The Shadow of the Leader.

Disclosure: This note does not refer to the concept of the leader's shadow as Carl Jung defines it in terms of the abuse of power that can be exercised, but in a more conceptual and simple way of the kind of influence a leader exerts according to his or her behavior.

A few years ago, I worked in a company where the cost of sales was a challenge, getting information about this item or its components was extremely complicated, the head of the department was evasive, he gave delays, excuses and did not release information.

What happened in the chain of command from their position to the analyst's position? The same thing, they repeated the same explanations, arguments, no one told you anything, to the point that even the most obvious and logical questions got an ambiguous answer. I never knew if there was an existing or implicit order not to disclose information.

Later, I began to appreciate similar situations with other leaders, where their work teams were a reflection of the leader's attitude in terms of cooperative, closed, evasive, open, frank, where there might be dictated "lines" or perhaps understood by others.

There are also places where the level of openness was greater the further down the organizational chart you went, so there was more cooperation with managers, even more with bosses or coordinators, not to mention the level of analysts, where it was easier to get "short" information.

The point is that the shadow of the leader exists, as an influence, in the positive or negative aspects that may exist, there are real soapy fish that you can't get them to take responsibility for anything, others that are very skillful and come out of the problems well solved. Others, like cats, always fall when they stop. Others, no matter when they are overwhelmed, seem to be on the ropes, about to be knocked out, somehow make it out of the corner and then miraculously the bell rings.

There are also those where the leader is an open, cooperative person, where whatever you ask of him you always get support, and the same thing happens in his entire team, everyone seems to be cut from the same cloth.

We need to be aware of how dangerous or how good the ways in which leadership is exercised are, sending messages to the team, observing behaviors and replicating them, either to avoid problems or to assume that they are doing things the way their boss would like them to.

In such a way that when you are pushed, you take risks, the team will do the same; when there is restraint, you watch your words, the commitments are in the gray area, the team will do the same.

A long time ago I realized that I teach through my actions, which has made me even more responsible, like the teacher who prepares to teach a class, is formative with the team on a daily basis, what we do, good or bad, it will be understood as a direct or implicit message, we will motivate or limit the field of action of others.

Let us try to make our shadow positive, let us try to leave a good legacy in the training of people, to have a personal seal, so that when someone works with someone in our team, that person represents the style, the values, the way of being, of their leader, obviously adapted to the personality of each member of the team.

Let's be aware of the impact, let's make sure that every day is a master class, that every situation is a learning opportunity, the era of knowledge is behind us, today knowledge is accessible to everyone, the differentiation lies in knowing how to use the information, in how to think, let's teach others how to rationalize, how to approach problems, what information they need to evaluate a problem, how much it is worth, root causes, think about solutions, let them make decisions, support them, empower the team, accept the consequences.

Have a great and shadowing week.

Cheque.