Photos tell us a lot about what people love...AND about how they lead!What we value says a lot about how we lead. I was reminded of this the other day when a few friends posted photo albums on facebook, the subjects of which were a compilation of “my life” and/or “things I love.”
The first album I saw was posted by a male friend of mine. It had 24 pictures in all, only four of which included people. And in those pictures…the people appeared to be there merely to highlight the things they were next to. Not that the things they highlighted weren’t nice…they were. But the majority of the pictures were of inanimate objects that pointed towards my friend’s status as an owner of them. The album included pictures of two boats, a big house (complete with mini-bar, which warranted its own photo), a pool, a car, a motorcycle (which was labeled “one of my children”), a 55” TV, and a few pictures of aircraft that were part of a past life in the army.
Oh, and there was a picture of his dog.
The second album belonged to one of my girlfriends. This is an ever growing album titled “things i heart” and is currently up to 29 photos. Of those, only five do NOT include people. Her photos include her husband, her sister, a picture of her with her dad, her new niece, her sisters-in-law, her cousin, her friends, a photo from one of the Muslim embassies on Embassy Day with her wrapped in a makeshift headdress, and a lovely shot of her next to Kermit the Frog in the Smithsonian. Even the photos that did not include people had clever captions. They weren’t just pictures of things…they really told a story about this girl and what she loves. They included a lovely bell tower in Puerto Rico, a fine example of German engineering (I know because the caption told me so), a rain storm she got to watch from indoors rather than being in it, a pink martini from her birthday dinner, and an old floppy disk with the caption:
“i heart finding REALLY OLD random floppy disks in the desk drawers at work!! this reminds me, i also heart the 80s!!!(ps, this is just about the actual size of this thing...it's HUGE!!)"
Oh yeah…and she also had quite a few pictures of her dog.
The difference in these albums really made me wonder how that tied to the way men and women lead. If these albums are any indication, it seems that men are more focused on the mission. Stuff. Titles. Outcomes. Having something to show for all the hard work. Did we get a check in the “W” column or was the project a failure?
Women on the other hand often find their value in relationships, experiences and what happens on the journey. Maybe the project didn’t go as well as it could have…but the team got along fantastically and built camaraderie for the next big project. No need to hold off celebrating until the end of the project…let’s find a way to make the milestones fun events in themselves!
Neither of these leadership styles is right or wrong…and truth be told, most teams would benefit from a little of both. But in our haste to sometimes strive to fit into a “man’s world” let’s not forget all the value women bring as leaders.
So celebrate people’s birthdays. Take a long lunch to pat your team on the back for reaching a big milestone within a project. And take pictures of the people. The events. And yes, even the achievements themselves!
Remember the personal photos you keep in your office say a lot about you to your team and co-workers. Our pictures reflect what we love. What we love reflects our values. And our values strongly influence how we lead.
But no matter what we value, be it our achievements or our teams, we can all agree on one thing. Everyone values their dogs!
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