Discovering your blindspots as a leader
Thu Feb 05 2026
“Know what you know, and assume if you don’t know it, you don’t know it—get help, talk to people, and ask them: ‘What do you see my blind spots are?’” — Dean Hendrickson
In this episode of Evolving Your Workplace, Carol Schultz sits down with Dr. Dean Hendrickson, co-founder and CEO of SurgiReal Products and a professor at Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, to unpack a leadership reality that quietly derails teams: you don’t know what you don’t know—and the cost shows up in decisions, people, and momentum.
Dean shares the founder-side blind spots he ran into while building a company as a career surgeon and educator. He explains why getting pulled into “startup mode” without the right guidance can send leaders down the wrong path fast—and why the smartest move early is to sit with people who’ve actually built startups and ask a simple question: What am I not seeing? What questions am I not asking?
The conversation gets practical on how leaders should evaluate advice. Dean and Carol break down why “successful” doesn’t always mean “relevant,” how to do real due diligence on mentors, and why experience in large organizations doesn’t automatically translate to early-stage chaos. Dean also shares what happens when leaders miss people-related blind spots: needing different players at different stages, hiring someone exceptional who unintentionally triggers insecurity in others, and realizing too late that you can’t “coach” certain structural problems into working.
They close with a clear playbook for leaders who want fewer blind spots and faster learning: know your risk tolerance, seek outside input early, hire people who are better than you in key functions, and build a system to continuously ask customers and stakeholders what they need that they’re not getting. The goal isn’t to have all the answers—it’s to build the habits that reveal the gaps before they become expensive.
Connect With Host Carol Schultz
Find more information about our host Carol Schultz and her company at Vertical Elevation, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Want to be our next guest expert? Email cat.gloria@verticalelevation.com with your information.
And of course, click "follow" to stay up-to-date on new episodes and leave an honest review/rating letting us know what you thought!
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“Know what you know, and assume if you don’t know it, you don’t know it—get help, talk to people, and ask them: ‘What do you see my blind spots are?’” — Dean Hendrickson In this episode of Evolving Your Workplace, Carol Schultz sits down with Dr. Dean Hendrickson, co-founder and CEO of SurgiReal Products and a professor at Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, to unpack a leadership reality that quietly derails teams: you don’t know what you don’t know—and the cost shows up in decisions, people, and momentum. Dean shares the founder-side blind spots he ran into while building a company as a career surgeon and educator. He explains why getting pulled into “startup mode” without the right guidance can send leaders down the wrong path fast—and why the smartest move early is to sit with people who’ve actually built startups and ask a simple question: What am I not seeing? What questions am I not asking? The conversation gets practical on how leaders should evaluate advice. Dean and Carol break down why “successful” doesn’t always mean “relevant,” how to do real due diligence on mentors, and why experience in large organizations doesn’t automatically translate to early-stage chaos. Dean also shares what happens when leaders miss people-related blind spots: needing different players at different stages, hiring someone exceptional who unintentionally triggers insecurity in others, and realizing too late that you can’t “coach” certain structural problems into working. They close with a clear playbook for leaders who want fewer blind spots and faster learning: know your risk tolerance, seek outside input early, hire people who are better than you in key functions, and build a system to continuously ask customers and stakeholders what they need that they’re not getting. The goal isn’t to have all the answers—it’s to build the habits that reveal the gaps before they become expensive. Connect With Host Carol Schultz Find more information about our host Carol Schultz and her company at Vertical Elevation, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Want to be our next guest expert? Email cat.gloria@verticalelevation.com with your information. And of course, click "follow" to stay up-to-date on new episodes and leave an honest review/rating letting us know what you thought!