Photographs of Leadership.
What are some of the reasons people take pictures or record videos? For some of us, we want to capture a moment in time that has some significance: a smile of your loved one, a change of season, a meteor shower, a sunset, a perfect wave, or flowers blooming in your garden. Sometimes we come back to that photograph out of melancholy or simply because we miss how we felt when we took that picture. This beautiful memory we captured is now accessible whenever we need to connect to that moment in time.
As I was photographing the snow-covered mountain from my living room this morning, I did precisely that. I captured a moment in time that signified a season change. Then I was thinking, where else in my life did I capture moments that impacted what kind of person I’m today, and what kind of medium did I use that enabled me to return to that place and time when needed?
The answer was right in front of me. Throughout my life, I’ve been capturing moments of some level of significance not as a photograph but as a memory. A memory of thoughts, tasks, processes, people, or events that impacted me as a person. Sometimes that impact might be so significant that it changes how you show up in your life; sometimes, it is so tiny that you don’t notice until others comment on your new way of being. So, I’ve built a “photo album” filled with memories that I use in my day-to-day life and my role as a leader.
I’m curious, how do you capture moments in your life that are significant to you in some way? What kind of medium do you use; do you record it on your phone as a voice memo, write it down in your journal, or take a moment and think about the purpose of that moment and its impact on you? Do you return to that memory because you see it as a lesson?
Let’s pause for a moment and consider what happens with the memories stored in us over our lifetime. Where do they go? How can we access it so quickly at times? Yes, there is a scientific way to explain how and where memories are stored, but this is not where I want to take you; I want to explore the deeper places of our consciousness. For better or worse, these memories become part of us; they get embodied in our bones and hearts. @Robert Ellis refers to it as bone knowledge. What do you know in your bones? That bone knowledge is your lifetime experience, how you see the world, and how you show up for yourself and others. The photographs of your life’s memories are what is in your bones.
So what can you do with this knowledge in your bones now in your role as a leader? How can you use this gift of your life experience to become the leader you want to be? I can’t tell you what to do in this short article; we are all too different, each on a unique journey. But I can share with you how my bone knowledge supports me as a leader and coach. I know my life experience is valuable to some, and sometimes even more valuable than what we can learn from books or cookie-cutter leadership or coaching training. I’m grounded in my core knowledge; I know where my integrity and values come from; I’m open-hearted and vulnerable when meeting with a team member or a client because I finally trust what is in my bones. How do I know that? Because I wasn’t afraid to run experiments to see what works and what doesn’t, what brings value to others, and what is only valuable to me. It’s a trial-and-error dance; only some are brave enough to step into the dance floor and take the first step. And most of all, I’m not afraid of whom I’m becoming during this transformation that my bone knowledge provides. It might not work for you, but it works for me.
Next time when you think you don’t have anything to contribute or you don’t know the process or how to become a better leader, pause for a moment and go back to yourself and take an inventory of what is in your bones, what your album of significant events is telling you. You already lived that part, maybe it had a different dressing on it or came via another medium, but you know in your bones how to react, how to solve the problem in front of you, how to instigate the change in your life so you can start showing up fully as the person, partner, leader or a team member that is aligned with your heart.
What kind of photographs your photo album contains?
