{"id":40501,"date":"2025-02-06T23:50:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T07:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=40501"},"modified":"2025-02-07T00:08:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T08:08:36","slug":"fear-not-leadership-and-the-shadow-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/fear-not-leadership-and-the-shadow-self\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear Not: Leadership and the Shadow Self"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rethinking Leadership<\/em> offers a refreshing perspective. The leadership crisis during the COVID pandemic serves as a catalyst for this book. The pandemic illustrates the central thesis: older leadership models must be replaced with new approaches that are relevant today. The book explores outdated leadership models and explains why they are ineffective. It introduces various new leadership methods, such as transpersonal and mindful leadership, and highlights their significance for today\u2019s leaders. A focus on holistic leadership resonates throughout each chapter. It integrates psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy to provide an innovative perspective on leadership development.<\/p>\n

I will focus my blog on Chapter 15, \u201cThe Shadow Side of Leadership. \u201c In this chapter, Dr. Beerel addresses the hidden dark places of leadership: fear, narcissism, power, and toxic leaders. She examines how these elements affect leadership and those they lead. The topic of fear particularly resonated with me.<\/p>\n

People have told me that I am fearless, and in some ways, I understand why. I enjoy public speaking, meeting new people, and embracing new experiences that others might find intimidating\u2014such as handling snakes or living in Africa. Beneath the adventure and thrill-seeking lies a significant presence of fear in my life. I struggle with fears of failure, being alone, and appearing incompetent, to name a few. These fears may not be immediately visible, but they run deep. This is the reality for most leaders\u2014whether they acknowledge it or not. Fear is one of the issues lurking in the shadows of leadership.<\/p>\n

How leaders confront their fears tremendously impacts themselves and those they lead. Recognizing these fears is a step toward self-awareness, an essential aspect of leadership, as Beerel argues it is lacking application among leaders.[1]<\/a> Being aware of what resides in one\u2019s \u201cshadow” is a step toward cultivating self-awareness. The shadow side is what Simon Walker would refer to as the backstage. The backstage of our lives involves dealing with the messy and ambiguous aspects that we prefer to keep hidden from others.[2]<\/a> The frontstage is where we show and allow our convictions and self-assurance to govern.[3]<\/a> The shadow side that Beerel discusses is backstage and so profoundly concealed that we often refuse to acknowledge its existence.<\/p>\n

What is in the shadow? The shadow holds \u201call those feelings, thoughts, and emotions that we have denied, suppressed, or repressed as not being part of us.\u201d[4]<\/a> These are the attributes, personality traits, and insecurities we hide from others and ourselves. Ironically, others will see what is in our shadow more quickly than we can.[5]<\/a> Behaviors that come from the shadow are those that look immature and can be the most destructive and disempowering.[6]<\/a> The foundation of these behaviors is fear.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

Leaders head this warning: \u201cPeople who have power and who do not respect and attend to their own fears take out their fear on people in the organization.\u201d[8]<\/a> Facing one\u2019s fear can be the difference between a destructive leader and a self-aware, undefended leader. How do we face our fears? Beerel warns that dealing with one\u2019s shadow and fears is a long, courageous journey that takes perseverance and hard work. Those who take the time to address their shadow side are those who become courageous, creative, ethical leaders.[9]<\/a> Rethinking Leadership <\/em>encourages leaders to acknowledge and address the shadow side of themselves. Identifying triggers, addressing fears, and being creative are ways to help constructively address the shadow.[10]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Christian leaders can also find hope in addressing their shadow side through Scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The command to \u201cfear not\u201d appears 365 times in the Bible. Confronting and overcoming fear reflects God\u2019s desire for His people. In the book Soul Care: Seven Transformational Principles of a Healthy Soul,<\/em> Dr. Rob Reimer offers Biblical advice for overcoming fear. He offers these six steps, referencing Philippians 4:4-9.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
      \n
    1. \n
        \n
      1. Engage in worship.[11]<\/a><\/li>\n
      2. Respond gently rather than impulsively.[12]<\/a><\/li>\n
      3. Remember that Jesus is present and look to Him.[13]<\/a><\/li>\n
      4. Continually bring fears before God in prayer.[14]<\/a><\/li>\n
      5. Surrender fear and trust in God.[15]<\/a><\/li>\n
      6. Take deliberate action in the opposite direction of fear.[16]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        As I reflect on the concept of the shadow side and the fears that influence many leaders, there cannot be shadows if we invite light into those spaces. Psalm 139:12 describes the Father of Lights, \u201cEven the darkness will not be dark\u00a0to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.\u201d This prompts these questions: What fears linger in the shadow self that prevent me from being the leader God created me to be? What areas of my life does God wish to illuminate in the darkness? What is God inviting me to do with my fears? Redefining Leadership addresses the need for innovative and holistic leadership in changing times, encouraging leaders to confront our fears. The Ancient of Days offers joy, peace, and hope to replace our fears.<\/p>\n

        [1]<\/a> Annabel C. Beerel, Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories<\/em> (New York, NY: Routledge, 2021), 80.<\/p>\n

        [2]<\/a> Simon P Walker, \u201cLeading out of Who You Are,\u201d 2016, 45.<\/p>\n

        [3]<\/a> Walker, 45.<\/p>\n

        [4]<\/a> Beerel, Rethinking Leadership, <\/em>305.<\/p>\n

        [5]<\/a> Ibid, 306.<\/p>\n

        [6]<\/a> Ibid, 306.<\/p>\n

        [7]<\/a> Ibid, 307.<\/p>\n

        [8]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

        [9]<\/a> Ibid, 306.<\/p>\n

        [10]<\/a> Ibid, 318.<\/p>\n

        [11]<\/a> Dr. Rob Reimer, Soul Care: Seven Transformational Principles for a Healthy Soul<\/em> (Franklin, TN: Carpenter\u2019s Son Publishing, 2016), 196.<\/p>\n

        [12]<\/a> Ibid, 197.<\/p>\n

        [13]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

        [14]<\/a> Ibid, 198-199.<\/p>\n

        [15]<\/a> Ibid, 199.<\/p>\n

        [16]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Rethinking Leadership offers a refreshing perspective. The leadership crisis during the COVID pandemic serves as a catalyst for this book. The pandemic illustrates the central thesis: older leadership models must be replaced with new approaches that are relevant today. The book explores outdated leadership models and explains why they are ineffective. It introduces various new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2977,2967],"class_list":["post-40501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-beerel","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40501"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40507,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40501\/revisions\/40507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}