During a recent walk, I noticed the long shadow of a stop sign stretching across the sidewalk. A nearby fence cast a shadow well beyond its actual footprint.
It got me thinking about how far a leader's influence extends beyond their immediate interactions.
Consider a CEO who encourages candid feedback. During a leadership meeting, someone questions an important decision. The CEO responds defensively, explains the reasoning, and moves on.
The CEO may leave believing the team is aligned. Others may leave believing it's better to keep their concerns to themselves.
That experience influences how people approach the next meeting.
Edgar Schein's work in Organizational Culture and Leadership reinforces this idea. People learn what an organization values by observing what leaders consistently pay attention to and how they respond in critical situations.
Our intentions are known primarily to us. Our behavior is what everyone else experiences.
In my executive development work, we examine how everyday leadership decisions influence others. One useful approach is gathering feedback about which behaviors a leader should continue, advance, reduce, begin, or stop.
A CEO might discover that their decisiveness is appreciated, but their tendency to provide immediate answers discourages discussion.
That distinction is valuable. It helps leaders understand how their behavior influences the decisions others make, especially when they're no longer in the room.
The Pebble
1. Leadership behavior communicates expectations more powerfully than stated intentions.
People pay attention to how leaders respond in everyday situations, particularly when their decisions are questioned. Those responses influence what employees believe is acceptable and how they approach future conversations.
2. The influence of leadership extends beyond direct interactions.
A leader's response in one meeting can affect decisions and conversations across the organization. Over time, these experiences influence how readily people share information and exercise independent judgment.
3. Understanding our impact requires feedback from the people experiencing our leadership.
The behaviors we consider strengths may sometimes have unintended consequences. Asking what we should continue, advance, reduce, begin, or stop provides a practical way to understand that impact and make thoughtful adjustments.
The Ripple
Think about your most recent leadership team meeting.
When someone challenged your thinking, how did you respond, and what happened to the discussion afterward?
Where might your involvement be causing capable people to wait for your direction rather than make a decision?
When was the last time you asked your team which of your behaviors help them do their best work and which make their jobs more difficult?
The answers may reveal a difference between the leadership environment you intend to create and the one people experience every day.
The Question
If you could observe your leadership team when you're out of the room, what would their behavior tell you about the shadow you cast?
