Famous psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung is generally credited with coining the term the shadow. Jung saw the shadow as being primarily made up of the rejected or repressed parts of ourselves that we push into the unconscious, kinda like the mental closet in which the skeletons are hidden.

We all have a shadow, and whether we’re aware of it or not, it’s influencing so much of our thinking and behaviour. Can you think of the last time you instinctively blew up at someone or something? Just your shadow popping up to say hello.

Your shadow’s not just a negative thing either - perhaps you had an artistic streak as a child but were told by your parents to focus on more practical things. That artistic nature may have retreated into the shadow as a result.

‘Shadow work’ is a term you might hear to describe an array of different practices designed to shine a light into these dark corners of our unconscious to start unpacking our stuff. Tools like IFS are a great example of this.

In the context of startups and leadership, I believe we all have a responsibility to be taking ownership of our shadow, understanding how it manifests, and working with it to ultimately become a more effective leader.

Resources:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296320306883