04/03/2026
“That’s a circle,” says your CFO.
“No, that’s a triangle,” says your COO.
And you?
“You’re both wrong. It’s clearly a square.”
Who’s right? All of you. And that’s the problem. The way we naturally see challenges comes with built-in blind spots. Your leadership lens isn’t wrong, it’s just incomplete.
We love how Abraham Maslow put it:
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Advisors who see your most daunting challenges differently are your best resource for personal and business growth. And yet, time and time again, I watch smart leaders UNINTENTIONALLY surround themselves with people who think just like they do. Even though their resumes look completely different from each other, each comes to the table with the same instincts, problem-solving patterns and blind spots.
Our founder Mike Maddock has done it. Built executive teams that reflexively respond to challenges in in the same way. And many of us have felt it in forums too when a member repeatedly presents on the same problem meeting after meeting and we all respond to it the same way again and again.
That’s why Flourish Advisory Boards are engineered differently. When a leader joins a forum, they’re not getting more agreement—they’re getting six distinct lenses viewing their challenges. The forum automagically reframes their perspective.
Here's a clue that you may be ready for a Flourish Forum: If you keep trying to solve the same problem over and over… and nothing changes…You’re probably trying to solve the wrong problem. Or worse—you’re solving the right problem the wrong way.
Maybe it’s time to surround yourself with different lenses.
(A nod and smile to Mike's friend Anna Davis Birch for sharing the image that beautifully makes this point.)
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Flourish Advisory Boards are CEOs helping C-suite leaders move from plateaus to flourish growth. See if you qualify.
