Influence & Insight | February 2026

Influence & Insight | January 2026

Leadership Story | The Power of Introverts

A recent Wall Street Journal (23 Dec behind paywall):

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/companies-office-introverts-erg-dei-fc9f103f?mod=hp_featst_pos4

brings up introverts and their challenges in most work environments. Ray Smith’s article primarily focuses on creating quiet spaces, similar to the quiet tents found at Autism Speaks’ fund raising walks. Smith highlights that:

• Bristol-Myers Squibb has created a room designed to help introverts recharge.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb has created a room designed to help introverts recharge. Bristol-Myers Squibb
• Bristol-Myers Squibb created a room where introverts can recharge. Its Valuably Quiet program, launched in 2021, also includes discussion panels and resource guides to help leaders and team members better understand introverts, who tend to shrink from public performance and get flustered when put on the spot.

In our Energize2Lead (TM), or E2L workshops, dominant two-color combinations are assigned the following descriptors:

Having processed thousands of E2L profiles from a dozen countries, the term Introvert increasingly appears a simplified label, perhaps leading to simplified attempts to understand what energizes those with this temperament. Consider the alternative descriptor Information Processor rather than Introvert. Use of the alternative term Information Processor allow us to understand the why behind the visibly quiet personality. 

Susan Cain, author of Quiet, offers a similar perspective. “Approach those people and say, ‘Today, we’re going to be talking about X, and I know you have a lot of interesting thoughts on that. Can I look to you during that part of the meeting?’ That way, you’re giving the person advance notice to prepare what they might want to say.”

Empirical observations of organizational functional teams over the years reveals that Information Processors frequently migrate to professions where accuracy is highly valued, if not required. Examples include finance, accounting and procurement. Scientists seem to frequently have these traits as well. Researchers too.

Smith’s article includes a recent Glassdoor poll of 800 professionals on introvert-friendly workplace attributes and  a remote or flexible work policy overwhelmingly was No. 1, with over 60% of respondents rating flexibility first.

• Remote or hybrid flexibility
• No mandatory social events
• Quiet spaces in the office
• Async work encouraged

We should consider why remote or hybrid flexibility is the dominant first choice. Perhaps it’s all about the autonomy, or the ability to independently choose an individual schedule that affords time to fully process information leading to thoughtful and accurate outcomes. Effective leaders understand and appreciate this ability, it’s a superpower.

The Power of Introverts.

Blindspotting | Book Review

“Traditional approaches to leadership -- those based
on hierarchical decision-making and controlling
information flow -- are no longer sufficient." (p. 8)

Kirstin Ferguson's most useful term, blindspotting, relates to many activities required for us to become effective leaders as coaches. Her definition:  

"Hidden gaps in our thinking and decision-making
that can have profound consequences." (p. 7)

which rest on three key mindsets (pp. 9-10): 

• Be honest
• Be curious
• Be flexible

Early in an Academy Leadership Excellence Course, our audiences are asked what percentage of executives believe they are good communicators. We discover that 87% of executives believe they are, while only 17% of their subordinates think so (according to the Tom Peters Group). We may think of blindspotting as a method of reducing substantial, yet common gaps in our perceived versus actual communication effectiveness.

This review weaves selected blindspotting techniques to key teachable points of view discovered in several of our leadership workshops.

Managing a Leader's Style and Energy (E2L)

Dominant (two or three) yellow and blue colors are very common in our Energize2LeadÒ (E2L) expectations dimension. This means most of us don't want to be told what, when and how to do things. Ferguson describes two archetypes in the practice of blindspotting: Seekers and Knowers (p. 41). For seekers, the pursuit of knowledge is far more important than the need to appear knowledgeable (p. 42). Knowers tend to hold firm to their opinions, even when faced with clear evidence to the contrary (p. 45). 

We can easily imagine the expert manager (Knower) telling us how to do our job, while continuously monitoring or micromanaging us throughout a project. Rather, as effective leaders, we should remain curious and flexible, as a Seeker.

Feedback: The Essential Connection

From Sheila Heen and Doug Stone, we learn of three forms of feedback in our corresponding workshop: Appreciation, evaluation and coaching.

Note the typical manager or Subject Matter Expert (SME) feedback profile, where evaluation is four times as prevalent as coaching. Ferguson relates a scandal at the UK Post Office based on the perceived expertise of a computer software program called Horizon. It's a damning story. Even when whistleblowers within Fujitsu began to raise concerns in 2015, and legal actions started stacking up, the leadership team remained steadfast (p. 62).

Effective coaches ask good questions, seeking honest feedback as well as new ideas.

Leveraging the Power of Conflict

During our conflict workshop, we learn the most prized strategy is collaboration, although this technique requires the most time and energy. We also learn that one of the best uses of collaboration is when our objective is to learn, or to seek. Indeed, curiosity seems an underutilized leader superpower. Ferguson shares that curiosity opens the door to new possibilities, not by passively waiting for answers but by actively searching for them (p. 118).

Consider a leadership team fearful of new ideas, or different perspectives. Groupthink occurs when the desire for harmony or conformity in a group leads to poor decision-making, as dissenting voices are suppressed to maintain unity (p. 131).

Coaching to Develop People

In our coaching workshop, we learn the following characteristics of effective coaches:

• Base coaching relationship on trust
• Optimist about human nature
• Encourage people to take risks and learn from their mistakes
• Listen more than they talk
• Provide candid feedback in the right size dose
• Cultivate personal accountability
• Know their strengths and limitations
• Are continuous learners

Similar to the learning objective strategy, effective coaches continuously seek new knowledge. For this to occur, leaders must master both content and conditions or make the environment safe (see Crucial Conversations). Insightful questions are often open-ended, meaning they do not have simple yes or no answers, and they encourage people to think more deeply and express their thoughts in way they might not have initially considered (p. 135).

Summary | Application | After Action Reviews

In Chapter 9, Ferguson mentions that blindspotting is at its most powerful when it is part of an organization's values and mission (p. 243). She cites several organization's values and suggests possible structural changes. We may not all have the ability to do that, however an easy way to practice blindspotting with core values in mind is introducing After Action Reviews (AAR) to our teams.

Central to any AAR is a neutral, non-evaluative approach focused on objective discovery of what actually happened. The best AARs invite and welcome brutal honesty, which requires that the leader (facilitator) maintain all three key blindspotting mindsets:

• Be honest
• Be curious
• Be flexible

Blindspotting is demonstrated well by the Johari Window, also shared during our feedback workshop:

Source: Academy Leadership Feedback - The Essential Connection Workshop

Our objective is both soliciting and offering honest feedback. In addition to reducing our leadership blind spot, what we're really after is discovery, or moving knowledge from the unknown quadrant into the arena, for all to discover and share.

"By practising blindspotting, we create an environment where our
teams feel valued and heard, where everyone's perspective is taken
into account, and where creativity and innovation can thrive." (p. 12)

Coaching Story | The Nurturing Superboss

College football playoff season is upon us, and many of us are rooting for a favorite team or coach. Andrew Beaton and Rachel Bachman interestingly have found that Nick Saban is still dominating college football two years after his retirement (behind WSJ paywall):

https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/nick-saban-college-football-playoff-0e18ec32?mod=Searchresults&pos=1&page=1

Yes, it was impossible to resist another WSJ article this month. It turns out, according to Beaton and Bachman, that five of the eight surviving teams are led by Saban’s former assistants:

There’s a perfect term for this, Nick Saban is a Superboss. Sydney Finkelstein’s appropriately titled book, Superbosses, traces genealogical “trees:”

“If you looked at the top fifty people in these industries, you would find that perhaps fifteen or twenty had once
worked for or had been mentored by one or a few talent spawners – or ‘superbosses.’”

Superbosses fall into three distinct patterns: Iconoclasts, who care about their work and their passion, such as Miles Davis, and are often artistic. Next are the Glorious Bastards, who care solely about winning, and know they need the best people to win, such as Larry Ellison, who has spawned a breadth of talent in Silicon Valley. Last, are the Nurturers, or activist bosses, who consistently guide and teach their protégées, such as Bill Walsh. Clearly Nick Saban is a fellow nurturer alongside the former 49ers coach Bill Walsh.

Finkelstein notes that superbosses look fearlessly in unusual places for talent and lavish responsibility on inexperienced protégés, taking risks that seem foolish to others. He also notices many of the best bosses today tend to think of themselves as professional managers, not leaders, and confesses his biggest discovery over time studying organizations is it really is about the people. 

Which type of superboss do you most resemble? If you are developing a strong leadership pipeline for the future, maybe you are a superboss.

Maybe a Nurturing Superboss.