Just about any digital camera made today has a zoom function. It allows you to zoom in on a specific detail or zoom out to see the big picture. I wish it was just as simple to do the same thing in leadership. To be honest, one thing I am personally striving to work on is my ability to zoom in and zoom out as a leader.
This is a vital skill for any leader to develop. There are moments when you have to be zoomed in to see the detail of a situation or event. But you have to just as quickly be able to zoom out and see where that detail fits into the whole. The more responsibility you have as a leader, the more it will be necessary to zoom out. This is often where the leader/pastor of a smaller organization/church can get stuck. They allow themselves to be so involved in every operational detail that they lose the ability to zoom out and see the big picture.
Vision is a necessity for the growth of any organization and progressive vision is not possible when you’re zoomed in. When you’re zoomed in you become so overwhelmed by the detail that you can’t even comprehend exerting enough energy to progress. It is crucial for every leader to zoom out periodically and see the panoramic view of their organization. This allows them to see where they’ve come from and where they see their organization going.
How about you – how’s your zoom button?
Nick Poole 
Nick. That was perhaps the most profound thing I’ve read this week. Well said.
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