Sophie was one of the brightest partners at her venture capital firm: fast, incisive, and analytically exceptional. But the same processing speed that fueled her early success eventually became her blindspot. Founders shut down, conversations derailed, and her team increasingly buffered her communication. Through Blindspotting Coaching, Sophie learned to bring awareness to her pace. By slowing down just enough to stay connected, she became not only sharp, but far more effective.
Sophie built her reputation on speed.
In pitch meetings, while others were still grasping the basics, Sophie was already analyzing assumptions, identifying flaws, and projecting outcomes. Her colleagues admired her intellect and relied on her insight.
But founders experienced her differently.
Sophie often jumped in early, asked pointed questions before rapport formed, and drove the conversation faster than others could follow. Her intention was to help. Her impact was that people felt disrupted, sometimes even dismissed, before they had finished explaining their ideas.
Internally, her team began adjusting around her pace. They sometimes delayed bringing her into early conversations and often translated her feedback so it landed more constructively with founders.
Sophie didn’t initially recognize the problem. To her, she was simply being thorough and efficient.
But slowly, patterns emerged:
What Sophie saw as rigor, others experienced as pressure.
Sophie’s blindspot was an overreliance on processing speed: a subtype of the Intellect Blindspot.
Her strength was real. But it came with an unintended side effect: the faster she moved, the less space others had to think, speak, or connect.
Instead of gathering the full picture, she often jumped ahead. Instead of curiosity, others felt scrutinized.
Her thinking was fast. Her relationships needed time.
In Blindspotting, Martin Dubin, explains that processing speed becomes a blindspot when a leader’s mental pace “outruns the relational pace of the room.” Sophie wasn’t trying to dominate; she simply didn’t see the interpersonal cost of her speed.
Her intention didn’t match her impact, and that mismatch created the blindspot.
Read more about the Intellect Blindspot. →
Blindspotting Coaching helped Sophie examine how her pace shaped conversations.
Her coach didn’t ask her to think less quickly. He asked her to add awareness to her speed.
A pivotal turning point came when he posed a simple question:
“What do you miss when you move too fast?”
Sophie struggled to answer.
She had never considered speed as anything but an asset.
Through coaching, she began noticing moments she previously overlooked:
Her coach offered two tools from the Blindspotting model:
This shifted Sophie from evaluation to connection to insight.
She practiced noticing her rapid conclusions, but holding them for a moment instead of voicing them immediately.
She didn’t become slower. She became more intentional.
→ Explore Blindspotting Coaching for Leaders & Teams
With awareness in place, Sophie’s relationships, and her results, changed quickly.
Founders began experiencing her as thoughtful rather than intimidating. Her colleagues included her earlier in conversations. Her insights landed more effectively because people felt understood before being evaluated.
Most importantly, Sophie saw a new truth: Speed is only useful when others can travel with you.
Her intellect didn’t diminish. It expanded because now it made room for others.
Sophie’s story illustrates a central Blindspotting principle: Brilliance without awareness creates blindspots. Brilliance with awareness creates impact.
Fast thinking is not the problem. Fast thinking without connection is.
Leaders who balance pace with presence become far more influential than intellect alone can make them.
Read more about the Behavior Blindspot. →
Ask yourself:
If your thinking outpaces your relationships, you may be in your own Intellect Blindspot.
Your speed is an asset until it becomes a barrier.
Awareness turns fast thinkers into exceptional leaders.
→ Explore Blindspotting Coaching for Leaders & Teams
Blindspotting → Identity → Behaviors → Traits → Intellect → Emotion → Motive →
