Miguel and Brendan built their company on complementary strengths. Miguel was the innovator—curious, persistent, confident. Brendan was the stabilizer—loyal, responsible, steady. But as the company grew, those traits drifted into extremes. Miguel’s brilliance became disruptive. Brendan’s loyalty became avoidance. Blindspotting Coaching helped Brendan see that the solution wasn’t forcing change—it was finding an environment where Miguel’s traits could thrive instead of collide.
Miguel and Brendan had been close for years, and their partnership worked because their traits balanced each other. Miguel brought enormous creativity and drive. Brendan brought steadiness, relational awareness, and cohesion. For a long time, their combination fueled real success.
In Blindspotting: How to See What’s Holding You Back as a Leader, Martin Dubin, PhD describes Miguel as extremely high in openness, confidence, and persistence, and extremely low in accommodation. His traits powered remarkable product breakthroughs.
As Dubin writes:
“His curiosity, persistence, and bias to action really were superstrengths.”
But as the company scaled, those same strengths intensified. He dismissed competing priorities, rushed ahead without alignment, and pushed people past reasonable limits. As the book explains:
“He did not see how his curiosity led to a lack of practicality; how his persistence meant he didn’t know when to back down.”
Brendan’s traits—loyalty, responsibility, and agreeableness—also began tipping into overuse. He absorbed tension, smoothed things over, and silently carried the emotional and operational consequences of Miguel’s decisions.
As Dubin notes:
“Loyalty and responsibility were keeping him from doing what needed to be done.”
The more Brendan protected Miguel, the more the business strained under the weight of Miguel’s unchecked intensity.
Miguel was not unaware of his tendencies. He simply believed they were essential to progress. His traits were so core to how he saw himself that he interpreted them as vision, not friction.
Brendan, meanwhile, felt increasingly torn. His loyalty pulled him toward protecting Miguel, even as the company needed stronger boundaries and clearer leadership. He wasn’t avoiding action because he couldn’t lead—he was avoiding it because he cared.
What began breaking wasn’t strategy. It was trait collision.
Read more about the Traits blindspot →
Blindspotting Coaching helped Brendan see that changing Miguel’s traits wasn’t realistic—or necessary. Traits are stable and consistent across situations, and the goal isn’t to become someone different. It’s to find alignment.
Through coaching, Brendan surfaced an opportunity at a nearby technology college: a role focused on mentoring early-stage founders. It offered exactly what Miguel’s wiring needed—creativity, speed, autonomy, and minimal bureaucracy.
Miguel initially believed strongly in his existing approach, but eventually recognized that the company and his traits were no longer aligned.
Miguel transitioned out of the company on positive terms and into a position where his creative energy and persistence became strengths again instead of friction points. Brendan fully stepped into the CEO role, giving the organization the stability and clarity it needed.
Miguel didn’t need new traits. He needed a new context.
And Brendan’s leadership required the courage to see that clearly.
Trait blindspots don’t always require personal reinvention. Sometimes they require realignment.
Miguel’s openness, persistence, and confidence weren’t problems—until the context changed.
Brendan’s loyalty and responsibility weren’t weaknesses—until they kept him from acting.
When leaders understand their wiring, they can make decisions that honor both performance and relationships.
Ask yourself:
Awareness gives insight. Courage gives direction. Alignment creates freedom.
Curious what blindspots might be limiting your own growth?
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Blindspotting → Identity → Behaviors → Traits → Intellect → Emotion → Motive →
