Strong leaders tend to struggle not because they lack skill or effort, but because role transitions require identity shifts that often go unaddressed. In the Blindspotting for HR Leaders webinar, leaders from Behavioral Essentials and SSA Group explored how blindspots surface most clearly during promotions, onboarding, and organizational change. HR leaders play a critical role in helping leaders recognize these blindspots early, clarify role expectations, and build the self-awareness needed to lead effectively through transition.
Strong leaders don’t usually struggle because they lack skill, effort, or intent.
They typically struggle during transitions—when roles change, expectations expand, and the way they’ve always succeeded no longer fits the moment in front of them.
That pattern was at the center of a recent Blindspotting for HR Leaders webinar hosted by Behavioral Essentials, featuring Martin Dubin, clinical psychologist, executive coach, and author of Blindspotting. Also on the webinar was Jill Macauley and Lauren Breden from Behavioral Essentials, and Kassey Kampman, EVP of People at SSA Group.
The conversation explored what HR leaders see every day but don’t always have shared language for: why capable, experienced leaders stumble during promotions, onboarding, and organizational change, and how blindspots quietly drive performance issues.
Below are the key awareness insights surfaced in the session, followed by practical action steps HR leaders can apply immediately.
Blindspots aren’t failures. They aren’t skill deficiencies. And they aren’t about capability.
As Martin Dubin explained during the webinar:
“Blindspots are when we’re unaware we’re being ineffective leaders. This isn’t about strengths and weaknesses. It’s about how our default response stops fitting the situation.”
In this moment from the webinar, Martin Dubin explains why blindspots aren’t about weaknesses—but about default behaviors that no longer fit the situation.
Most leaders are effective most of the time. Blindspots show up in the remaining moments—when a familiar leadership style no longer matches what the situation requires.
For HR leaders, this matters because performance issues are often mislabeled as:
When, in reality, the issue is often over-reliance on a strength that used to work.
Reframing feedback around awareness (intent vs. impact) reduces defensiveness and makes course correction possible.
Read more about blindspots in this blog: When Strengths Become Blindspots
Culture isn’t built through values statements. It’s shaped in meetings, in moments of conflict, and in day-to-day decisions.
When leaders can see their own behavioral patterns, they show up differently, and those differences ripple outward.
SSA Group’s investment in leadership coaching is rooted in this belief: culture flows from the top. When leaders have the awareness to adjust their behavior in real time, the impact shows up in team dynamics, collaboration, and decision-making across the organization.
For HR, this positions self-awareness not as a “soft” initiative, but as a cultural lever.
Promotions don’t usually fail because of skill gaps.
They fail when leaders bring their old identity into a new role.
Jill Macauley captured this clearly:
“We tend to see blindspots show up when someone’s role changes, but their internal picture of who they are hasn’t changed with it.”
Kassey Kampman shared this firsthand, describing how her own Blindspotting assessment surfaced a confidence blindspot. Not because she lacked confidence, but because she needed to balance confidence with curiosity.
“I’m very confident in my subject matter expertise,” she shared. “Where I have to be more intentional is leaning into curiosity, especially when I’m hearing outside perspectives.”
Dubin reinforced why this matters:
“Identity issues are subtle, but powerful. They show up at critical moments—when the situation is calling for something different, and you miss the moment.”
Here, the conversation turns to why role transitions require identity shifts—and what happens when leaders don’t update how they see themselves.
For HR leaders, supporting identity shifts is just as important as skill-building.
Read more about Identity in this blog: The Identity Blindspot
As the conversation widened from individuals to organizations, one clarifying question stood out:
“Every box on the org chart exists for a reason. What can only this role do?”
When the answer isn’t clear:
HR can cut through interpersonal tension by grounding conversations in structure—clarifying ownership, decision rights, and priorities before addressing behavior.
When performance drops, the webinar highlighted the importance of proper diagnosis.
Kassey Kampman put it plainly:
“If someone doesn’t know how to execute, that’s a skills gap. But if they have the skill and don’t recognize how their behavior is landing, that’s a performance issue that needs coaching.”
This clip breaks down a practical distinction HR leaders make every day: when a performance issue needs training—and when it needs awareness and coaching.
Martin Dubin expanded this into three categories:
Blindspots live in the third category, and mislabeling them as training issues delays progress.
Curiosity emerged repeatedly in the webinar as an essential leadership behavior.
Curious leaders ask:
HR can build curiosity as a habit, especially during transitions, by normalizing feedback, reframing blindspots as “errors in the system,” and making self-reflection part of leadership expectations.
In this clip, Martin Dubin shares why curiosity is the habit that allows leaders to recognize blindspots and adjust in real time.
Whether someone is new to the company or stepping into a bigger role, they’re navigating more than a new title. They’re navigating an identity shift.
Too often, onboarding focuses on logistics (systems, processes, policies) while overlooking the psychological transition required for success.
The webinar made clear that HR can dramatically improve outcomes by going deeper early.
Effective onboarding includes intentional conversations that surface:
When onboarding supports identity shifts—not just task execution—leaders step into new roles faster and with fewer blindspot-driven missteps.
Culture doesn’t stick because it’s written down. It sticks because people know how to behave.
Vague values don’t drive performance. Specific behaviors do.
The webinar reinforced that culture is ultimately how things get done here, especially when it comes to relationships, decision-making, and participation.
For HR leaders, this is especially critical during onboarding and external hires.
Culture fit isn’t about personality. It’s about understanding expectations explicitly.
HR can accelerate integration by clearly outlining:
When new hires understand how the culture actually operates, they:
Read more about behavior in this blog: The Behavior Blindspot
For new or expanded roles, ask:
Normalize that discomfort and loss are part of growth.
With leadership teams:
Help leaders assess:
Create clarity around:
Use this as part of onboarding and leadership development, especially for external hires.
At its best, HR isn’t just managing people. It’s helping the organization see itself more clearly, especially during moments of transition.
Blindspotting gives HR leaders a shared language and framework to surface awareness gaps early, clarify role expectations, and support the identity shifts that leadership growth requires.
When leaders can see when their default behaviors no longer fit the moment, defensiveness drops, development accelerates, and issues get addressed before they escalate.
When roles evolve faster than clarity can keep up, self-awareness is what keeps organizations aligned.
Most leadership challenges don’t show up as skill gaps. They show up as blindspots—especially during moments of transition.
Blindspotting helps HR leaders and organizations build the awareness needed to support identity shifts, clarify roles, and address performance issues before they escalate.
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