The Lens of Leadership: Why Your Company Culture Must Be Seen to Be Believed

An exclusive deep-dive into workplace culture, visual storytelling, and authentic leadership, based on the December seminar by Steven Havers of member CorValu Photography.

In the bustling landscape of modern business, we often obsess over the metrics we can measure on a spreadsheet: profit margins, turnover, KPIs, and net promoter scores. But at the December meeting of The Business Network Birmingham, we were invited to look at business through a different lens—quite literally.

Steven Havers, the creative force behind CorValu (formerly Havers Business Photography), took the floor not just as a photographer, but as a cultural anthropologist of the workplace. His seminar was not a technical workshop on aperture and ISO; it was a strategic dissection of what “Company Culture” actually looks like when you strip away the corporate jargon and capture the raw, unposed reality of human interaction.

Steven’s philosophy is built on a specific tool of his trade: a 600mm lens. For the uninitiated, this is a massive piece of glass, the kind used to photograph birds of prey from a mile away or footballers from the press box. Steven uses it inside offices. Why? Because to capture the truth of a business, you have to be far enough away that people forget you are there. You have to stop “wing walking” on a biplane (taking risky, close-up shots) and start observing the natural flow of leadership, management, and engagement from a distance.

This article explores the critical themes raised during Steven’s presentation, expanding on how senior decision-makers can audit, visualize, and improve their own workplace culture.

Part 1: The “Niche” of Authenticity

Why Specialise in Culture?

Early in his career, Steven faced a common dilemma: the temptation to be everything to everyone. “I’m a photographer, I’ll shoot your wedding, your dog, your product, your headshot.” But in business, as in photography, a lack of focus leads to a blurry result. It took him five years to accept the power of the “niche”.

He rebranded to CorValu because he realized his core passion wasn’t just “taking pictures”; it was capturing the “Core Values” of an organization. This distinction is vital for any business leader. If you cannot articulate your niche—specifically who you help and how—you cannot build a culture around it. If you try to appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one.

The Visual Lie

We live in a visual age. Yet, Steven pointed out a glaring disconnect in how businesses present themselves. A company will spend thousands on a website that claims, “We are inclusive, dynamic, and people-focused,” but then populate that site with stock photography of models who have never set foot in the building.

Steven calls this the “Visual Lie.” When you use stock images, or stiff, posed photos of your board of directors standing in a line looking uncomfortable, you are subconsciously telling your audience: “We are fake.” You are presenting a facade. Authentic culture photography isn’t about looking perfect; it’s about looking real. It’s about capturing the moment a manager leans in to listen to a junior staff member, or the genuine laughter between colleagues in the breakroom.

Part 2: Defining Workplace Culture

It’s Not About the Beanbags

A recurring theme in modern business discourse is the confusion between “perks” and “culture.” Steven addressed this head-on. Culture is not the pool table in the lobby, the “free fruit Fridays,” or the funky breakout spaces. Those are environment.

Culture is behavior.

Culture is the sum of how your people interact when they think no one is watching. It is the aggregate of thousands of micro-interactions:

• How does leadership speak to management?

• How does management treat the cleaning staff?

• Do people feel safe to ask questions?

• Is there laughter, or is there silence?

Steven noted that “Core Values” often end up as just “words on a wall.” Integrity, Honesty, Innovation. Every reception area has them. But through his lens, he looks for the evidence of those words. If your value is “Teamwork,” but he captures images of siloed employees wearing headphones and avoiding eye contact, your culture is broken, regardless of what the plaque on the wall says.

Part 3: Leadership vs. Management

One of the most engaging segments of the seminar involved an interactive analysis of an image Steven had taken. He showed a photograph of two people in a workspace and asked the room: “Who is the leader, and who is the manager?”.

The Distinction

The room offered various answers based on body language, attire, and positioning. Steven used this to draw a sharp distinction between the two roles, a distinction often muddied in the corporate world:

1. The Leader: The leader creates the space. In photographic terms, they are the composition. They set the vision, they allow autonomy, and crucially, they provide the safety net that allows people to make mistakes. Leading is about “hands-off” guidance.

2. The Manager: The manager executes the process. They are “hands-on.” They ensure the cogs are turning.

Steven argued that you cannot effectively photograph “leadership” by having someone point at a chart. You photograph leadership by capturing the result of leadership: a team that is engaged, autonomous, and confident. If a CEO is constantly hovering over shoulders (micromanaging), the photos will show tension, not leadership.

The “Space to Fail”

A profound point raised was the concept of the “space to fail.” In a toxic culture, mistakes are punished. In a thriving culture, mistakes are viewed as data for improvement. Steven captures this in the body language of employees. Are their shoulders hunched? Are they defensive? Or are they open, relaxed, and collaborative? The camera doesn’t lie about psychological safety.

Part 4: The Recruitment and Retention Crisis

The Cost of the Wrong Hire

“We are the most expensive part of any business,” Steven noted. Humans walk on two legs and talk, and we are costly to acquire and costly to keep.

Steven shared a story about a former HR Chief at Netflix who utilized video and photography to analyze candidate interviews. They placed a camera on the receptionist to observe how candidates treated the “gatekeeper.” If a candidate was charming to the hiring manager but rude to the receptionist, they were rejected. Why? Because behavior is culture.

Truth in Advertising

This ties back to the “Visual Lie.” If you sell a candidate a dream—using photos of a diverse, happy, relaxed workforce on your careers page—and they arrive on Day One to find a sweatshop atmosphere of high stress and micromanagement, they will leave.

This is the “churn” that destroys profitability. Steven argues that using authentic photography is a filter. It repels the people who wouldn’t fit your actual culture and attracts those who will. If your culture is high-pressure and “work hard, play hard,” show that! Don’t show a picture of someone meditating. Authenticity in recruitment reduces attrition because people know what they are signing up for.

The “Black Friday” Effect

Steven described visiting a Timberland distribution centre on Black Friday. The staff were exhausted. They weren’t smiling. They were sweating, moving boxes, and working incredibly hard. A “bad” photographer would try to force them to smile. A “cultural” photographer captures the grit, the determination, and the sheer effort. There is honor in hard work. Showing the reality of the “grind” can be just as powerful as showing the celebration, provided it is honest.

Part 5: Subconscious Bias and The Visual Narrative

Challenging Assumptions

When looking at the photo of the two professionals, the audience made assumptions. “The one on the left is the manager because she’s leaning forward.” “The one on the right is the leader because he looks relaxed.”

Steven revealed that often, our subconscious bias dictates how we read hierarchy. We might assume the older white male is the CEO and the younger female is the assistant. Steven’s work often involves challenging these biases by capturing the dynamics of the conversation rather than the stereotypes. Who is listening? Who is holding the floor? Often, the true influencer in a room isn’t the person with the biggest job title.

The “Posed” Problem

When people know they are being photographed, they put on a “mask.” They suck in their stomachs, they fix their ties, and they smile rigidly. This triggers a negative subconscious response in the viewer. We don’t trust people who look perfect. We trust people who look human.

Steven’s 600mm lens allows him to bypass the “mask.” He captures the furrowed brow of deep concentration, the hand gestures of passionate explanation, and the genuine warmth of a shared joke. These are the visual cues that trigger trust in a potential client or employee.

Part 6: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

Steven dedicated a significant portion of the talk to DE&I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), but he added a crucial fourth element: Accessibility.

The Sliding Doors Analogy

He offered a brilliant analogy regarding accessibility. Many businesses claim to be accessible because they have a ramp or a lift. But Steven posed the question: How does the door open?

If a wheelchair user has to press a button to open a door, wait for it to swing, and navigate through, that is Accessibility (technically, they can enter). If the door is a sensor-operated sliding door that opens automatically for everyone, regardless of ability, that is Inclusion.

The push-button marks the user out as “different.” The sliding door treats everyone as equal. Steven urges leaders to look at their businesses—both physical spaces and cultural practices—and ask: Are we building push-buttons or sliding doors?.

The Dog at the Expo

To illustrate Acceptance and Equity, Steven told a moving story about a lady at a disability trade show (Naidex). She was in a wheelchair and had an assistance dog. She wanted to enter a specific booth/exhibition area, but she was hesitant. Why? Because in her daily life, she is constantly told “No dogs allowed.”

Even at an expo designed for disability, she carried the trauma of exclusion. When she was finally welcomed in—dog and all—the look on her face wasn’t just happiness; it was relief. It was belonging. Steven captured that moment. That image tells a story of culture that no stock photo ever could. It showed that the organization didn’t just “allow” her to be there; they wanted her there.

Part 7: CSR – People over Logos

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) often falls into the trap of “Greenwashing” or vanity PR. Companies hand over a giant cheque, take a photo of the CEO shaking hands with a charity rep, and call it a day.

Steven argues for a different approach. Don’t photograph the cheque. Photograph the hands. Photograph the employees getting muddy planting trees. Photograph the team packing food parcels.

Why? Because the “cheque shot” is about the Company Entity (the Ego). The “action shot” is about the Human Beings (the Culture). When you show your staff engaging in CSR because they want to, not because they were told to, you attract customers who align with those values. It shifts the narrative from “Look how generous our corporation is” to “Look how much our people care”.

Conclusion: The Call to Action

The overarching message from Steven Havers was clear: Stop faking it.

In a post-pandemic world, we crave connection. We crave truth. Whether you are a CEO trying to retain top talent, a Marketing Director trying to attract new clients, or an HR Manager trying to build a cohesive team, your visual storytelling must align with your lived reality.

1. Audit your Imagery: Look at your website. Do the photos look like your office? Do the people look like your people?

2. Audit your Behavior: Walk the floor. Are people smiling? Is there a “space to fail”?

3. Audit your Accessibility: Are you installing push-buttons or sliding doors?

The Business Network Birmingham exists to facilitate exactly these kinds of high-level, strategic conversations. We move beyond the transaction and into the transformation of our businesses and ourselves.

Join us at our next monthly lunch. Come for the impeccable food, stay for the strategic relationships, and leave with the insights that will change the way you lead.