An Effective Shadowing Process for Leadership Development

Shadowing is a technique in which a person wishing to learn a skill follows and observes another while that person´s expertise is being displayed. It is a common developmental tool across business and industry today.

Written by Daniel D. Elash.

I>Introduction:

Shadowing is a technique in which a person wishing to learn a skill follows and observes another while that person´s expertise is being displayed. It is a common developmental tool across business and industry today. However, it is often a weak, generic experience rather than the robust one it should be. This is because we misapply an old idea within a new context. That new context is today´s business environment. The misapplication usually involves the learner following the role model around for a period of time. It may involve some targeted event, but not always. It seldom involves including the learner in the life cycle of the experience (before, during, and after the shadowed event), or in collaboration with all of the participants in the event.

What is a shadow? It is a vague shape that silently, unobtrusively follows you as you go about your business. Not surprisingly, this model seldom leads to new learning. There are several reasons for this:


The deep conversation and hands on experience that are critical elements for mastery of complex skills that are missing here.
The learning is seldom shared beyond the "learner/coach" dyad.
The "learning" is often left to the observational, deductive and intuitive capabilities of the learner. Unfortunately, the learner is almost never psychic.

The role model frequently is someone who does not have a teaching plan, and who may or may not be an adequate coach. Unfortunately, subject matter expertise does not automatically translate into strong teaching skills.

Today´s business environment:
In today´s world of networked organizations, disruptive technologies, customer/supplier alliances, information overload and continuous change, learning and professional development remain crucial; it´s the shadowing approach that must evolve. For a learning process to be most effective in today´s business environment, it should include: Real time learning


In situations - as the work unfolds
In real time – quick feedback and conversations where the ideas can be explored
On-going conversation about the work - A culture that supports dialogue and inquiry.  A process where ideas are shared and learning is not one- directional .
A process where the "whys" behind the decisions are explored and challenged.
A process where the group is conscious about its collective thinking and takes responsibility for getting better at it over time
The total individual involved in the learning:

Anticipation skills – the ability to anticipate multiple contingencies
Planning skills – the ability to develop working plans without slavish dependence upon them
Contextual understanding around the event is a critical part of the learning
Experiential learning
Processing experiences by talking with other participants, making tacit knowledge explicit
After action analysis and review
Practice and rehearsal
Reworking the shadowing process:

If we rework the shadowing process to enhance its value as a teaching/learning process, then shadowing can become a thought partnership that can be customized to accommodate the readiness of the student and the needs of the enterprise. A considered, deliberate approach can create learning at the individual level while fostering a culture of inquiry in the business. One process can simultaneously create learning opportunities for:


Individuals
The individual/coach dyad
The action or project team
Group learning
Organizational learning
The reworked shadowing process:
In the shadowing process suggested here, collaboration is built in at many levels. For one thing, the students´ current level of experience should determine their level of involvement in the learning assignment. Additionally, we can break the work done into three discrete phases: the pre-event preparation, the learning event itself, and the post event analysis.

In this way, on-going conversations, tailored to the readiness of the student continue throughout the life-cycle of the learning assignment and provide for real learning to continue long after the shadowing event has passed. Authentic dialogue, partnering around the work and the expectation that everyone can learn from anyone make this approach well suited to today´s business environment.