The Black Widow Mistake - Part 2 (ET)

The Black Widow Mistake is named after the red, angular figure eight markings on the abdomen of the dangerous female black widow spider. The mistake that many aspiring executives make is to start narrowing their development at the same time that their executive role requires them to be thinking more broadly, including outside the organization. It can put a stop to your upward development.

As you gain responsibilities in your career, heading towards and into executive life, your workload increases. This causes many more senior managers and executives to fall prey to the Black Widow Mistake. You start focusing your development inwards, inside your organization, when executives' awareness, network, and development should be broadening to include events, trends and relationships outside your organization. The mistake is moving up the bottom triangle at the bottom, and never seeing the top triangle, which is upside down relative to your path. And that one gets more broad, at the same time as you are narrowing your focus.