Craig Mitchelldyer has been involved in photography since high school. When asked why he chose photography, he stated to me that he has always known that photography was what he has wanted to do. His mother and father were supportive of his endeavors, and his dad bought him a nice camera and lens for graduation. His first job as a photojournalist gave him a platform to build upon his skill set, and for years he said he sat back and listened. He would try to do what those around him were doing from a position of respect for greatness. For ten years Craig Mitchelldyer studios have been serving the greater Portland metropolitan area, and he has traveled extensively with a studio in California as well. By no means has Craig Mitchelldyer emerged as a leadership figure overnight. Craig Mitchelldyer’s leadership, and much of what he shares, comes from years of experience in his field of professional photography and cultural influences from his youth. His no nonsense style of hands on leadership has been well received here in Portland, Oregon. Craig puts his heart and soul into what he does, and that comes through as an authentic and genuine learning experience. Whether he is sharing with students at a local community college, teaching at a professional photography function, or just doing a community outreach workshop, Craig demonstrates a sense of humility and thoughtfulness that translates into a favorable learning experience. His dedication to his craft was demonstrated in our interview where he stated “Every shoot that I do, I take something away from that shoot…I am never fully satisfied with anything…I am always trying to find ways to improve”.

Craig is also more than willing to take time out for someone like myself to interview him. I outlined a series of questions for our interview, and the first question I asked was why he chose photography, as mentioned earlier in the paper. I also asked him as we moved through the interview how he viewed his role in the photography community; Craig did not see himself in a leadership role. He stated he was just doing what came natural to him. The reality is that many people fulfill leadership roles without realizing the scope or impact of what they do in life. We also talked about the workshops and classes he teaches frequently. He has come out to Mt. Hood Community College to share knowledge with the professional photography program students, and he said he was actually very impressed at the caliber of work and the student’s dedication to the craft. When asked how his love for photography became a business, Craig said he knew early on he wanted to take his gift for photography and turn it into a business, so he took a risk and set out on a course of action. Since Craig stated he was never much of a book learner, he continued with hands on methods, and learned through actually doing what was needed by trying out techniques he had seen in observing great photography in several mediums. He also learned from those who knew more than him, and was actually was able to get them to share their experience. The skill of networking and shared knowledge is a tradition Craig engages in to this day.

Craig Mitchelldyer is a devoted father and husband, and he was very clear about the separation of the two lives, and the elaborated on the paradox of how intertwined the two separate lives were. Even though he has always enjoyed photography, he had to view the business side of what he does quite differently than how he felt as a hobbyist. He stated he rarely picks up his camera unless it related to commerce, and he keeps his personal life at home. When he is on a job he takes it seriously, and at the end of the day he leaves his work at the office so he can spend quality time with the family. He said his family never plays second fiddle to photography, and that attitude keeps him balanced and focused between the two lives of photography and family that can potentially clash. Here his strong family values also led him to adopt a style of leadership that is guided by a strong sense of conviction, and yet he treats his assistants and team members like family. The family lives of the team are important to him as well, so he is flexible in his scheduling as much as possible. Many leaders are influenced by similar values, but in Craig’s case it translates into an entire underlying theme to how his studios are operated.

Throughout the interview Craig reminded me more of a friend from high school than an iconic figure in the photography community. He has a very down to earth demeanor, and he stated it is how he believes we should all be. I asked him how that translates into project development, and where the line is between friendliness and completing the task at hand. With a focus on team building Craig clearly outlines his goals when launching a project. Every team member is trained with the same type of hands on learning approach that Craig has found to work for his business over the years. Each team member understands the duties and responsibilities bestowed upon them, and team members are encouraged to be self guided when problem solving on the set. There is a certain amount of direction that does need to be established, and guidelines to be adhered to for all team members to maintain continuity in the artistic vision. Even though there are those guidelines, Craig always goes back and evaluates each shoot to analyze the nuances that could make the work stand out on a higher level. For someone in my position, I was amazed because I have always considered Mr. Mitchelldyer’s work to be of the best around. Even he seeks feedback, and has reaffirmed the message of lifetime learning. Even masters continue being students for their lifetime, and often learn from their students as much they do from their own mentors.

Another focus of our interview time was around early childhood influences. Craig even stated that the interview was beginning to sound like quotations from his mother. I could see he had a deep love and respect for the support and belief his parents have always had in his success. He stated he did not think he would be where he is at today without that kind of love and acceptance. His mother was a key part of his interpersonal skills development as a leader. It is one thing to possess the technical skills required to lead any group of people, but if one cannot relate to their constituents in a way that reflects understanding, it is hard to meet their needs or negotiate effectively. Craig reminds me of an extremely emotionally intelligent leader with no vestiges of narcissism that one often sees within the arts community. He is aware of who he is, is very humble, has empathy, and he is charismatic with people. He has an electric personality that draws people to him, and once there he handles the situation with an intuitive sense of how to approach any challenge. Many people see Craig as a guy with the answers, and I believe that has much to do with quality upbringing mixed with an outgoing personality. For a leader like me who has not had the benefit of such a quality upbringing, it has been suggested to surround one’s self with the kind of people we want to be like when we “grow up”. Photographers like Craig emulate qualities that many people in business could use.

Mr. Mitchelldyer leads on multiple levels, and has become adaptable to varied situations. On one day he may be on a shoot for his studio, and be leading a few assistants on the micro level, and the next day he may be speaking to over 50 people at a forum or meeting. He runs two studios very efficiently, and finds the time to delegate all of the various functions each studio requires. When Craig can find the time, he is very hands on with his organization, but many times he has had to trust the day to day operations of his studios to managers because he cannot be everywhere all the time. This is where he learned to find people who have quality leadership skills as well. After all, in his own admonition, this business is his passion and his life. Photography is everything to him, but he does not lead with a Devil Wears Prada mentality. Authoritarianism is not his style. Here one can see a level of growth and maturity as a leader that makes Craig a naturally great kind of person to work for. The expectations placed on team members are reasonable throughout the organization, and not micro managed to the point of monotony. Craig gives the impression that not everyone learns in the same way, and that there is often the ability to do great things lying just under the surface in all of us. We just have to have the courage to step up and face life with an attitude that sounds like a Nike commercial: “Just do it”. Inspiration and motivation come in many forms, and Craig has a very nonsensical approach that causes people to wonder why they have not tried to succeed long ago. He does not seek fanfare, or fancy gimmicks to draw people in, he just smiles and gets down to business. He is not afraid to get his hands dirty, to walk with people through what they are experiencing, and transforming that experience into art in a way that is well respected on both technical and personal levels in his business.

In this way I believe Craig transcribes his style in the hearts and minds of those he works with. There is an exchange very much like the Leader-Member Exchange mentioned early in the Nahavandi Leadership text book. In each situation there is a clearly defined role for the follower, and as a result of key skills those members are on the “inside” of what goes on with Mitchelldyer Studios. There exists mutual respect, continued networking, organizational support, ongoing learning, and challenging assignments that require attention to detail and professionalism. Working with leaders like Craig facilitates the type of professional relationship that prepares team members for leadership roles in the future if they choose to pursue such endeavors.

Conducting the interview got me thinking about various leadership road blocks that exist in the areas of self awareness, organizational change, potential conflicts, and internal processes that can tear an organization apart. If I am not aware of what makes me a potentially effective or ineffective leader, I am operating with only a small piece of the leadership equation. From there it becomes harder to deal with change, conflict, and processing information to get to the point where personal and professional goals are met. It got me thinking even more about the roles that leaders have in an organization, community, or heart of an individual follower. I have the benefit of belonging to an organization that mentors, encourages, and supports individuals to become more selfless and effective in dealing with life’s challenges. There are service opportunities available to all members on varying degrees of responsibility. Being a member and a leader within the organization I belong to is challenging on both a personal and a group level. We have developed guidelines that are the collective, and hard won experience of our membership. Even with all that collective experience, it means nothing if we as individuals do not expand our own personal toolkit. Craig Mitchelldyer seems to do that naturally. In reading chapter 3 of the Nahavandi text again, I could see that many of my own leadership skills could be developed more specifically. For example, the Leader-Member relations scale on page 102 had me thinking about how my role as a leader affects the relations of the entire team on a project. Craig has such an outstanding and positive influence on those around him that the projects seem to flow without a great amount of difficulty. The reality is Craig is not afraid to prepare ahead of time, has a strong skill set, and his dedication to the photographic process is demonstrated through his actions on the set.

When observing Craig Mitchelldyer or sitting down to interview him, it is easy to see how leadership was historically perceived to be an inherent trait versus a teachable attribute. People like Craig seem to exude this natural aura of leadership that in reality has been developed over a great amount of years, and through a number of different influences. Since most people are not fully aware of what drives or motivates them, many times the power of such influences is easily overlooked. As mentioned earlier, Craig initially did not perceive himself as a leader, and it was evident that he did not spend a great amount of time finding out why he is the kind of person he is. As the owner of his own studio, he never saw too great of a need for something like Myers Briggs personality analysis tools, because what he was doing had just “came natural”. The reality is that Craig had been getting healthy and encouraging messages since he was very young. At every juncture in his life, Craig stated his family has always supported him in his endeavors. Additionally they provided a guiding hand and direction so he was not running with blind ambition. Mentors and teachers were provided along the way, and Craig was always encouraged to be humble and gracious for what he was given. Anyone who has worked with him is not surprised by such information. It is the exact same type of Craig they know. He looked at me during the interview and said that he never really thought about how much the life lessons he practiced were influenced by his mother. He even joked again how the interview sounded like a book of quotations from his mom. It was nice to see that light of appreciation come alive in his eyes. He also demonstrated that the interview made him think about things he had never really thought about in reference to being a leader. I can only hope our interview was a mutually beneficial experience, as I have always admired Mr. Mitchelldyer.

My interview is not the only one Craig had done in the past week, but his previous interview focused specifically on his success in the photography business. When asked what was the most significant key to his success Craig replied, “I think what has made me successful is consistency and great customer service. I offer a great product and I’m not a pain in the ass to work with. You’d be surprised how many photographers are nightmares to work with. Remember the customer is always right. I live by that.” His attention to detail has always been impeccable, but I was a little surprised to hear him say the customer is always right, because personally I had experienced some crazy customers in the photo business. Most every professional photographer I know has had to wrestle with copyright issues or a nightmare client at some time, so we have very detailed contracts to outline clear and concise expectations for both parties. Having the contract in places provides protections, and in cases where the clients try to overstep the contract, the photographer is forced to decide what course of action to take next. It often depends on the severity of the violation of copyright, or the level of harassment by a client. To say the customer is ALWAYS right is a very bold statement in our business, and creates visions of unreasonable sacrifice leading to the poor house. The reality is it has obviously worked quite well for Craig for a great number of years, but I suspect the statement is not an absolute, and Craig Mitchelldyer Photography has certain protections in place should a client venture into the realm of radically unreasonable expectations. Since I did not find the other interview until after we met, I was not able to ask for further elaboration.

As I began to reread the two interviews, and review Craig’s body of work, an important realization came over me. I had not fully taken into account the influence technical proficiency has had on his being elevated to such a renowned status in the photography community. When saying that it seems like a no brainer for a fellow photographer like me to consider, after all I have admired his work for quite some time. It was the outstanding quality of his work that initially got him noticed, and after years of exposure he was invited to speak and teach others. Craig did not wake up and become an amazing photographer, but rather his technical skills developed over time just as did his leadership qualities. Craig’s technical proficiency was driven by inspiration from notable photographers as mentioned in his interview. Craig said that Bruce Ely was an inspiration in sports photography because he draws you into the moment. It does not matter whether it is television, web, or print photography; Bruce Ely is a photographer that knows how to connect the viewer and the moment. For portraits Craig mentioned Joe Mcnally has been an inspiration, and considering his one day workshops are over $1,000.00, Craig is not the only one who admires Joe’s work. The point is that Craig’s technical proficiency did not come from a single source. As with his leadership skills they were built over time with hard work and dedication. Mentors, ability to listen, willingness, countless hours of practice, magazines, and passion all contributed to Craig’s technical proficiency. That proficiency got him noticed, and the leadership lessons in life allowed him to grow Craig Mitchelldyer Studios to the place where prestige and success are abundant.

The textbooks in this leadership class outlined numerous styles and approaches to leadership. Leaders are defined as “anyone who influences individuals and groups within an organization, helps them in the establishment of goals, and guides them towards the achievement of those goals, thereby allowing them to be effective.” Craig Mitchelldyer epitomizes the above statement and demonstrates his leadership beyond the office or studio. His family and friends respect him as well because Craig carefully considers the needs of others, and balances his time and energy accordingly. I am learning that being a leader and being a businessperson requires a delicate balance of one’s personal and professional life, and that often the two are intertwined. Time management is essential to maintaining that balance. There are several studies that suggest leadership can be taught, but with learning leadership, one must be willing to step out of their comfort zone. People like Craig Mitchelldyer have had a lifetime of learning, and many healthy options were presented to him ever since he was a child. For someone who may not have had the benefit of such a background, leadership qualities can be taught, but a heavy level of dedication is required for the successful consummation of a leadership role. Anyone can lead a group or individuals for a period in time, but only a true dedication and passion leads to maintaining the internal health of the organization. Long term success also requires a leader to be adaptive to change, and that is a quality I noticed that is very strong in Mr. Mitchelldyer. He is very effective in the photography community because his skills, talents, and vision have been fostered over a lifetime. The context of Craig’s leadership allows him to have success in the photography industry, but by his own admonition in another industry he may not have the same drive and desire to succeed.