Behavior is the visible output of self-awareness—what others actually see and experience from you. In the Blindspotting Model, blindspots form when intentions and impact don’t align. These blindspots most often appear in three areas: communication, influence, and prioritization. Seeing and adjusting your behavior is where awareness becomes action.
In the Blindspotting Self-Awareness Model, behavior sits on the outermost layer of awareness.
It’s what connects who you think you are to how others actually experience you.
“Our behavior is everything that others experience from us.” — Martin Dubin, PhD, Blindspotting: How to See What’s Holding You Back as a Leader
You may view yourself as empowering, decisive, or approachable.
But if your team experiences micromanagement, interruptions, or inconsistency, your behavior is telling a different story.
That’s the paradox of behavioral blindspots: they hide in plain sight.
Related reading:
The Blindspotting Model →
The Identity Blindspot →
Marcus → · Elizabeth → · Helen →
In Blindspotting: How to See What’s Holding You Back as a Leader, Martin Dubin, PhD identifies three behavioral areas that often create unseen friction for leaders and teams.
These blindspots don’t stem from lack of skill—they emerge when strengths are overused, unchecked, or misaligned with role demands.
Communication is more than words. It’s tone, timing, and body language. It's how others interpret your message. Even well-meaning leaders send mixed signals when their actions don’t match their intentions.
“Good communication demands more than good intentions. It’s a social skill that demands the ability to sense how others will perceive what you are saying and doing.” — Martin Dubin, PhD
Zach was a senior executive known for getting things done. But his communication style created tension. He skipped rapport, led with confrontation, and went straight to negotiation. To him, that was efficiency. To others, it felt like attack.
Through Blindspotting Coaching, Zach learned to build trust before challenge, to listen actively, adjust tone, and use metacommunication (“talking about the conversation as it happens”) to keep trust intact, even during conflict. Once he changed how he connected, his impact shifted instantly.
Influence is how leaders move people to act. The blindspot appears when a leader overrelies on one influence style (usually rational or data-based appeals) instead of adapting to the moment or the audience.
Being right isn’t always enough to lead others. The most effective leaders adapt how they influence, not just what they say, explains Dubin.
Oleg, an engineering director, built perfect presentations. Clear, detailed, and logical. But his CEO tuned out by slide three. His influence style wasn’t wrong; it was too narrow. He needed to blend logic with confidence, connection, and inspiration.
Through coaching, Oleg began leading with the big picture before the data, using relational and inspirational appeals alongside facts. Once he shifted styles, his ideas gained traction, his confidence grew, and so did his team’s trust.
In Blindspotting, Martin Dubin, PhD outlines nine distinct influence styles—each effective in the right context, but limiting when overused.
The Nine Types of Influence
Leaders often default to one or two influence styles—the ones that come naturally. The real mastery is learning to adapt your approach to fit the person and the moment, Dubin explains.
As leaders rise, they gain freedom over how they spend their time ... and that’s where the prioritization blindspot hides. It appears when leaders devote energy to what feels comfortable or familiar instead of what only their role requires.
“Leaders need to do what only they are in a position to do; only then can they figure out what else to focus on.”— Martin Dubin, PhD
Yara, CEO of a thriving tech company, began her career as a product engineer. Her instincts were so sharp she couldn’t stay out of the product team’s way. When her Chief Product Officer struggled, she stepped in “temporarily.” Then again. And again.
Her leaders felt sidelined, her CPOs kept leaving, and growth slowed. Not from lack of vision, but from misplaced focus. Through coaching, Yara realized her time went to the work she liked most, not the work that only she could do. Once she re-centered her role around strategy, culture, and leadership alignment, performance accelerated.
As Dubin notes in Blindspotting, when leaders over-function, teams under-function.
As Blindspotting explains, effective prioritization means understanding not just what you do—but what only you should be doing.
Ask yourself:
“Leaders need to do what only they are in a position to do; everything else is extra.” — Martin Dubin, PhD
If you looked at your calendar this month, how much of your time reflects your role—and how much reflects your comfort zone?
Intent is invisible. Impact is what people actually experience. Even the most self-aware leaders fall into behavioral blindspots when they assume that good intentions are enough. But your team doesn’t experience what you meant—they experience what you do.
Behavior is the moment awareness becomes measurable.
Blindspotting Performance Coaching helps leaders move from insight to action.
Through guided reflection and feedback, leaders identify where behavior and impact diverge, and build consistent habits to close the gap.
Coaches help leaders:
Explore Coaching for Individuals and Teams →
From Blindspotting: How to See What’s Holding You Back as a Leader
Ask yourself:
Explore Blindspotting Coaching →
Blindspotting → Identity → Behaviors→ Traits → Intellect → Emotion → Motive →
