The 3 Cognitive Biases Sabotaging Your Leadership
1. The Sunk Cost Fallacy
“We’ve already spent millions on this initiative—we can’t abandon it now.”
The reality: The money is gone. Clinging to bad investments because of past costs only compounds the mistake.
2. The Dunning-Kruger Effect
“I’ve been doing this for years. I know what works.”
The reality: Experience can create blind spots. Leaders with deep expertise often dismiss new information, assuming they already have the best answers.
3. Confirmation Bias
“The data proves we’re on the right track.”
The reality: You’re subconsciously filtering information to support your existing beliefs, often ignoring contradictory evidence.
If you’re not actively challenging your own thinking, your thinking is actively misleading you.
The Leadership Playbook for Smarter Decisions
1. Consider the Opposite Perspective
- Old mindset: “We’ve analyzed the data—we’re confident in our decision.”
- New mindset: “What if we’re wrong? What evidence would prove it?”
- Action: Assign a devil’s advocate in key meetings to challenge assumptions.
2. Make Red Teaming a Habit
- Old mindset: “Our strategy is solid—we just need execution.”
- New mindset: “Let’s pressure-test our strategy as if we were our biggest competitor.”
- Action: Form an internal team to challenge key decisions before launch.
3. Use Pre-Mortems Before Major Moves
- Old mindset: “If this fails, we’ll figure out what went wrong.”
- New mindset: “Assume we’ve already failed—why did it happen?”
- Action: Run pre-mortems to surface potential failure points before investing resources.
The Bottom Line
The most dangerous leadership mistakes aren’t the ones you see coming—they’re the ones your brain convinces you don’t need to see.
The most effective leaders don’t just challenge others. They challenge themselves.
What’s the most common leadership blind spot you’ve seen in action?