What Your Washing Machine Can Teach You About Leadership

We recently had to replace our washing machine. It was many years old, and the quote for repairing it was far too much to invest in an old machine.

Washing machines have changed a lot since we last bought one – Wi-Fi, steam, all kinds of different cycles, buttons, and dials to turn something that was a mindless task into something entirely new and complicated.

That said, I do want to get the best performance out of this new machine. I am admittedly a reader of manuals (though I’ll plead the fifth about my car manual), so I checked it out to see what I could learn.

It was very helpful.

It explained what each setting does, what each code means, what sounds are normal, and what sounds are “cries for help,” i.e., require service.

This brought me back to something a client once introduced me to – a “Leadership User Manual.”

It’s a guide that leaders share with their team members that explains how to best get along with them; how they are when they’re at their best and worst; how they communicate, ideate, solve problems, welcome feedback, etc.

And it can even help identify what are a leader’s signals when they cry for help.

Consider how helpful it would be for your team to know the best ways and times to engage with you, enlist your support, or challenge your perspective. Imagine if they knew exactly what to expect from you in every situation and circumstance. What if they even knew the things you were working on to become an even better leader?

This takes a good deal of vulnerability and self-awareness. The benefits of increased clarity, higher trust, and deeper understanding are synergistic and bring about a greater sense of ease for everyone.

If you want to know more about how to write your own Leadership User Manual, check out this article.