When I bring this up in workshops, I often get a puzzled look: 'My what? What do you mean by a shadow?'
To help you start this conversation in your organisation, let’s explore what a leadership shadow is and how HR can help leaders become aware of theirs to ensure it’s one worth following.
What is a leadership shadow?
Every leader leaves a shadow, and it can be either uplifting and inspiring or damaging and discouraging. Some memories of past leaders made us want to follow in their footsteps. Others? Well, they became a blueprint of exactly what not to do.
Read more: Why clever leaders must master the art of self-discovery
It’s important to look at a leader’s shadow in two key ways:
1. The shadow you cast on your team
Your actions, words, values, and behaviours shape your team’s culture, performance, and mindset. Whether you realise it or not, your people learn from you, just like children mimic their parents. It’s like when your child says or does something that makes you stop and think, Wait… do I really do that? And then reality hits: you do, and they’ve simply learned by watching you.
2. The shadow you cast on your leaders
A shadow often overlooked is the one that influences how your managers lead today and in the future. Will they take the best of your leadership? Or will they actively work to avoid leading like you?
HR plays a critical role in helping leaders recognise the impact they have and ensuring that their shadow is one that inspires, not discourages. Here are some tips:
1. Encourage self-reflection
Great leaders take a step back and regularly ‘look in the mirror’ to assess how they’re behaving, acting and influencing their people. Do you like what you see, or do you need to take some ownership and responsibility to change the image?
HR can support this by:
● Facilitating leadership self-assessments, and
● Encouraging leadership coaching and reflection exercise.
2. Implement feedback loops
Great leaders aren’t afraid to go to their people for their honest feedback, providing valuable insights into how their shadow is perceived. Think of it like a more powerful mirror, having a clearer view and insights.
Read more: What makes the perfect leader?
HR can support this by:
● Introducing 360-degree feedback tools that provide insights from their employees, and
● Encouraging regular check-ins where leaders receive informal feedback.
3. Help leaders look at their team as a mirror
And finally, one of the easiest ways to understand a leadership shadow is to look at your team’s behaviours, attitudes, and work habits. If a team is stressed, disengaged, or hesitant to speak up, it may be a reflection of the leader’s own behaviours. On the flip side, if the team is confident, collaborative, and engaged, that’s often a sign of a positive leadership shadow.
HR can support this by:
● Encouraging leaders to observe their team’s dynamics and consider what it reflects about their leadership style
● Providing team pulse surveys to measure engagement, and
● Facilitating leadership workshops that focus on awareness and acceptance.
A leader’s impact doesn’t stop when they leave the room. Their shadow lingers in the way their team operates, the decisions they make, and the leaders they shape for the future.
Read more: The leadership we need for the age of disruption
Let’s help our leaders become more aware of their leadership shadow, and ensure it’s one that leaves a lasting, positive impact on their people and your business.
By Debra Corey, chief pay it forward officer, Step It Up HR
