What Is Your Leadership Shadow?
Imagine the following scenarios:
Scenario 1: Two team leaders are assigned identical projects and are subsequently given identical agendas to run through with their teams. The first leader’s meeting ends with those under her leadership executing with clarity and urgency. The second leader’s meeting ends with his team operating with neither of the aforementioned. What was the difference?
Scenario 2: Two leaders are leading through identical changes. Both leaders have the same change management concerns, the same solutions, and the same resources. The first leader gains more credibility as the change unfolds. The second leader loses more credibility, despite no circumstantial disadvantages. Why was this the case?
Though the answers may vary, some leadership experts would say this is a classic example of the shadow of a leader.
Leadership Shadow
Coined by Goldman Sachs, “leadership shadow” is a term used to describe the often unconscious influence of a leader. This is the totality of leadership traits, habits, and tendencies often hidden from one’s awareness that impacts one’s leadership for good or bad.
This means if a church staff is highly motivated and loves to have fun, it’s not simply the summation of the team’s personality. The leader’s shadow is casting and creating that environment through a series of nudges and cues unbeknownst to that very leader. The same could be said of a highly motivated church staff that doesn’t have fun. It’s behavior is facilitated by the leader’s shadow.
A disorganized and unprofessional team? Resilient and adaptable? Goofy and eccentric? Serious and business oriented? The leader’s shadow has a responsibility for it.
The Factors Which Make Up the Leadership Shadow
According to Goldman Sachs, your Leadership Shadow is made up by four factors: (1) What you say (2) How you act (3) What you prioritize (4) How you measure
In other words, the totality of what you say and how you say it (verbal and nonverbal), how you behave and act, your stated and unstated priorities and values, and the reward and accountability system you operate out of, all work together to forge the icon of how you’re understood as a leader, which becomes the ethos and culture your team operates from.
This explains why some leaders gain credibility more quickly than others. The icon of the leader who is clear, concise, and deliberate is different than the long-winded and all-over-the-place leader. The icon of a leader who holds teammates accountable for performance is different than a leader who talks a big game but doesn’t hold anyone accountable.
Stewarding Your Leadership Shadow
There is is good news and bad news.
The bad news is you and I are casting some shadows that may not be best for the teams we serve and lead. We may be causing needless stress or needless unprofessionalism. We may be causing irreverence or an environment that’s too uptight. No matter the shadow type, we’re casting them.
The good news is we can do something about it. Here are two simple ways:
1. Grow in Self-Awareness. We can do this by asking those who lead us and those we lead this simple question: “How do you experience me?” Go through the 4 factors of the Leadership Shadow Model (pictured above) and ask them what they see in you.
2. Start a Personal Development Plan. Start with communication skills. The goal may be to become a more articular communicator in verbal and written form. Consider resources such as online courses or getting a personal coach. Turn over the competency rocks you haven’t turned over before.
The goal isn’t to be a perfect leader, but a better one. Stewardship as a leader begins with the stewardship of the leader. As Thomas a Kempis once write, “You cannot escape it no matter where you run, for wherever you go you are burdened with yourself. Wherever you go, there you are” (The Imitation of Christ).
It’s only in facing ourselves can we better steward ourselves to serve those around us.
