Zoom In vs Zoom Out — 3 Steps to Maximizing Your Leadership Impact

The premise behind zooming in and zooming out is simple. There are times as a leader when you need to be close to things. Close to your product. Close to the technology. Close to your customers and employees. In these times you are in the proverbial weeds. You are literally “in the engine room” where timing, specificity, and nuance matter. This is being zoomed in. Alternatively, there are times when you need to gain perspective, think big, and set the trajectory for the future. This is being zoomed out, and is the exact opposite of being in the engine room. Here we focus on vision, long term planning, setting strategy and synthesizing meta-themes. Both are extremely valuable and beneficial perspectives, and one is not necessarily more important than the other. However, the challenge for leaders and managers comes in knowing HOW and WHEN to zoom in vs zoom out, as well as not getting stuck into one mode of operating for too long. We find that many leaders tend to spend a majority of their time operating in one mode. They basically default into the mode that is most comfortable for them, or that has proven successful previously. Some leaders (even very experienced CEO’s) find themselves rolling up the sleeves and getting into the nitty gritty with their teams. There are times when this may be useful, but more often than not, teams complain that the leader is not focused on the right things, is being too detail oriented, or isn’t willing/able to delegate effectively. Even with good intentions, leaders who default to being zoomed in are not creating environments that are conducive for their teams to maximize their full potential. <a href="https://reganbach.medium.com/zoom-in-vs-zoom-out-3-steps-to-maximizing-your-leadership-impact-6e126ca6162">Website</a>