Photography taught me something about leadership

Photography taught me something about leadership long before I ever thought about calling it leadership.

You can ruin a good moment by interfering with it too much.

At weddings, some of the best photographs happen when I stop directing.

I watch.

I wait.

I notice who is nervous, who is trying to hold everything together, who needs a bit of reassurance and who just needs left alone.

Then I step in when it helps.

And disappear again when it doesn’t.

I think good leadership works in much the same way.

Not every problem needs your solution.

Not every silence needs filled.

Not every person needs managed in the same way.

Sometimes your job is to give direction.

Sometimes it is to remove something that is getting in the way.

Sometimes it is simply to notice what is happening before everyone else does.

The best photographs rarely come from controlling every detail.

They come from creating the conditions for something real to happen, then knowing when not to get in the way.

I think the best leaders understand that too.