In my work as an executive coach, I have seen a pattern of consistent blind spots on the part of leaders that dramatically limit their effectiveness. Once aware of these blind spots, motivated and bright executives take the appropriate action to up their leadership ante.

These blind spots tend to fall into three general categories, including blindness to self, blindness to others and blindness to opportunity. Because of their prevalence, I have come to call these “the Three Blind Mice” of leadership. Allow me to introduce them to you.

Blindness to self typically involves a gross lack of self-awareness. This gap is usually driven by ego issues, usually an immense amount of self-confidence, or an equally immense amount of insecurity. The key to diffusing either is to become more self-aware. This can be easily accomplished through the use of assessment instruments, external coaching and the like. But it always requires being open to the view of yourself by others. This is easier said than done, which is where external coaching can help greatly.

Blindness to others stems from an inattentiveness to the needs of those around you and poor listening skills. The effectiveness of any leader is most dramatically affected by those who work for the leader. I call this “grabbing the lever at the far end.” To do so requires that the leader understands the needs of others so that they can be inspired and motivated. Poor listening is the number one enemy to the type of connectedness that leads to inspirational leadership. If you are a leader with poor listening skills, either fix it or be prepared to fail.

Blindness to opportunity is caused by short term, tactical focus and micro-management of others. The modern workplace offers myriad competing priorities and a never-ending task list. When coupled with the 24 hour accessibility of telephone, e-mail and other technology enablers, the result is what I have come to call “organizational A.D.D.” It is easy to become overwhelmed with information and to miss the strategic forest for the tactical trees. Leaders fall prey to working on the crisis of the day or to micro-managing their employees because they lack the skill and discipline to stay riveted on strategic priorities. This blindness is particularly prevalent in the era of downsized workforces and stressed-out leaders.

Leaders suffer from these forms of blindness to varying degrees and in different combinations. The good news is that there is a path forward to improve in each of these areas. It begins with getting the right kind of feedback, listening intently and managing the most important priorities and not the crisis du jour.