shadowing

How does one learn to be a leader? One technique is to "shadow" someone who is a model leader. I've heard about people being given the job assignment of "shadowing" someone (which sounds like something from film noir or detective fiction) so that they can learn how to do a particular job. I've never been given such an assignment, but I was just thinking about leaders that I look up to and how they would handle situations I'm facing. I guess I'm mentally shadowing them and trying to learn from what I think their responses would be.

I'm sure that when people are given the assignment of shadowing an executive it's hoped that the underling will also pick up some of the higher-up's character qualities. So this little mental exercise is teaching me a couple of things. If I'm to become a better leader, I need to be a continual learner. Shadowing isn't just for newbies. And how good a leader I become depends on who I'm learning from. It's not just a matter of learning specific job skills. It's a matter of character development. And whose character do I most want to emulate?

My little shadowing exercise actually came as I was reflecting on a prayer from Sacred Space: "May nothing ever separate me from You." In my pursuit of being a better leader am I staying as close as I can to the Person who started a movement 2000 years ago that turned the Roman Empire upside down and is continuing to change lives today? How well do I know the details of Jesus' life? How would he handle situations I'm facing? And wouldn't it be great to have his character?

"Be imitators of me, even as I am of Christ." 1 Cor. 11:1 RSV