Cameras, Privilege, and Trust
There’s an article out there today that got me excited. The headline is something like “Executives say having your camera off could be bad…
There’s an article out there today that got me excited. The headline is something like “Executives say having your camera off could be bad for your career.”
Mind blown! I think it is so courageous that executives are finally breaking their silence on the topic of passive-aggressive career advice. This took real grit, executives! #inspired
Now, here is some free career advice for you, executives:
Perpetuating aspects of your culture that harm the wellbeing of your employees is bad for your career.
If people are telling you that being on video all day is burning them out, encourage them to turn their cameras off when it’s not necessary.
Instant executive win! Everybody will think you trust them. And trust leads to productivity. Team-building will still occur, we promise.
Here’s a bonus tip: If I’m told that I’m free to leave my camera off at work, I am *more* likely to respond well to the suggestion that it could be turned on for a particular presentation, team meeting, or 1:1.
Do you think we are turning our camera off to avoid having to pay attention during the meeting? Friend, have you even met us? We can do that fine with the camera on. We did it in person for years!
We just don’t want to have the camera on around the clock. We want to turn them off when we’re not feeling well, if we think we’re not looking well, when the kids are running around, when there is somebody else in the room, or if we might have to pop out of the room to be a parent, partner, caregiver, or homeowner.
It many cases it is a courtesy to the other people on the call. We want to avoid distracting them with [gestures aimlessly.] Don’t send the message that you need to see all of that. That’s called surveillance!
Is it possible that you may not relate to some of these things because of the size of your house, the amount of paid help you have working there, your easy access to mental health care, or because you’re not burdened by societal norms for your appearance?
Having privilege makes it harder to relate to people, and that can be bad for your career if you’re not careful. This is a lesson that I’m never done learning.
Finally, if you are concerned that having the camera off means that people will stop working, please know that this makes you a micromanager.
And that is bad for all of our careers.