The Second Eye: Why Leadership Needs an Outside Perspective

23 February 2026

Gvantsa Kikalishvili:

I was invited to that meeting by a former colleague. We had worked closely together before, and he knew how I work and why I work that way. He trusted me enough to invite me into the room.

The company was preparing to launch a communication campaign around an upcoming merger. Internally and externally, stakeholders were already uneasy about the process.

After a long series of uncomfortable questions, the CEO decided to postpone the launch and take the time to prepare properly, recognizing risks that had not been thoroughly considered.

That decision likely prevented reputational damage, internal backlash, and a crisis that would have been very difficult to reverse, especially considering that government institutions closely monitored the merger.

Later, my friend asked me, “What did you actually do there?”

The answer was simple – “I asked too many questions.”

To be clear, it was not about me, Gvantsa, as a person, who asked the questions. It was about the role I played. I was an outsider, not biased, not emotionally attached, and free to question assumptions that others had already accepted.

This is one story. There are many more examples when bringing an outsider’s perspective helped prevent risks and saved time, reputation, and, most importantly, money.

This is why I believe so deeply in the power of an outsider perspective, which I call the Second Eye concept.

A Concept Borrowed from Journalism

I did not invent the Second Eye concept. I borrowed it from a newsroom.

As a former journalist, I know that no story goes live on the basis of one person’s certainty. Not because people lie, but because perspective is always incomplete. 

Before publishing, every piece is questioned, challenged, and pressure-tested, and not only through editors but also through fellow journalists. We were encouraged to interrogate the story before the public ever saw it. The unwritten rule was simple: if a story fails internal questioning, it is either unready or unworthy of attention.

This practice is often called “A Red Team,” where imaginary “red balls”—tough questions—are intentionally directed at your story, and it must resist them. This approach is widely used in technology, security, and engineering, too, where decisions and changes are intentionally challenged to expose weaknesses before implementing them. The important part is that questioning is mandatory, not optional.

When I moved from journalism to the corporate world, I was genuinely surprised by how few decisions were questioned in business. Often, decisions that impact people, reputations, and long-term trust receive less scrutiny than a single news article.

I remember once a product team decided to introduce a feature that made operational sense and passed internal approval smoothly. No one thought about how customers might interpret the change in terms of privacy. The backlash was immediate; we had to react immediately. The decision had logic behind it, but lacked the customers’ perspective.

As often said, prevention is the best preparation, and I believe the Second Eye is a critical part of both – prevention and preparation.

How the Second Eye Works In Practice 

A second eye is simply someone who looks at your decision before it is final and asks the questions you might miss. 

The key requirement is that this person has little or no prior information or emotional connection to the decision. You present the story, context, challenge, problem, and proposed solution. The outsider then asks questions based on what they understand and what they do not. The most important questions usually start with “What if…”

The Second Eye is not about opposing decisions for the sake of it. It aims to create space between the decision and the people who are emotionally, politically, or operationally invested in it. This distance allows risks, inconsistencies, and blind spots to become visible, things that are very difficult to see from inside the system. It is important to note that this process does not weaken decisions. On the contrary, it strengthens them and creates space for shared thinking. When questions are asked, everyone starts looking for answers or, if there are none, creating them. That’s how prevention and preparation happen. 

At its core, the Second Eye is a disciplined pause that tests decisions and outcomes early, while change is still possible. 

As we often say in the comms world, “The best crisis is the one that never happens.”

Why Smart Leaders Still Decide Alone

Short answer: mindset and system.

In the business world, decisions are still expected to come from the top, and questioning them is rarely tolerated and even more rarely encouraged. People who ask uncomfortable questions in meetings are often labeled as “difficult” or “annoying.” 

This is the result of both – mindset and system. 

Decision-makers are expected to act with certainty, and the business environment rarely provides time to challenge decisions before they are finalized. I have lived this reality many times when I was asked to “just agree.” Sadly, silence is not always agreement, and in reality, unchallenged decisions simply become more expensive later.

Systems that allow questioning must be deliberately created by leaders who are willing to listen and adjust. I strongly believe that this mindset shift is the foundation of better leadership. We should change our mindset from “defending” decisions to “improving” them. 

The Second Eye is one of the most effective ways to improve decision quality.

Final Words

Every time I go home, my father asks me the same question:
“What’s new? How is work going?”

My answer is always the same:
“I am still the one asking too many questions.”

“Asking questions is good, but be careful. Not everyone will like it,” he responds.

And I agree.

Most organizations spend far more time fixing problems than preventing them. Not because prevention is difficult, but because it is invisible. When something goes wrong, we react. When nothing goes wrong, we rarely ask what protected us. As mentioned above, prevention is the most reliable form of protection, and asking hard questions is one of the most effective ways to do so. 

If there is one thing to take from this article, let it be this: build systems where questioning is a responsibility and part of the approval process. You will see the benefits, and the risks you avoid will be real.

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Gvantsa Kikalishvili is a strategic communication consultant and a strong advocate of the Second Eye concept, bringing an outsider’s perspective to important decisions for teams and leaders. With a background in journalism, she applies newsroom-style pressure testing to leadership decisions to help organizations avoid blind spots and reputational risks before they become public.

You can read more at www.gvantsa.com or subscribe to the free 10-email series here:
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Written by: orlaclancy