
In my last post on How to Shadow I presented 4 steps to maximize the benefits of shadowing, starting off with identifying who you should shadow first.
It's important to choose who you shadow carefully, especially the first few times.
Whenever you do something brand new you are going to have a learning curve. You learn more and better when you are working with people you trust and who want you to succeed.
Pick someone you already have a good relationship with. Ultimately you will use shadowing to not only learn about what's working and what's not working in your organization's operations, but you can use shadowing to improve strained relationships with cynics, potential saboteurs, or "contrarian curmudgeons". Save these folks for when you are great at shadowing.
At first, you're learning how to do this so it helps to work with someone who will cut you some slack. People who want you to succeed will appreciate what you are doing and provide feedback confidentially to teach how it feels from the perspective of the "shadowee". Your debriefing session with them will help you make the shadowing experience positive for everyone.
It also helps to do your first shadowing in an area that you are familiar with. It's much easier to recognize effective and defective processes. It's easier to provide valuable feedback to the people you shadow.
Ultimately you will find that shadowing as far and wide as possible, and doing so with supporters AND skeptics, will be one of your leadership superpowers. Like all superpowers, it must be nurtured carefully at first.
To learn more about choosing people to shadow, schedule a call with me, I'd love to help you do this right.
Dr. Paul DeChant is a leadership coach dedicated to helping CEOs create organizations where their people and their businesses thrive.