Hot Take:

To Carl Jung, the “Shadow” is all the aspects of ourselves that are out of our awareness. It includes things we might not like or want to acknowledge (the capacity for aggression, for example), but also untapped talents, energies and capacities.

The Shadow is only a potential threat to ourselves and others as long as we remain unaware of it. Jung wrote that “what we fail to make conscious, we will meet as fate.”

So how does this show up in leadership? It’s the unseen, often unacknowledged impact a leader has on their team and culture, for better or worse, though everything they say, do, prioritise and measure.

It can be hard to see your Shadow, but growing your self-awareness can gradually make your unconscious influence more conscious, and there are many ways to do this.

One of the most powerful ways to understand our Shadow at work is to deliberately and regularly seek feedback – including tough feedback.

In her book Radical Candor, Kim Scott recommends leaders have “go to questions” in 1:1s or reviews to elicit feedback, rather than just dish it out. For example: “What could I do, or stop doing, that would make it easier for you to work with me?” Or “What’s a blind spot of mine you’ve noticed?”

If you want to understand your Leadership Shadow, start asking questions like these.

Of course, you need to go out of your way to make sure the person you’re asking feels safe giving you their genuine answer! 

And you need to be prepared to listen to that answer without defensiveness and reflect on it carefully.

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P.S. Be sure to follow James Auden on LinkedIn, where he regularly shares pockets of wisdom!