The shadow aspect can be found in every type of human situation. The workplace is no exception. In his informative essay Meeting the Shadow at Work, Bruce Shackleton asks some important questions:
- What stops a person from achieving all he/she wants?
- Why do one’s best efforts often seem sabotaged?
- Is there something in a person that avoids success?
- How does the workplace contribute to self-sabotage?
According to Shackleton, the workplace can do as much to contribute to shadow-making as the home, family, or the individual him or herself. Interestingly, often the workplace shadow is found to mimic the dysfunction of the family of origin.
Company Mimics Parental Role
Stepping into that powerful role of parental authority, the company demands more and more and, like an overly demanding parent, is never satisfied. In an attempt to please the “controlling parent,” relationships to family and friends as well as life interests are sacrificed. In this way the devouring parent figure “ravages the soul” of its employees demanding ever more output. As in many dysfunctional families, it pays to just go along. This is how the shadow holds its grip.
Work like other compulsive and repetitive behaviors is indeed addictive, but it has become almost cliché to speak the obvious. Moreover, society so reveres hard work and sacrifice it is difficult to recognize this type of addiction. Fortunately, the shadow material always holds within itself the key to its own recovery. By understanding where and how the shadow manifests, a person can begin to lessen its grip and rclaim its positive energy for individuation.
Power of Projection in Workplace
To understand how the shadow draws its powers, one need only recall how projection works. As undesirable qualities in oneself are repressed, these same qualities are projected onto (or seen in) others: either in individuals or in groups. In this way, one contintues to draws to oneself the very things one needs to work out. The more hidden these are the more powerful their shadow.
When the individual shadow and the company shadow are in alignment things run smoothly. The match between company and employee might seem perfect in the beginning, but over time things will begin to unravel, exposing the underside of each. Conflict erupts and the employee is blamed or “attacked and sacrificed” says Shacklelton, “in an effort to resolve unspoken dynamics within the organization.” No perfect union is ever built without first understanding the shadow element at work.
Tips on how to Recognize Shadow in the Workplace
- Workaholism is rewarded
- Need for adequate human resource development denied
- No stress management strategies available
- Scapegoating or blaming individual employees is de rigueur
When Shadow Energy is in Balance
- Open communication which maintains checks and balances
- Open feedback system which discourage negative acting-out
- Setting up agreements about values and purpose
- Help for employees and management to develop these capacities within themselves
- Scapegoating dynamic disappears
More and more in the most successful companies, time and attention is spent on fostering good relations and open communication between all levels of management and employees. These companies are more stable and productive with fewer signs of displaced shadow eruptions and overall company dramas.
For more information about the Shadow, check out these Suite articles:
What is the Shadow in Jungian Psychology
Reference: Meeting the Shadow at Work by Bruce Shackleton from Meeting the Shadow, The HIdden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature, eds. C. Zweig & J. Abrams (1990). New York: Putnam Books.
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