To see one of the best pictures of leadership in recent memory, click on the White House Photo under Blogroll to the left of this column.

It’s a powerful image for three reasons.

First, it is a radical reality to see a black family with a black President at the locus of political power on this Earth: the sunburst carpet in the Oval Office. Truly there are some new things under the sun: no previous generation of Americans saw what we see here.

Second, the President’s willingness to play speaks to the way he metabolizes his own considerable position power. If we, as leaders, are willing to extend ourselves in humility toward our followers, the likelihood of their following skyrockets. Are we willing to connect with those we lead like Mr. Obama does here?

Third, the youngest son of the Philadelphia family shows such courage in his request. And there’s something else here: he’s verifying similarity. It matters to us that we are “like some others” - our affinity in groups shapes our identity. To lead on diversity and inclusion, we must make peace with cultural identity. It’s core to being human. Of course, we’re also alike in universal ways, and we’re unique individuals at the same time.

Each one of us is:
Like all others.
Like some others.
Like no other.

And as a white man who leads for a living, I feel profoundly included in this photograph: that’s the America I identify with.

What would a picture of your leadership look like?