Focus on the Forest and the Trees: Mastering the Zoom

“The art of leadership is knowing when to zoom in and when to zoom out.” – Rosabeth Moss Kanter

You have probably heard the phrase, “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” It’s often used in boardrooms and performance reviews to suggest someone is too caught in the details to grasp the bigger picture. But in reality, great leadership requires both.

You have to understand the details (the trees) without losing sight of the system (the forest). You need to be able to dive in and rise above, examine the texture of the moment, and then pull back to understand the terrain. And this isn’t just about strategy. It’s about vision, empathy, and impact.

Why the Zoom Matters

Your brain doesn’t process life in absolutes; it makes meaning through relationships, context, and contrast. So, whether you’re leading a team, designing strategy, or navigating personal reinvention, your ability to shift perspectives - to zoom in and out - determines your agility and clarity. It’s not about being right. It’s about being responsive.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a renowned Harvard Business School professor and visionary, introduced the “Zoom” model as a dynamic framework for leadership. Here’s how it works:

Zoom In: Focus closely on the present moment, the granular challenges, and the real-time human experiences. Ask: What’s really happening here? What’s underneath the surface behavior? What’s the next smallest move that matters? Zooming in helps us diagnose. It brings clarity to chaos. It honors the texture of the now.

Zoom Out: Step back. Shift your vantage point. Ask: How does this fit into the broader landscape? What larger patterns or systems are at play? What’s the long game we’re playing? Zooming out reveals alignment or lack thereof. It helps us design strategy, avoid reactivity, and lead with a sense of why.

The Leadership Blind Spot

One of the most dangerous things a leader can do is get stuck in a single lens. Zoomed in too tightly? You’ll miss the system. You’ll confuse symptoms for root causes. Zoomed out too long? You’ll lose touch with the human reality, and your vision becomes abstract or disconnected. Sustainable leadership lives in the rhythm between clarity and context. Between action and awareness. Between now and next. Here’s where the practice comes in:

1. Check your default. Are you a natural zoom-inner or zoom-outer?

2. Interrupt autopilot. When emotions rise or pressure builds, pause. Shift perspective.

3. Build it into your rhythm. In team meetings, strategy sessions, or coaching moments, ask: What are we missing up close? What are we missing from 30,000 feet?

And yes, as I like to say: If you don’t make room to zoom… you might be doomed (Clever, I know, but also true).

Adaptive leadership isn't about having all the answers. It's about knowing how to shift the questions and the lens depending on the moment. So, the next time you’re facing a tough decision or feeling stuck, ask yourself: Do I need to look closer? Or do I need to pull back? The magic is rarely in one or the other. It’s in the dance between the two.