Dirty Laundry

Leadership Lessons: Timeless Stories for the Modern Leader

Rarely do we see things through a “clean window.” We all have blind spots. 

Several years ago, there was an elderly couple who would sit together each morning for breakfast. The woman often looked out her kitchen window and saw her neighbor’s laundry, which she’d hung out to dry, blowing in the wind.

The woman frequently complained how dirty the laundry looked—how many brown spots were still on the clothes or that the whites were yellow and dingy. She grumbled to her husband that her neighbor was awful at doing laundry. This was a regular conversation for months, with increasing agitation, to the point where the woman was ready to go over to her neighbor’s house and instruct her how to properly do laundry.  

Then one day, while eating their morning meal, she was very surprised to observe her neighbor’s laundry looking clean! There were no dirty spots and the whites were brilliant. The laundry blowing in the breeze appeared perfectly clean. She couldn’t believe it. She looked at her husband and asked if he had told her neighbor to clean better. He said no. Exasperated, she wondered what had happened. Her husband finally told her that he had simply cleaned their kitchen windows. 

This story illustrates how we often have blind spots that prevent us from seeing things clearly. As leaders, we may think we have the right answer, but perhaps we are viewing the world through a distorted or incorrect lens. We may not fully appreciate the biases or lenses through which we are viewing our own and others’ behaviors. Rarely do we see things through a “clean window.” We all have blind spots! 

We’ve learned over the years that one of our biggest blind spots as leaders is developing relationships with others. We need to view these critical relationships accurately in order to build productive ones. In fact, effective leadership is grounded in effective relationships. The best way to become aware of our own blind spots is to actively solicit feedback from others. This will allow us to gain insights from a variety of perspectives. Take the elderly woman in the story: If she had gone outside and changed her perspective, she would have viewed her neighbor’s laundry in a different light. She also might have unwittingly ignored previous comments from her husband or created an environment where he was not comfortable to share the honest truth with her about their dirty window. These can all occur within our own professional relationships. Let us actively seek different perspectives, discover our blind spots, and avoid viewing the world through a “dirty window.”  

Application

A few tips: 

  1. How do you learn about your personal blind spots? Do you take the time to consider your personal blind spots? 
  2. Examine each of your professional relationships—boss, direct reports, peers, and customers. Do you solicit feedback from them?  
  3. Do you listen to the input of others? Have you created an environment where differing opinions can be freely shared?  
  4. Are you willing to admit when you don’t know something or have a blind spot? It is in your best interest to examine your blind spots before assuming you know better than someone else.  

About the Author

John Parker Stewart is a renowned, award-winning author, coach, and speaker. He and his Stewart Leadership team provide coaching and consulting services to clients globally on change management, leadership development, talent management, and team performance.