While vacationing with my husband, I had the good fortune to discover a  macro lens on the point-and-shoot camera I’d purchased in the spring. After decades of traveling in Northern Michigan, thousands of miles of hiking (okay, maybe just hundreds), and waiting for my husband – an avid photographer – to take that “perfect” photo and get back on the trail, this is what it’s led to.

I’m now a fanatic with a macro lens. Since discovering this lens I’ve spent hours taking photos of things I never knew existed, trying to perfect a technique for gaining clarity about the small and seemingly insignificant.

As a result, my world has opened up. What I’ve never been able to see before has come alive with the possibility of light, shadow, the hidden and the barely visible. This macro lens allows me to see things that I couldn’t see without it: tiny filaments on a leaf… an interesting shadow on a flower… the perfect markings on a diminutive spider… and (to my utter delight) morning dew on a dozing bee who is waiting for the sun to warm and dry his wings before starting his daily routine.

These are the small, “insignificant” things I’ve missed all these years. While I have been focused on the large and seemingly significant while hiking – deer, chipmunks, even a bear – there has been a whole mini-world of activity and beauty that I missed. All of it is important and all of it contributes to a world that is whole, where possibilities are endless. My life is better for having discovered the macro lens.

Likewise, a leader can sometimes miss or dismiss the small and seemingly insignificant. This may include such things as saying a kind word of gratitude for work well done by a coworker, making a special effort to compliment a quiet employee who’s been dismissed as not having much to offer, or simply listening when someone needs it.

I understand and appreciate the importance of the big things leaders must do. Setting the vision, leading the team, and achieving the bottom line are very important activities. But in our haste to get these done, we sometimes don’t make time for what seems to be small and insignificant.

When we allow ourselves to notice and act on the small things, a whole new world can open for us. Suddenly, small things can turn into powerful, significant forces. That coworker we thanked may become a wonderful ally. The quiet employee may turn out to have a deep well of important wisdom to contribute.

Stop. Look. Take the time to view things you wouldn’t normally see. What have you been missing?