Reflecting on this idea for a few days now — I think this happens often to those of us who work in big-picture thinking and planning.

Years ago, I was leading a work project and felt deeply misunderstood. My instincts were pushing me toward a brand-new approach, something we hadn’t done before. When I tried to explain it, I got the dreaded glazed eyes. The polite nods but no real understanding.

At the time, to avoid conflict, I tried softening myself. My voice, my presence, even my personality. I thought maybe if I dialed myself down, connection, understanding would come easier.

But it didn’t really work. Whether I explained it fully as I saw it or tried dialing it down, understanding didn’t get easier.

Eventually I realized it wasn’t about dimming the message. It wasn’t that I was “too much.” I just hadn’t learned how to translate what I was seeing in an effective way to my audience yet.

I was thinking abstractly and big-picture vision (which I loved) but the people around me needed smaller, more practical, tangible steps. Once I slowed down and built a bridge from abstract to actionable — the message clicked (finally)!

My lesson: it became less about dimming myself or my ideas and more about bridging understanding at all the levels I was working with.

In this era of intense change and turbulence, one that’s clearly in need of bigger visions — how many of us are shrinking, softening, or giving up on our ideas instead of focusing on translating them?

For those called to bring in the many creative, big ideas we’ll need, this feels like something worth exploring … 🤍