Why Strengths Become Weaknesses | Martin Dubin

The Art of Charm

http://www.TheArtOfCharm.com

Business, Health & Fitness, Education

4.7 • 11K Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Executive coach and former CEO Martin Dubin joins AJ and Johnny to reveal the hidden blind spots that quietly sabotage leaders and high performers. From the Dunning–Kruger effect to the “fishbowl” and “cabana” phenomena, Marty shows how strengths overused become weaknesses, and why true growth requires identity shifts, not just behavior tweaks. Packed with practical insights, he explains why emotions are data, how leaders unintentionally communicate even when silent, and why luck often comes down to context and fit. Whether you’re climbing the ladder or running the show, Marty offers a toolkit to see yourself clearly and lead more effectively. What to Listen For [00:00:00] Defining blind spots—and why they appear during change [00:02:16] Why leaders at the top get less feedback and stagnate [00:06:15] Strengths turning into liabilities when overused [00:09:36] Identity vs. behavior: making the leap from executor to strategist [00:12:41] Emotions as data: awareness, regulation, and reading others [00:17:27] Stress, bottling up emotions, and worse decision-making [00:23:16] The “TOO” test: when confidence, decisiveness, or organization go too far [00:28:02] AJ’s technique: asking “What am I missing?” to reopen input [00:32:06] The fishbowl and cabana effects: how leaders send unspoken signals [00:36:22] Why copying billionaires fails—and how to adapt to your own context [00:41:37] Acting “as if” to prepare for your next role [00:46:42] Tools from Marty’s book Blindspotting to identify your own blind spots A Word From Our Sponsors Tired of awkward handshakes and collecting business cards without building real connections? Dive into our Free Social Capital Networking Masterclass. Learn practical strategies to make your interactions meaningful and boost your confidence in any social situation. Sign up for free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theartofcharm.com/sc⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and elevate your networking from awkward to awesome. Don’t miss out on a network of opportunities! Unleash the power of covert networking to infiltrate high-value circles and build a 7-figure network in just 90 days. Ready to start? Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CIA-proven guide⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to networking like a spy! Indulge in affordable luxury with Quince—where high-end essentials meet unbeatable prices. Upgrade your wardrobe today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠quince.com/charm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping and hassle-free returns. Ready to turn your business idea into reality? Shopify makes it easy to start, scale, and succeed—whether you're launching a side hustle or building the next big brand. Sign up for your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/charm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Need to hire top talent—fast? Skip the waiting game and get more qualified applicants with Indeed. Claim your $75 Sponsored Job Credit now at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Indeed.com/charm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. This year, skip breaking a sweat AND breaking the bank. Get your summer savings and shop premium wireless plans at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠mintmobile.com/charm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Stop needlessly overpaying for car insurance. Before you renew your policy, do yourself a favor—download the Jerry app or head to JERRY.com/charm Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rula.com/charm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Curious about your influence level? Get your Influence Index Score today! Take this 60-second quiz to find out how your influence stacks up against top performers at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theartofcharm.com/influence⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Episode resources: Martin's Website BlindSpotting Check in with AJ and Johnny! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AJ on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Johnny on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AJ on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Johnny on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Art of Charm on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Art of Charm on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Art of Charm on TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Think about what are your strengths? What are those traits, those adjectives that you do, you do put yourself at the 99th percentile on the bell curve. Put the modifier T-O-O in front of it. What happens when you're too organized? What happens when you're too confident? What happens when you're too decisive? What happens when you're too creative?
0:28.6	All right, let's kick off today's show. We're talking with Marty Dubin, executive coach and author of Blindspotting.
0:33.6	How to see what's holding you back as a leader.
0:35.6	We're exploring how blind spots sabotage even the
0:38.7	most successful leaders and you might be suffering from the same invisible barriers right now.
0:44.2	Marty shares why your strengths secretly sabotage your success, how emotions reveal hidden
0:50.3	leadership blind spots, the real reason you're not getting promoted, and why smart people
0:55.9	make terrible decisions. Welcome to the show, Marty. It's great to have you. Thank you. I'm looking
1:01.4	forward to the conversation. Johnny and I love working with our clients to help them find their
1:06.7	blind spots. And I'm curious to hear what made you decide to write a book about blind spots.
1:11.9	Well, it took me a while to figure out the title of the book, so it didn't, it's had a much longer
1:16.4	psychological title for a while, but at one point I said, what's my book really about?
1:21.6	And it's about self-awareness. And so really the blind spots are what we're not aware of about ourselves.
1:29.1	We have our kind of automatic default responses we go through life with and they work most
1:33.6	of the time.
1:34.2	But there are those times when situation calls for something different.
1:38.0	And that's when the blind spots appear.
1:39.9	For a lot of us, it's usually some major life event, conflict, not getting what we want,
1:45.8	where we recognize, oh, maybe we have a blind spot that we need to explore a little bit more,
1:51.2	but so many of us walk around just thinking that our perception is reality for everyone else.
1:56.5	Actually, what you just said is almost the first step when we do think that it might be us.
2:01.3	The step before that is we tend to think it's somebody else.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from http://www.TheArtOfCharm.com, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of http://www.TheArtOfCharm.com and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.