Test 32 · CXOs

Shadow 360

Your habits become the company’s rules, whether you write them down or not.

LiveTeam-rated

This test is built to be answered by your team, anonymously. Team mode is coming; for now you rate yourself.

Tell me when team mode is live

The short answer

Shadow 360 is a free self-test for senior leaders on the culture their behaviour creates. Fourteen questions cover four signals people read from you: your mood, where your attention goes, what you praise and what you tolerate. You get a shadow profile with your clearest signal and the one most likely misread, each with one move.

Drafted with AI for Jay Sampat, Chief Mirror Holder · coach review pending

Who it’s for
Senior leaders who sent an email at 10pm and got five replies by 10.05.
What you get
A shadow profile across four signals, your clearest signal and the one most likely misread, each with one move.

The email you sent at 10pm and the five people who answered it by 10.05.

Try a question now

I make the call myself rather than wait for the team to agree.

A question from The 42 Test that touches this topic.

What does your behaviour teach the organisation?

More than your strategy deck does. If you check every detail, your leaders learn to check every detail. If your late-night email gets answered in five minutes, people learn that late nights are expected. Your habits become the company’s rules, whether you write them down or not.

Take Shadow 360: fourteen questions, about five minutes. Answer for the last month.

What does the test look at?

Four signals of our own, three or four questions each:

  • Mood. How your mood is read, and how far it travels.
  • Attention. Whether what you ask about matches what you say matters.
  • What you praise. Whether your praise teaches people what to repeat.
  • What you tolerate. Whether people can tell what you won’t let pass.

What do I get at the end?

A shadow profile with all four signals ranked, your clearest signal, with what it does well and its trade-off, and the signal most likely misread, each with one thing to try on Monday. The signal names are our own and still a draft.

Shadow 360 is built for your leadership team to rate you anonymously. Team mode is coming. For now, you rate yourself.

How is it worked out?

Each signal has three or four questions, answered from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Four of the fourteen describe a habit that muddies the signal, such as “A passing question from me sets off a week of work”, and are flipped before scoring. Each signal’s average is compared; the bars show all four.

The questions, signals and advice are a draft written with AI and are waiting for a coach’s review. Treat the result as a mirror, not a verdict.

What should I read or take next?

Read how leaders influence culture without meaning to. How far your mood travels is the subject of how far emotional contagion at work spreads, and The Echo Chamber shows how much truth gets back to you. Every tool for this stage is on the CXOs page.

Drafted with AI · coach review pending

What is the shadow of the leader?
It’s the culture your everyday behaviour creates, whether you mean it to or not. People copy where your attention goes, what you praise and what you let pass, and read meaning into your mood. Shadow 360 looks at four of those signals.
Can my leadership team rate me?
That’s what the test is built for, and team mode is coming: your leadership team will answer anonymously. For now you rate yourself, which shows the half of the picture you can see.
How is my shadow profile worked out?
Each signal has three or four questions, answered from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Four describe a habit that muddies the signal and are flipped. Each signal’s average is compared: the highest is your clearest, the lowest most likely misread. The four signals are our own, not a published model.
Is Shadow 360 free, and who sees my answers?
It’s free with no sign-up. Your answers and result stay in your browser; Coach42 never sees them.
  1. 31The Echo ChamberLiveCXOs · How much truth actually reaches you
  2. 33Succession ReadyLiveCXOs · Whether a credible successor exists, and when
  3. 34Exec Team HealthLiveCXOs · How well your leadership team works together
  4. 35Calendar AuditLiveCXOs · Where your time goes compared with your stated priorities
  5. 36The Legacy QuestionLiveCXOs · What you want to be remembered for, and whether your week matches it

CXOs: all six tests and posts

Question 34 of 42

I let someone make a decision I’d have made differently.

Drafted with AI · coach review pending