Why do some leaders struggle to see the big picture while getting mired in the details? Why do other leaders excel at long-term thinking, but can’t get anything done? The reason is leadership aperture.
Leadership aperture refers to the breadth and depth of information that a leader incorporates into their decision-making framework. A broader aperture indicates that the leader assimilates and analyzes a greater volume of information. Conversely, a narrower aperture implies that the leader either excludes certain information or lacks the capacity to process all available data.
Aperture influences many aspects of leadership; one of the most important is the leader’s approach to problem solving. Operating from a narrow aperture prompts a tactical approach, centered on addressing immediate issues. A medium aperture fosters a strategic mindset, delving into root causes, systems, and processes. Widening the aperture further enables leaders to take a visionary posture that encompasses the broader context surrounding the challenges at hand.
This leads us to a more important question… why do some leaders have different capabilities when it comes to their leadership aperture?
It’s because leadership aperture is developmental, which is to say it undergoes a progression of growth, change, and advancement over time. Leadership aperture develops across two dimensions.
The first dimension is range. Range measures the widest aperture the leader can reliably use. Consider this… When you began your career, were you more tactical or more visionary? Tactical, of course. This is why entry level positions evolve around tactical tasks. We develop our narrow aperture first. With time and effort, most leaders develop the capacity for widening their aperture.
Leadership aperture’s developmental nature resembles the process of muscle building. This analogy carries intriguing implications. For instance, a leader who has cultivated a wide-aperture capacity will likely find it easier to narrow their focus when necessary compared to the reverse scenario. Conversely, a leader who has predominantly honed their narrow-aperture capacity may encounter challenges in expanding their perspective to encompass visionary thinking.
Notice the lack of absolutes here. A tactical leader “may” struggle to operate as a visionary and a visionary leader “likely” knows how to be tactical. There are no hard and fast boundaries between leaders and their apertures. On their best day, a leader who hasn’t developed their wide-aperture capacity can pull off wide-aperture thinking. A leader who has developed the capacity for visionary thinking might struggle to be strategic or tactical. There are many variables that affect how a leader behaves in a given moment.
This brings us to the second developmental dimension: wisdom. Whereas range indicates what the leader can do, wisdom examines what the leader will do.
Depending on the situation, a tactical, strategic, or visionary approach might work best. Some situations require all three. Wisdom is the ability to discern which aperture is best to address the challenge.
Circling back to the original questions, let’s use the concepts of range, wisdom, and leadership aperture to support our analysis…
The leader who gets mired in the details and cannot see the big picture may lack range. Perhaps they have not yet developed their wide-aperture capacity, which limits their ability to make strategic or visionary moves. Again, this isn’t to say they cannot behave with a wider aperture, rather it will be less reliable and will feel unnatural.
As for the leader who is an amazing visionary, but can’t get anything done? Perhaps they have developed full range, but lack wisdom and therefore cannot make the shift from visionary to tactical. They operate in the clouds and never touch the ground.
As you can likely sense, leadership aperture is worth understanding. I would argue it’s the most critical variable in a leader’s effectiveness. Its impact extends far beyond mere tactical, strategic, and visionary problem-solving abilities. A leader’s aperture drives their approach to managing people. It correlates to their capacity for collaboration. It is the foundation for innovation and creativity. Leadership aperture even shapes a leader’s presence and regulates their emotional well-being. It’s a stretch to say that leadership aperture is everything, but it’s close.
The most exciting aspect is that because leadership aperture is developmental, we have the opportunity to actively cultivate and strengthen these capacities. By targeting the enhancement of these “muscles,” we can accelerate a leader’s growth and development, fostering both range and wisdom. Through deliberate practice, continuous learning, and tailored development initiatives, leaders can optimize their leadership aperture, ultimately enhancing their effectiveness and impact in their roles.
Want to learn more? Drop us a line…
Written by Mike Herzog. President and Chief Experience Officer, the telos institute