Welcome back to the look and sound of leadership, and I'm going series of executive coaching

tips designed to help you be perceived in the workplace the way you want to be perceived.

I'm Tom Henshaw, your executive coach, and today we're talking about blind spots.

Martin was described to me as clueless, yet gifted.

In my mind, he fell in the category of leaders too talented to lose, but too troublesome

to keep.

Because his expertise was unique, Martin had been with the company a long time.

Complaints about him stretched back years.

Any people reporting to him directly had been taken away a long time ago, but he still

created disturbances.

Most recently, a young female technician had filed a complaint against him.

The head of HR had facilitated a meeting between Martin and the tech to discuss her complaint.

Martin, who talked more than listened throughout the meeting, repeatedly told the young woman

all the reasons she was wrong.

The HR leader was discouraged.

Soon after that, knowing I had coached disruptive executives for years, she called me.

After telling me the story, she asked if I thought Martin might be coachable.

I had no idea.

I proposed three coaching conversations with Martin, after which we'd stop and assess.

Some leaders, when told they're getting a coach like it or not, approached the coaching

defensively, which seems like a completely natural response.

But when Martin and I met on Zoom for our first conversation, he seemed eager to tell

...