Make the Invisible Visible
Aug 28, 2025
By Mark David
As a coach, I ask the bosses of the people I work with: “What strategic contribution could this person make—one they’re not currently doing—that would unlock material value for you as a leader, and for the organization’s success?
Let’s define “boss” as any person/people who consistently needs your support to exceed their goals. These people could be your boss/manager, clients, board members, vendors, family members. All these people have something in common: they want you to help them by going into the future, find an opportunity they are blind to, and come back to start doing something about it now. Before the opportunity/challenge becomes a crisis, lets call them executive blind spots, where strategic value is hidden.
It is as though you are making the invisible visible.
Repeatedly, a variety of bosses have said to me: “I am so busy managing up, blocking and tackling so my people don’t have to get caught up in the weeds. Working with my peers and other business partners developing and shaping our culture going forward.”
The bosses are so busy with the company’s big issues, they have no time (or very little time) to go into the future and scope out great opportunities based on the real time data currently in front of you.
The signals that the front line are receiving are the immediate challenges you are having. Here on the front lines, you can observe what’s working and what’s not. Use all of these challenges as signposts signalling how you should think about today and the future. This is what I call the Front-Line Advantage. You’re closest to the execution and are uniquely positioned to surface what’s broken, what can be optimized and – crucially – where future value can be unlocked. Let’s use these moments to your advantage.
Step back and look at every challenge, problem, issue, or crisis, and reflect on these prompts/strategic questions for value creation:
- Where’s the opportunity here?
- Go back and look at how it happened- What’s the root cause?
- Go into the future and see if you can see it happening again
- Analyse all of your problems, systems, and techniques, and see which ones need to be course-corrected today or over time. Can you pre-empt it now?
- Look into the future of the calendared events your company is having- ask yourself, “How can I proactively enhance the outcomes of upcoming organizational milestones, not just meet expectations? What part of the process needs improvement today?
A typical example is looking into the holiday season coming up. You can see today that one area is lacking attention- if you don’t start creating a solution to the problem now, downtime in December will happen. Your bosses can’t see it. Make the invisible visible to them. Bring your VISION (idea), STRATEGY (the plan), EXECUTION (the activities) that will prevent the downtime and loss of productivity and revenue from occurring.
Your bosses have told me how valuable the individuals who do this are to them and the company. They have described these individuals who can see around corners as individuals who elevate their value. Therefore, welcome the challenges, problems, and chaos, and look inside them for a gold mine of opportunities they are presenting to you. With all the real knowledge you have, go out and address the issues, create solutions to improve revenue, increase productivity, and optimize savings. Stop just reacting to the immediate moment. Use it as a telescope into the future. Come back from the future and give your boss a gift that they can start enjoying today. Thus, be known for not just being a problem solver but a future builder.
Future builders are those who:
· Proactively surface unrecognized risks and untapped possibilities
· Articulate clear, actionable strategies to capture that value
· Move aggressively to execute with measurable impact on revenue, productivity, and cost optimization
If you want to stand out at the executive table, welcome the chaos of today’s challenges. Dig in, extract the strategic insight, and transform it into tomorrow’s value. Don’t just manage the moment—leverage it as your vantage point to shape what’s next.
Track Your Impact: Build Your Leadership Portfolio
As you make the invisible visible for your organization, track these accomplishments rigorously. Document the value you create. This isn’t simply for annual reviews—it’s for your own leadership portfolio, crystalizing your story, expanding your impact, and driving the next phase of your career and compensation.
I trust this perspective for you and your team/organization can support your success by growing and developing your strategic thinking. Summar, Alex, and I so enjoy working on these blogs. Thanks for your ongoing inspiration + partnership as we always value your feedback. You are at the heart of our work as we develop these insights.
Mark David
President – The Mark David Corporation
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