The Leadership Shadow You Cast: Impact of Leadership Behavior on Teams

Background Research

Leadership behavior has a profound influence on team dynamics, performance, and organizational culture. Research consistently shows that how leaders act creates ripple effects that extend throughout an organization, often in ways that are invisible to the leaders themselves.

The Concept of Leadership Shadow

The leadership shadow refers to the influence—both positive and negative—that leaders have on their teams through their behaviors, decisions, and communication styles. The term “leadership shadow” was first coined by Goldman Sachs, emphasizing that leaders cast their shadow from the top and need to understand this for effective leadership.[1] It encompasses leadership traits and habits that may even be hidden from the leader’s self-awareness.

This concept relates to the unconscious influence managers have on their teams. People absorb their leader’s values and tend to mirror their leader’s behavior. On a broader level, a leader’s shadow may be cast so widely that it affects the culture of an entire organization.[2]

How Leadership Behavior Impacts Teams

1. Team Performance and Productivity

Research demonstrates that leadership behavior directly impacts work engagement and team effectiveness. A longitudinal, multi-level study revealed that “engaging leadership” among team members resulted in greater team effectiveness over time.[3] Leaders who demonstrate supportive behaviors foster environments where teams can achieve higher performance levels.

Organizations with effective leadership development show sustained improvement in leadership behavior over time, which permeates the entire organization. Long-term case studies show that when leaders improve their skills, there’s a “contagious, extending effect” that influences not just direct reports but spreads throughout the organization.[4]

2. Team Dynamics and Culture

Different leadership styles have significant impacts on team dynamics. For instance, autocratic leaders set high standards with a results-centric mindset, which can accelerate goal attainment in high-pressure scenarios but may also stifle creativity and limit team members’ sense of ownership.[5]

Recent studies on “behavior contagion” show that behaviors transmit among employees like “contagious viruses within social networks.” This ripple effect extends up to three degrees of separation, meaning behaviors influence not only immediate colleagues but also individuals who are part of their extended network.[6]

3. Psychological Safety and Trust

Leadership behaviors are the primary driver of psychological safety in the workplace. Leaders who demonstrate empathy, authenticity, and active listening have the greatest positive impact. Specifically, leaders who are “interested in and actively listen to suggestions from all levels” and are “supportive and compassionate in their communication” create environments where psychological safety flourishes.[7]

Effective leadership transcends formal roles and involves creating an environment of psychological safety and trust. Studies have shown that high-trust teams are more engaged, have higher productivity, and are less likely to experience stress and burnout.[8]

The Invisible Effects of Leadership Behavior

What makes the leadership shadow particularly powerful is that many of its effects remain invisible to leaders themselves:

Leaders often have “unknown knowns” that make up their leadership shadow. Without external feedback, they fail to see key areas that need improvement, which is why they need “candid external mirrors to reflect back their shadow side and reveal previously invisible information.”[9]

Leaders often don’t understand or “see” the impact of their behaviors, yet their influence is felt throughout the organization by the pace, inclusion, and clarity of communication (or lack thereof).[10]

Leaders may unconsciously trigger their employees’ shadow behaviors without realizing it. What a leader does in their role might trigger employees without the leader’s knowledge, which is why “measured behavior of a leader becomes extremely important.”[11]

Examples and Case Studies

Positive Leadership Impact

Successful leaders like Nelson Mandela demonstrate the positive impact of leadership qualities such as resilience and vision. Similarly, Satya Nadella transformed Microsoft using empathy and innovation, while Jacinda Ardern effectively led New Zealand through the COVID-19 pandemic by employing strong communication skills and empathy.[12]

Google exemplifies collaborative leadership by creating an environment that encourages psychological safety. Their Project Aristotle research identified psychological safety as the most important factor for high-performing teams, leading them to implement practices that ensure team members feel safe to take risks and be vulnerable with one another.[13]

Negative Leadership Impact

Leadership shadows emerge under stress in a workplace setting. The “Achiever style” (recognition-driven) can lead to a “Fear of Failure” shadow, which often results in micromanaging and a “Detached culture, which is grounded in anger and apathy.”[14]

Research shows that leader workplace anxiety significantly affects follower job performance. When leaders experience anxiety, it transmits to team members through emotional contagion, potentially reducing job performance, satisfaction, and even triggering counterproductive behaviors.[15]

Strategies for Leaders to Create a Positive Shadow

1. Self-Awareness and Reflection

Leaders must be intentional about creating their leadership shadow. The model developed by Goldman Sachs emphasizes four key areas: what leaders say, how they act, what they prioritize, and how they measure. Self-awareness is the starting point—reflecting on how well you perform in each segment and getting feedback from teams and stakeholders.[16]

2. Soliciting Feedback

Leaders should actively seek out input from varied sources—colleagues, employees, mentors, friends, and even family—to reveal previously invisible information about their leadership shadow.[9]

3. Modeling Desired Behaviors

Leaders must understand that “everything that happens within an organizational system has an impact, a vibration.” The ripple effect of leadership is especially important when navigating “inevitable and unpredictable whirlpools, tsunamis and thunderstorms that send big ripples through the system.”[17]

Leadership teams set the “culture compass” for their organizations. As observed by The Clemmer Group, “an organization’s culture ripples out from the team leading it,” and “people in organizations act like their leader—despite all attempts to train them otherwise.”[18]

4. Creating Psychological Safety

Leaders should build psychological safety by equipping themselves with tools for empathetic and supportive communication, active listening, and trust-building. Organizations should foster a culture of authentic leadership that supports openness and inclusivity, and recognize and reward leaders who exemplify these behaviors.[7]

Conclusion

The shadow that leaders cast—whether they’re aware of it or not—has profound implications for team performance, organizational culture, and individual well-being. By understanding the concept of the leadership shadow and being intentional about creating a positive influence, leaders can transform their teams and organizations.

The research clearly indicates that leadership behavior creates ripple effects that extend far beyond direct interactions. As leadership expert Allison Sima notes, “Every word you say, every email you write, your smile, your handshake, everything that you put into the universe has a ripple effect.”[19]

Leaders must recognize that their actions speak louder than their words, and that the shadow they cast may be one of their most powerful leadership tools—for better or worse.

References

[1] “What is Leadership Shadow And How To Improve it?” Highrise. https://www.tryhighrise.com/blog-posts/leadership-shadow

[2] “How to make your team more productive: Start with your shadow.” Thinking Focus. https://thinkingfocus.com/how-to-make-your-team-more-productive-start-with-your-shadow/

[3] “The impact of engaging leadership on employee engagement and team effectiveness: A longitudinal, multi-level study on the mediating role of personal- and team resources.” PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9242457/

[4] “Proven Leadership Development Lessons.” Zenger Folkman. https://zengerfolkman.com/articles/the-proven-importance-of-leadership-development-lessons-from-case-studies/

[5] “Leadership Styles and Their Influence on Team Dynamics.” Agility Portal. https://agilityportal.io/blog/leadership-styles-and-their-influence-on-team-dynamics

[6] “The Ripple Effect: Understanding organizational behavior contagion to cultivate culture at scale.” HRD. https://www.hrdconnect.com/2023/10/02/the-ripple-effect-understanding-organizational-behavior-contagion-to-cultivate-culture-at-scale/

[7] “Creating a ripple effect: how leadership behaviours shape psychological safety.” Positive Group. https://www.positivegroup.org/loop/articles/creating-a-ripple-effect-how-leadership-behaviours-shape-psychological-safety

[8] “Ripple Effect Leadership: Building High-Trust Teams in a Low-Trust World.” Travelers Institute. https://institute.travelers.com/webinar-series/symposia-series/leadership-trust

[9] “Overcoming your leadership shadow.” Limitless Peak Performance. https://www.limitlesspeakperformance.co.uk/ponderings/pas0xnz23j5qqwbnypn5xy61z3jrpi

[10] “The organizational shadow impact.” Torben Rick. https://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/leadership/organizational-shadow-impact/

[11] “Shadow Behavior: 5 Leadership Triggers to Avoid.” Predictable Profits. https://predictableprofits.com/shadow-behavior/

[12] “Case Studies of Successful Leaders: The Skills, Strategies, and Decisions That Made Them Unstoppable.” Leading Business Improvement. https://leadingbusinessimprovement.com/case-studies-of-successful-leaders/

[13] “Successful Collaborative Leadership in Action: Case Studies and Real-World Examples.” Voltage Control. https://voltagecontrol.com/articles/successful-collaborative-leadership-in-action-case-studies-and-real-world-examples/

[14] “Managing the ‘Shadow Side’ of Your Leadership Style.” SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/executive-network/insights/managing-shadow-side-leadership-style

[15] “The ripple effect: How leader workplace anxiety shape follower job performance.” PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9631782/

[16] “Your Leadership Shadow – why it is important to create it with intention.” LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-leadership-shadow-why-important-create-intention-schubert

[17] “Leadership and the ripple effect.” Management Issues. https://www.management-issues.com/opinion/6970/leadership-and-the-ripple-effect/

[18] “Ripple Effect: Seven Keys to Team and Culture Development.” The Clemmer Group. https://www.clemmergroup.com/blog/2023/03/08/ripple-effect-seven-keys-to-team-and-culture-development/

[19] “The Ripple Effect: As a Leader, What Kind of Ripples are You Sending?” LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ripple-effect-leader-what-kind-ripples-you-sending-allison-sima​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​