This week, I took my dog Lyla to the vet to get some stitches removed after a coyote attack. Don’t worry, Lyla is doing great. She is a trooper! And as you can see in the photo, she looks adorable in her inflatable cone.
As we drove home, something peculiar caught my attention. She was sitting in the car with her paw raised, almost like she was begging. The thing is, she never begs this way. At first, I didn’t think much of it. She seemed completely calm. But since this was not her usual behavior, I took a closer look and realized her paw was stuck in the cone.
She wasn’t complaining. She didn’t cry. She didn’t even look distressed.
Why Great Leaders Look Beyond the Loudest Voices
I chuckled. And then I found myself thinking about how often we tend to pay attention to those who are loud. The ones who voice every frustration, every challenge. Employees, customers, teammates.
But we also have the quiet ones. The ones who do their work diligently, rarely pulling our attention toward their struggles. And often, just as quietly, they are not drawing attention to their accomplishments either. Their impact can go unnoticed, not because it is small, but because it is not being highlighted.
And yet, they may still be stuck in their own “cones.”
Great leadership means giving those quiet performers as much attention as the ones who demand it.
It is not just about who takes your attention. It is about who might need it, and who might deserve it, even if they are not asking for it.
Who on your team might be quietly struggling or quietly succeeding without you noticing?
Who are the quiet ones in your world, and how will you show up for them?
