The value of leadership “shadowing”
You applied for the leadership role, sailed through the vetting process, aced the interview, and accepted the job. Congratulations! The trouble is, now it’s the end of week one and you know you’re not (and never will be) right for the role. What happened?
The way a job description reads on paper or screen can, of course, be different from how it is IRL. Too bad there isn’t a way to test out a role before you take it. Or is there?
In my latest editorial in NZ Management Magazine, I explore how the opportunity to shadow a leader (or leadership team) can be invaluable, not just for the potential new hire, but for everyone involved in the experience.
It can be crucial in terms of “conditioning aspiration” – bringing to life the types of roles that are available within a certain sector and raising awareness of the work experience or study pathways that are needed to succeed in these roles.
The opportunity to be shadowed can also provide inspiration for the so-called shadowee – the established leader or practitioner whose ideas and approaches within the workplace are probably well-formed and accepted as the status quo.
AUT’s annual Shadow a Leader programme aims to connect tomorrow’s employees (secondary and tertiary students) with today’s leaders. Importantly for the talent pipeline, the programme brings together a nominated secondary student, an AUT student studying business, and an organisation leader.
Since it was established more than a decade ago, the Shadow a Leader programme has grown and matured; this year’s intake was the biggest to date, with 121 student teams across business and law placements, supported by 104 individual leaders from nearly 70 organisations.
The raft of glowing testimonies from leaders and students suggests the immediate benefits include real-world application of study, and in-person interactions with, and learnings from, today’s business and legal movers and shakers.
As a result, it is tomorrow where the real impact should be felt – in the form of burgeoning leaders who have taken opportunities to reflect on, prepare for, and align their education pursuits and employment aspirations to make a real difference in leading the workplaces of the future.
Read the full article in NZ Management Magazine: Aspiration...and even inspiration: the value of leadership shadowing