We spend much of our lives at work when creating, building, striving, and performing. For many of us, work isn’t just what we do anymore. It’s who we are.
Our careers shape our identities, determine our rhythms, and sometimes even define our self-worth. Yet, in the same space where we seek validation and purpose, the shadow quietly dwells.
When Dr. Connie and I sat down for this week’s conversation, we explored what happens when our work becomes an “adult playground for the shadow”, a space where hidden patterns of people-pleasing, control, avoidance, and approval-seeking play out behind polished LinkedIn profiles and meeting agendas.
Work draws our attention outward: deadlines, deliverables, the next raise, the next title. But while our focus stays external, our inner world is still quietly at play, forming reactions, suppressing emotions, replaying old dynamics.
As Dr. Connie shared, many of us were raised in families that transmitted certain values about success: be productive, be useful, be seen, be good. Those priorities often get passed down and embodied through our work. The question shadow work invites us to ask is:
“If that’s what’s being expressed, what’s being repressed?”
When we bury parts of ourselves to keep up, our rest, creativity, spirituality, or even our joy, we begin to trade vitality for validation.
The Corporate Persona
Just as families have personas (“the good Christian family,” “the progressive family,” “the elite family”), workplaces do too. Each organization creates a collective mask: a culture of performance, perfection, or positivity that hides its own shadow, competition, burnout, exploitation, or moral compromise.
And within that system, individuals also adapt. We suppress what doesn’t “fit.” We stay silent about what we see. We let our inner child seek approval from our boss the way we once sought it from a parent.
It’s not that we mean to. It’s just that the psyche repeats what’s unresolved.
When the Soul Grows Tired
I shared with Dr. Connie that my deeper journey into shadow work began at my first job. It was a creative tech company, a dream on paper. However, over time, I felt like a shadow of my former self. The work drained me. I doubted my competence. I was performing, but not fulfilled.
When I finally asked, “What am I sacrificing here?” I realized it wasn’t just energy…it was soul. I had lost touch with the parts of myself that once made me feel alive.
Bringing authenticity back into that space didn’t mean quitting immediately. It meant showing up differently: speaking honestly, softening expectations, and remembering who I was before the job title. Ironically, that’s when meaning began to return.
Shadow work in the workplace isn’t necessarily about escape. It’s about awareness.
When you feel the urge to overperform, notice the voice behind it. Is it the inner child trying to be loved? The inner tyrant demanding perfection?
When you want to set a boundary but can’t, ask who’s afraid to disappoint. When you feel drained, ask what part of you you’ve left behind.
Reflections to Take With You
If you’re curious to explore your own work shadows, here are a few prompts Dr. Connie and I invite you to sit with and respond in our community chat:
What parts of yourself do you leave at the door when you go to work?
What are you sacrificing to maintain your image or role?
What old family dynamics are being replayed with your boss, coworkers, or team?
What would it look like to bring more authenticity into your workspace?
What is your soul asking for through your fatigue, frustration, or restlessness?
With love,
Keila & Connie
🖤 Thanks for reading Shadow Work to Expand Awareness: a space where inner work meets the outer world through shared prompts, writings, and livestream conversations with Dr. Connie Zweig, Ph.D and Keila Shaheen.
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