Governance
Shadow projection creates an illusionary relationship with the environment, isolating the person projecting from reality hence such employees are no longer interacting with their colleagues but with a distorted reflection of their own fears. In organizational life, shadow projections are buried in envious reactions and rivalry relationships.
Governance
Prof. Kellen Kiambati
Shadow Projection: People Hate In Others What They Fear In Themselves
The British Association of Anger Management penned that“ The Shadow” as defined by Carl Jung, is a part of the unconscious mind consisting of repressed weaknesses, shortcomings, and instincts. It is essentially the dark side of one’ s personality, including everything the conscious self does not acknowledge or refuses to recognize. This includes negative human emotions and impulses like rage, greed, selfishness, desire for power, and the capacity for evil. According to Jung, every person carries a Shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’ s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. If ignored, it can cause an individual to behave in ways they might not consciously agree with, often leading to regret or guilt.
In office set ups there is an invisible psychological war not fought with weapons but with subtle behaviours and actions in meetings, whispered character assassinations at the water cooler, and the cold shoulder given to a colleague who is perceived to have it all together. The cause of the pervasive toxic behaviour is a concept called shadow projection which is the unconscious facets of personalities of employees projecting toxic behaviour and it includes everything they refuse to acknowledge about themselves ranging from insecurities, selfish desires and other traits considered socially unacceptable. When they project this shadow onto others, they are not seeing their colleagues for who they are, but rather for who they are afraid they might be.
One of the ways humans can deflect a quality away from themselves is by using Shadow projection. It is a defence mechanism that deflects attention from one’ s unconscious behaviours by focusing on the same behaviour in others and judging that person for it. This process can distort perceptions of reality and create misunderstandings or conflicts in social and interpersonal relationships commonly through what is called gas lighting.
When employees experience the painful feelings such as inadequacy, jealous or shame, their ego has a tendency to treat them as though they were acting not from within but from without by transferring from themselves to other colleagues. For example, an employee who is deeply insecure about their own competence will often project that incompetence onto a new hire, whispering that the new recruit is out of their depth, a line manager who fears they are losing control of their team may project a tyrannical nature onto a subordinate, accusing them of being a too aggressive.
Shadow projection creates an illusionary relationship with the environment, isolating the person projecting from reality hence such employees are no longer interacting with their colleagues but with a distorted reflection of their own fears.
The major problem is that such projections contain dark and destructive personality which manifests as intense hatred and irritation. Jung argued that such employees hate in others what they secretly wish they possessed but feel they cannot attain. In organizational life, shadow projections are buried in envious reactions and rivalry relationships. Envy is evoked when an individual perceives that a colleague has access to something they lack, be it a privileged position, charisma, creativity, or even a seat at the table of power.
To cope with the psychic pain of this envy, they disguise their longing as contempt. They fool themselves into thinking the envied person is actually inferior, attempting to justify their hatred of them. They also practice the innocent where a person denies their own aggression while projecting it onto others.
The damage of shadow projection is rarely contained to a single relationship but acts like a contagion within an organization. The ripple effects of this contagion can be observed in everyday office interactions. A manager who is insecure about their own status may unconsciously encourage competition among team members, pitting them against each other. When an organisation fails to contain its collective shadow, the consequences are severe. Employees experience a loss of psychological safety. They no longer feel safe to speak up, challenge ideas, or be themselves. This leads directly to critical mass of disengaged employees.
Shadow projection creates an illusionary relationship with the environment, isolating the person projecting from reality hence such employees are no longer interacting with their colleagues but with a distorted reflection of their own fears. In organizational life, shadow projections are buried in envious reactions and rivalry relationships.
I conclude using a quote by Carl Gustav Jung“ The best political, social, and spiritual work we can do is to withdraw the projection of our shadow onto others.”
Prof. Kellen Kiambati holds a BA- HRM from Kenyatta University, MBA from the Kenya Methodist University and a PhD in Business Administration with a focus in Strategic Management from JKUAT. She is a member of the Institute of Human Resource Management of Kenya. She can be reached via: Kellenkiambati @ gmail. com.
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