My 4-year-old nephew, Amos, has a superpower. He can see the invisibles. Yes, literally, he has the ability to see what we don’t see.

Recently, I went on a family vacation to the zoo. It was an experience filled with lively exhibits, captivating creatures, and a bustling crowd eager to take it all in. One of the highlights was a bird show featuring exotic species from all around the world. Colorful birds flew overhead, and the audience was in awe as these magnificent creatures soared across the sky.

Amid all this excitement, Amos, in his quiet, observant way, tugged on my hand. “Auntie Kay,” he asked, “how come they didn’t have any birds from America in the show? They didn’t say America.” His question caught me off guard. While the rest of us were caught up in the spectacle of these exotic birds, Amos had noticed what wasn’t being said—what wasn’t part of the show. Later, during the grand finale, a magnificent bird from the Amazon soared overhead, drawing everyone's attention to the sky. Amos, however, pointed out something entirely different. "Look, Auntie Kay, a butterfly." While the entire audience was transfixed by the show-stopping bird, Amos had spotted a small, delicate butterfly quietly fluttering in the background—completely unnoticed by the crowd.

And the surprises didn’t stop there. In front of the lion’s den, where a majestic lioness lay in full view, Amos once again had a thoughtful question. “Where is her mommy? Does she have a mommy?” While everyone else was captivated by the grandeur of the lioness, Amos’s attention turned to what was missing, to something deeper and unseen.

These small moments with Amos got me thinking about how often we, in our professional lives, overlook the “invisibles”—the unheard voices, the subtler ideas, and the less obvious details in meetings, team discussions, and organizational decisions. Like the butterfly in the sky Amos noticed but everyone else missed, we tend to focus on the loudest, most attention-grabbing aspects of our surroundings and organizational and inter-personal dynamics. But what if, as leaders, we learned to notice the unseen? What if we made it a habit to pay attention to what isn’t said, to look for perspectives that aren’t immediately in the spotlight?

In the coming weeks, we’ll dive deeper into how leaders can unlock the potential of the unseen, starting with embracing the diversity of thought that quiet innovators bring to the table. While the loudest voices often get the most attention, the most unusual, creative, and often ground breaking ideas can be found in the quieter, more reflective thinkers if we pay attention to them. In the next post, we’ll explore how you can make space for what’s unsaid, encourage an environment where all ideas are heard, and leverage the power of diverse perspectives to fuel innovation in your team. Stay tuned!