Hi Reader,

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Welcome to this week's Rev Up for the Week. If you're new here, perhaps because one of your colleagues recommended it (see below!), or because you're buzzing for Talking Kindness tomorrow, then a very warm welcome to you.

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The plan is simple. Every Sunday at 4.05pm I'll send you a positive or productive idea for the week ahead. I've been sending these emails every Sunday for the last four years. It's always me writing it (never AI or someone else), and I always write it during the week you read it (I don't batch them up). I read all the replies I get to these emails, and reply to as many as I can.

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Launching this new book has started to get exciting (and scary) this week. My author copies arrived, and we've started to put plans in place for the launch events. I'll tell you more over the next couple of weeks about how you can join me to celebrate with a glass of wine.

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But onto this week's idea. It's a sneak peak from one of the Talking Kindness episodes I recorded, with Jodie Cook. Jodie is one of the smartest and most driven entrepreneurs I know. She's set up multiple businesses, had a large exit and is now building Coachvox.ai, which is the software behind my askGraham.ai tool.

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We were talking about the idea that "treat people the way we want to be treated" is a good mantra, but an even better one is to "treat people the way THEY want to be treated".

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But how do we do this in practice? How do we remember who prefers an email versus who prefers "just picking up the phone"? How to we remember who's more introverted, who's got a nut allergy and who'd prefer a lunch meeting to a 9am Zoom call? It can be easy to forget the small details and have someone think we're being inconsiderate (my memory is terrible, so this stuff is always a bit of a worry for me).

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Like most things Jodie does, she's just put slightly more thought into this question than most of us have, and she shared her approach: when someone joins her team, she asks each person to create "The User Manual of You".

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You can create it however you like (Jodie gives suggested headings, but there's deliberately no template). It can be long or short. It can give strong preferences or just slight ones. And then the manual is shared with the rest of the team (Jodie does this in Basecamp - their project management software - but it could be anywhere).

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In her user manual, Jodie includes insights about her working style, preferences, and how she communicates best. Hint: her onion only has one layer.

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It's such a simple idea, but one that acts both as a practical manual for the team, as well as reflection tool that encourages self-awareness. And then when you're setting up a meeting, or someone's work hasnt quite hit the mark, or someone sounds like they're having a rough time, you can consult their user manual, and think about how best to approach the situation with the most empathy and kindness.

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It got me thinking. What would be in my user manual? And I'd love to know - what would you put in "the User Manual of You"?

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Having everyone create a user manual helps celebrate difference and diversity, emphasises the power of empathy, and helps everyone to feel seen and valued. It improves communication, and strengthens team relationships.

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One of my goals with Talking Kindness and with this new book is to give you the behind-the-scenes of what real leaders do. Kindness comes in many forms. It's often quiet or happening 'in the background'. My goal is to shine a light on the practical things real people are doing, so that you can take some inspiration and steal a few of the best ideas to add to your kindness toolbox. And then together, we can help make the case for more kindness in our organisations - not just because it's the ethical choice, but because it drives performance, resilience and innovation too.

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Oh, and if you haven't signed up to join me at the Talking Kindness podcast summit, it starts tomorrow! There's still time. Sign up here. And pass it on.

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​GRAB YOUR FREE TICKET TO TALKING KINDNESS​

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Have a great week,

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Graham

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