According to industrialist Henry Ford, ?failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to begin again."  As I review the statistics about failure rates among CEOs, it seems clear that the corporate world is missing opportunities to learn from failure. In 2005, Harvard Business Review cited a study showing that two out of five new CEOs fail in their first 18 months in the role. As alarming as that 40% failure rate sounds, a more recent report from top strategy consulting firm Strategy &  showed that it?s getting worse. The study indicated that annual turnover among CEOs at the world?s 2,500 largest companies had soared to a record high in 2018. Among those terminations, 20% were involuntary. It?s an unfortunate trend that negatively impacts organizations? stability, progress, and profitability. Although the data was from large companies, the pattern can impact organizations of any size, including credit unions. What?s behind this ongoing phenomenon of break down at the top level of leadership? I believe there are three major blind spots that can cause a CEO (or any senior leader) to crash and burn. Not all leaders struggle with these issues, but they can be career-killers for those who do. From my own experience as a CEO as well as the experience of others in executive roles, these problem areas don?t arise only from obvious sources such as flawed character. Many challenges are almost invisible, aspects intrinsic to the typical CEO?s job description. Like a driver in heavy traffic, a leader needs to check for dangerous blind spots and know how to deal with them. Blind spot #1 ? They are isolated. They say, ?it?s lonely at the top,? and surveys show that it?s true. Half of CEOs experience feelings of loneliness in their roles. Some isolation is inherent to the senior position, which carries the solitary responsibility of making many of the hard decisions. The often-frenetic pace of the job also makes it hard to find time for professional connection and conversation with other leaders. The burden of responsibility can lead to feelings that further isolate, creating a challenging blind spot. With weighty issues, the risk of making a bad decision ? or even a good one that will have painful consequences for others ? can bring feelings of fear that undermine the leader?s confidence. In those times of self-doubt, the CEO rarely feels free to lean on those above (the Board of Directors) or those below (the Executive Team) for moral support. Doing so would seem to expose weakness and erode the leader?s reputation. As a result, the CEO decides to go it alone. Decisions are too often made without the full benefit of advice from those best equipped to help. When this occurs, leadership can come across as disconnected, lacking in objectivity, and even self-serving. In contrast to feelings of fear and self-doubt, some senior leaders seem to believe they are invincible. The resulting overconfident zeal can blind the leader to their need for input and advice from their Board or their team. Although there is value in trusting one?s instincts and going with the gut at times, the consequences of a mistake at the executive level are greatly magnified. Going solo can also alienate and offend supporters (including Board members and direct reports). Their valuable input isn?t just ignored, it?s never even requested. How to eliminate this blind spot: According to the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, an antonym of ?isolation? is ?camaraderie.? It describes a feeling of closeness and fellowship, and it relies on mutual trust.  One appropriate antidote to isolation for the CEO is connection with peers ? the result of intentionally developing professional relationships with other CEOs or senior leaders. For me, the benefits of a monthly lunch meeting with the CEO of another company included fellowship, encouragement, and insight. As trustworthy, non-competing peers, we each became a sounding board and strategic advisor to the other. This safe environment dissolved our fears, broke us out of our isolation, and made us better decision-makers. Participation in a local or national CEO roundtable would provide a similar benefit. Another fruitful source of connection is the Board of Directors, beginning with the Board Chair. As long as there is clarity about roles and responsibilities, a healthy professional relationship between the CEO and the Chair can feel like a partnership. The roles are interdependent, with reciprocal responsibility for the success of the organization. As mutual trust increases, the new CEO who has been reluctant to reveal struggles will feel freer to express feelings and concerns and to seek counsel. Similarly, the super-confident CEO will benefit from the broader perspective a trusted Chairperson can provide through challenging questions or respectful push-back. In my experience, the strong sense of camaraderie and partnership with the Board Chair spills over into the Board as a whole. As a result, leadership becomes more collaborative and wiser decisions are made. Blind spot #2 ? They are insulated. When a leader is insulated from what?s really going on, their decisions may become irrelevant, their expectations may sound unrealistic, and their solutions may prove ineffective. The worst part of this is that they aren?t even aware. It?s a true blind spot. Some CEOs are insulated because they surround themselves with people who agree with them ? ?yes people.? The agreement can be overt or assumed. In either case, the CEO?s ideas are insulated from debate ? reinforced rather than being tested. As a mid-level manager with a non-profit, I witnessed the senior leader transform an objective post-mortem evaluation of a disappointing event into a blame game. We didn?t overtly agree; however, none of us in the meeting were willing to challenge the boss?s denial of responsibility for what went wrong. In this situation, we failed to learn important lessons that could have improved future events. Another source of insulation for the CEO is the ?ivory tower syndrome.? The work of making major corporate decisions often keeps senior leaders in their offices or the conference room ? far away from the front lines. In pursuit of strategic plans for future growth, they lose touch with what?s going on right now with their managers, their staff, and their customers. The insulation is so prevalent that most employees don?t expect their senior leaders to have a clue about what it?s like in the trenches. The CEO?s actions or inactions aren?t always the cause of insulation. According to research by the MIT Leadership Center, the power and authority of the CEO?s position itself can insulate the role from reality, limiting the leader?s view of what?s really happening in the organization. They explained that there is risk in being the bearer of bad news; therefore, the CEO may not become aware of problems in a timely way, if at all. In my experience, staff may hesitate to fully disclose problems even when their CEO is kind and fair; it?s not about the personality, it?s about the status and authority of the role. I once discovered that a group had been holding back information in hopes of correcting a problem before I heard about it. Although they said I was a good boss, they were afraid to be honest with me. It revealed a true blind spot. How to eliminate this blind spot: To avoid the ?yes people? trap, a leader needs to intentionally listen to a diverse set of voices ? not just of those who already agree but of a broad representation of stakeholders. To get access to those voices, asking questions is key. It can be done many ways ? in-person, by email, or by survey. One inquiry that results in a lot of good information is the question of what the company should stop doing, start doing, and keep doing? and why. Using that question to survey a wide range of people ? middle managers, front-line staff, and even customers ? can elicit perspectives that give the senior leader a much more honest picture of reality. Leaders should also ask staff not to hold back information, even when it is negative. As the late Colin Powell said, ?Bad news isn?t wine; it doesn?t improve with age.?  To pierce through people?s resistance to or fear of giving honest feedback, leaders should make it safe to do so by making responses anonymous. CEOs and other senior leaders should also get out of their ivory tower as regularly as possible. There is power in the unspoken message of a CEO who is willing to show up on-site, walk the floors, listen to staff and customers, and ask good questions. When done well, these visits don?t provoke panic. Instead, they give the opportunity for staff to put a face to the name at the top of the organizational chart, to feel heard, and to be appreciated. The visits are also an opportunity for the CEO to give feedback. It should be composed mostly of affirmation for success, if possible, with a minimum of criticism. To take the level of connection a step further, senior leaders can occasionally arrange to participate alongside staff at work. This might mean helping to unload a truck, riding along on sales or service calls, sitting in on training sessions, or assisting with outreach events. As I worked alongside our team, I learned about the things they were proud of as well as the things that frustrated them. Back at my desk, what I?d learn increased my empathy and helped me better understand the impact of executive decisions. I realize that in these activities, I probably got in the way more often than I helped my team. That?s okay. Even though a CEO?s contribution to the work may be minimal, the value of a leader?s willingness to get dirty on the front lines is incalculable. One even deeper opportunity to remove the ?insulation? is leadership cross-training. For example, a veteran VP on the executive team of a financial institution agreed to a temporary assignment helping open a new branch. Although the VP hadn?t worked in a bra...

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