"I Already Know That” | The 7 Leadership Traps: Trap #5

The more experienced you get, the more dangerous your blind spots become. Not less, more. In this episode of The Inner Edge, executive coach Janet Ioli unpacks the fifth leadership trap: judgment. It's the unconscious sorting mechanism that starts screening out the exact information a leader most needs to hear. Janet tells the story of Priya, a client with multiple graduate degrees who plateaued for years after her boss described her as "too smart" to learn from others. Underneath that feedback was an automatic habit: sizing up whether someone was worth listening to, then tuning out the moment the answer was no. This habit has a name: confirmation bias. It's not a character flaw. It's how the brain saves energy, but in leadership it becomes costly fast. This is the sixth episode in an eight-part series on the seven leadership traps, based on Janet's upcoming book, Escape the Traps (releasing October 2026). Chapters: 00:00:00 Why Expertise Creates Dangerous Blind Spots 00:00:43 Too Smart to Learn From Others 00:02:50 Janet's Own Judgment Trap, in Reverse 00:04:38 Naming Confirmation Bias 00:08:45 Curiosity as a Performance Multiplier 00:09:47 The Mirror Question and Beginner's Mind 0:12:53 Next Episode: Trap 6 Read the first chapter of Escape The Traps (available October 2026): https://mailchi.mp/5d2dbf42009c/escape-the-traps-chapter Which trap is running you? Take the quiz and find out: https://tally.so/r/lb4Z4p Connect with Janet Ioli: Website: janetioli.com LinkedIn: Janet Ioli Instagram: @janetioli YouTube: @janetioli If you want to become more grounded, confident, and aligned with your deeper values in just 21 days, check out Janet Ioli’s book Less Ego, More Soul: A Modern Reinvention Guide for Women. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.  Select “Listen in Apple Podcasts,” then choose the “Ratings & Reviews” tab to share what you think.   Produced by Ideablossoms