Leadership Lessons from Driving a Manual Transmission

I drive manual transmission cars. I always have. Everyone one of us inherits certain traits and ideas from our family of origin. We all learned about politics and faith from our parents. I also learned that drivers in the Hughes family prefer manual to automatic transmissions.

My first car was manual. It made learning to drive harder, but I accepted the challenge. Nearly everyone else I knew started with an automatic. It didn’t matter that it only had a mere 110 hp. The 5-speed manual transmission made it feel fast, and I loved it.

Tradition vs. Logic

Back when I started driving, there was solid logic for choosing a manual over an automatic. Manuals were cheaper to buy, cheaper to repair, had better mileage, and were generally higher-performance than automatic equivalents.

Today, this logic doesn’t really hold up anymore. Technological advancements in automatic transmissions mean that modern automatics beat manual counterparts in every measurable category. Humans cannot shift as efficiently as a computer-aided machine. My mind knows this, but my soul isn’t convinced.

Zach on Technology

As a technology leader, I spend my time working hard to develop and integrate advanced technologies for the betterment of the enterprise. In all cases, this leads to better automation, less human error, and greater customer value. It’s what we do.

Zach on Driving

As a driver, I go out of my way hold onto tradition. When I am car shopping, I can easily find thousands of cars that meet the general criteria I am looking for. When I filter the results to only show manual transmissions, that shrinks my list to a dozen at best. Why would I limit myself?

I love fully participating in the act of driving. I like a suspension that lets me feel texture of the road. I like steering that is rigid and responsive. I want the car to shift gears precisely when I want it to shift, not whenever the car feels like it.

I am a driver, not a mechanic. Many car enthusiasts do it all, but I don’t. I let the professionals repair and maintain my vehicles. I do very little tuning and tinkering. My cars remain mostly stock. I’m just a driver.

Zach on Leadership

Since this is a leadership blog, I may as well get to the point. On the surface, this feels like a character inconsistency and I don’t like it. I embrace advanced technology at work but resist it in my car. I’m a professional futurist, yet when it comes to driving, I am stuck in the past. How do I reconcile this?

I am one, unified personality. Upon further introspection, this isn’t a dichotomy. I’ll explain.

Get involved with what matters

My love for manual transmissions isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about my personal involvement in the driving experience. Automatics detach the driver from the vehicle in a way I find uncomfortable. I prefer a closer bond between the human and the machine.

I have a similar relationship with advanced technology at work. The early days of cloud computing bothered me. Early on, cloud technologies offered very limited visibility, configuration ability, or security features to technology engineers. It was sort of black box. Or more accurately, a cloud icon on a Visio diagram.

When that was the case, I resisted cloud and clung to traditional technologies. Then, over time, the situation changed. Now, technology in the cloud is the best available, and most of it is fully configurable for maximum flexibility, visibility, and security.

I’m not a control freak

Perhaps my affinity for manual transmissions would leave you believing that I am a control freak and a micromanager. I am not. Earlier in this article, I mentioned that I don’t do my own repairs and maintenance. There’s a good reason for that: I’m not very good at it, nor do I have the tools and facilities for it. I hire and trust competent professionals to take care of my vehicles.

However, I do know my vehicles. Without relying on a check-engine light, I know how it should sound, smell, accelerate, turn, and brake. If anything isn’t just right, I know it immediately.

I am a driver

At work, I am an involved leader, but not a micromanager. I know how to drive my team. I know how my team should behave. I know the culture I’m trying to build. I know the performance results that I should see.

I also know the anti-patterns. If something’s not right, I know it. However, I don’t just go about fixing it myself. I enlist my leaders in the process to diagnose and resolve issues within the team. That’s what a good leader does.

Manual transmissions forever

Are there any other manual transmission enthusiasts out there? Market trends would indicate that there aren’t many of us left. If you love them as much as I do, give me a shout in the comments. Even if you drive an automatic, as most of you probably do, I hope this article gave you some insight.

I think it’s fascinating to ponder our intimate relationship with machines and technology. As always, I look at the world around me and see leadership lessons everywhere. I share my insights with the hope that you will grow along with me. If you are enjoying this blog, please share it with your colleagues.

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