The shadowing project at LBS enables students to gain a firsthand perspective on the daily role of a high ranking manager by “shadowing” that person for up to a week as they perform their job. Students report that they benefit immensely from this exposure, which illuminates skills they need to develop to succeed as managers.
Before entering the workplace of their “shadowees,” as they are called, students examine key studies and concepts in managerial behavior, building a theoretical framework to help them assess the management situations they will witness during the project. After the shadowing period, students synthesize their observations in a graded report that objectively profiles the leadership style of their shadowee.
To set up the Shadowing Project, students are expected to initiate contact with a manager of their choosing, and to arrange mutually acceptable dates for the shadowing to take place. While the task of contacting a high-level manager and pitching the shadowing idea may seem daunting, LBS explains that learning to harness the LBS network and preexisting professional contacts is one of the project’s key takeaways for students. The shadowing project can be completed between January and May in either the first or second year. The actual shadowing need not occur over five consecutive days, so students and their shadowees may decide to schedule the shadowing dates around critical meetings or events that it would be most helpful to witness.
Of the managers LBS students have shadowed over the past few years, about 15% have been CEOs, 25% Managing Directors, General Managers or Vice Presidents, and 10% have held the highest ranking finance post in their organizations. In addition to the more traditional shadowees at investment banks and pharmaceutical companies, students have shadowed prominent figures in politics, as well as the management of a symphony orchestra. More than one-third of students travel outside the UK for the project.
