Have learnt a new management vocabulary today, “Shadow Box“.— a group of non-executive employees that works with senior executives on strategic initiatives. The purpose? To leverage the younger groups’ insights and to diversify the perspectives that executives are exposed to.https://hbr.org/2019/06/why-you-should-create-a-shadow-board-of-younger-employees?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=linkedin This all sounds great, but what is the reality? Can the sounding board from younger workers and non-executive senior staffs can help the top executives see well what need to be changed? The real challenge probably would be “will the executives who have the power to influence the implementation are really willing to listen and act to change”.

When thinking this explanation deeper, I think the purpose of having a ‘shadow box’ is not limited to the change management in organization development only. In fact many people are struggled by two problems in life:

  • Disengagement – Often how many people (even closest partner or friends) are willing to act together without separate agenda but a collective goal for a longer period of time? Checking reality regularly is necessary.
  • Weak response – when it seems we are surrounding by many friends that we ultimately expect they are willing to listen but again we quickly realize in the process that many of them only interest in their own problems or even have different agenda and there are only few willing to engage and listen. It is normal, there are many “acquaintances” but only few “good friends” who are truly willing to listen, urge us to face the truth and to identify solutions for problem solving in life.

When we think we have many friends, but when we need friends to listen and to give us guidance because of facing puzzles, having troubles or in stress, we will quickly confront a challenge of how many are there truly willing to listen? To get us out from trouble situations in life, what we really need are not those who seems agreeing with kind words or give us suggestions that they can’t even act for themselves but not truly willing to listen. As matter of fact actually what we really need are few friends who can maintain objectiveness and urge us to examine the situation and push us to take actions that we need to take in order to get ourselves out from the trouble situation, step by step, without judgement.

In life, the reality teaches us few crucial facts: We can only reduce disappointments with the least expectations and God only helps those are willing to help themselves to put their feet on the ground and act forwards.

Even though the sky is grey, but the sun is still shinning above the cloud and waiting to shine through at the right time if we could wait it with patience.

Only those who are strong dare to examine the inner-self and clear the mist in the situation in order to identify actions to take; those who are weak only try to find excuses to explain the situation that they want to think or even push the blames on others by lying to themselves..