I once worked in a building that housed multiple companies, with our floor sharing a single kitchen.

A shared kitchen also meant shared custody of the dishwasher, a highly coveted asset after lunch and at the end of the day.

Once, I came up to clear the dishwasher, which had just finished its cycle, to find myself joined by the CEO (white, male, Gen X) of another company.

I don't remember if I had already put the dishes away. Either way, we suddenly found ourselves in a situation where the CEO was placing dirty dishes in the middle drawer, soiling the previously clean dishes in the bottom drawer.

I nudged the CEO, reminding him that he was undoing the good work of our beloved kitchen machine.

The man looked surprised, before mumbling something like "oh, that's right" and "I'll fix it".

Not much later, I found him re-running the dishwasher, mostly with contents from the previous load.

Wrap-up

I don't know why my brain remembers this anecdote from a time when most of my memories have faded, but here we are.

Maybe because it feels like a metaphor for global leadership?