The face reveals all
June 18th, 2009 | 6 Comments
My brother-in-law, Jim Spillane, is a professional photographer. He’s currently in Nepal, where he’s photographing people going about their day-to-day lives.
Today, he sent an email about his motives for photographing local brick workers:
“It’s the expression on their face(s). They don’t hide their feelings. If they’re sad, they show it; happy, you know it. Unlike the business class I had left in Kathmandu with their masqueraded friendliness, they are not trying to sell you something. The difference is so stark you notice it immediately.”
This got me to thinking about why I was uncomfortable when I first started in business and what still makes me itch when I see it today: People putting on a mask and playing a role. In a world of greater transparency, I hope that business people can learn to become more humane and less deceptive – that feelings can be expressed and respected.
Call me a dreamer, but I’m seeing the best companies on the planet being founded on the premise of helping people – both employees and customers – get better. It’s a fairly clear corporate choice: be a genuine company with a conscience, or a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
