Phantom Load - Leadership Lessons from my Dishwasher
When I walked back into the house after several days away, the dishwasher light was blinking — that little light that means "I’m ready."
The machine wasn’t running, but it wasn’t off either.
That pulsing glow got me thinking about what electrical engineers call “phantom load”: all the small indicator lights scattered through our homes — TVs, routers, appliances — each drawing a quiet current, keeping just enough juice flowing to leap into action when needed.
As I looked around, I saw how many things were softly humming in standby mode. Some could have been shut off entirely. Others can’t be turned off without unplugging them from the wall.
And the metaphor arrived:
Leaders carry phantom loads, too.
The obvious energy drains are easy to spot — the difficult projects with low ROI, the tough clients who leave your team bruised, the complex dynamics that keep you looping. Those are the big-ticket items a traditional energy audit will catch. (If you haven’t done one lately, do it — DM me if you want a simple framework.)
But I’m talking about the subtler current — the chronic hum of attention that runs in the background, unnoticed but constant.
The "phantom load of life."
For leaders with families, kids, parents, and/or community projects depending on them, that load extends beyond work. It’s the invisible domestic circuitry — the mental tracking of schedules, birthdays, meals, aging parents, medical appointments ... the low-grade awareness of everything that keeps a family and a life running.
Traditionally, that was a double load for women in the workplace. Thankfully, more men are naming and managing that dual responsibility now, too.
At work, phantom load might look like: wondering whether the project you delegated is on track; sensing lingering tension from a meeting two weeks ago; reading between the lines of a text from your boss and wondering, "Are we okay?"
These are the browser tabs of the mind that never fully close.
So here’s the invitation: Look beyond the obvious drains and sources of energy and do a Phantom Load Audit.
First, identify what’s on all the time — so constant you’ve stopped noticing.
Just seeing the list can be clarifying.
Next, dim the standby lights that don’t need to glow so bright. That might mean:
• Naming them aloud.
• Delegating with a clear check-in point.
• Consciously deciding not to hold that uncertainty anymore.
Finally, unplug what’s quietly consuming more energy than it deserves. Not because it’s bad — but because it’s time to reclaim that current.
When we make the invisible visible, we rediscover a surprising reservoir of power.
Now for the fun part -- what becomes possible when you redeploy that energy toward what truly matters?
