blind Spots?, which he is co-authoring with Root’s founder, Jim Haudan. The book focuses on five key blind spots they have seen many leaders fall victim to that prevent them from leading their organizations and engaging their people effectively.
Under Rich’s leadership as President and Chief Client Fanatic, Root has been listed among the top 25 greatest places to work – as awarded by the Great Place to Work® Institute – has been named on the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies list, and has experienced 10 years of consecutive growth.
Rich joined Root in 1997 after completing his MBA at the University of Michigan. He worked for Commerzbank in Germany and has lived abroad, both in Germany and Nigeria. He holds a BSBA degree from the University of Washington in St. Louis, where he was a three-time All-American tennis player.
Rich lives in Ann Arbor with his family and treasures time with his wife, Anne, and daughters, Katarina and Mia. In his spare time, Rich attends as many Michigan Wolverine sporting events as he can and is hopeful that his football team will find its way back to past glory. He is also an avid reader and likes to play golf and tennis.
