Today no entrepreneur or businessman can separate your personal life from your leadership. What you do outside the office also builds—or destroys—the reputation of your business. A cell phone is enough for a gesture or reaction to become public and define whether you generate trust or distrust in your team, clients and partners.
That is the discomfort of this era: you no longer lead only with strategic decisions, but with your shadow. What was previously private is now projected without filters. That’s where impact leadership comes in: the one who understands that every act communicates and shapes culture, even when you think no one is watching.
A few days ago, at a dinner in Mexico City, a high-ranking executive, with impeccable results and rehearsed speeches, told me with complete confidence:
—“As long as I deliver results, what I do in my private life should not matter to anyone.”
The table fell silent. I responded. I spoke to him from the perspective of uncomfortable leadership: today you do not lead only with visible decisions, but also with your shadow. Your values, your character, the way you treat others…all of that communicates. And all that is seen.
The last few months confirm it. Andy Byron, CEO of Astronomer, was recorded at a Coldplay concert hugging his Human Resources director in full kiss-cam. The next day he was suspended and resigned shortly after.
Then, Piotr Szczerek, Polish CEO of Drogbruk, He was caught at the US Open snatching a cap that a tennis player had given to a child. They baptized him “Hat Thief CEO” and he had to give public explanations.
And closer to us, a Mexican businessman was recorded on a padel tournament hitting another player after losing a match. His name was not needed: the networks baptized him “Lord Pádel” and his business reputation was marked.
Some say the mistake was the bad luck of a turned-on camera. But The problem is that they acted as usual… only this time someone recorded them. Come on! What we saw was no exception: it was an unfiltered expression that, by leaving the private, showed what really lives behind the position. And that, when you represent a company or a brand, is never innocent.
That’s where he comes in impact leadershipbecause when you have power, every gesture is a message; and when you lead people, each behavior shapes the organizational culture. It doesn’t matter if it happens inside or outside the office.
That’s why in my new book “From boss to impactful leader” I explain why leading is not just directing from the office or achieving quarterly goals. It is understanding that everything you do, say and allow is replicated, shapes teams and leaves a mark. And there are leaders who have not yet understood it: they continue to believe that their power is limited to results, without realizing that their true influence begins when they believe that no one is watching.
Today, every leader has an audience, even if he or she does not have followers. Each cell phone is a camera on and each act, no matter how small, can be read as a symbol because you represent something bigger than yourself: a culture, families, a brand, a style, an ethic.
I think the question is not whether they are watching you. The question is whether You already lead as if everyone is watching you…because they are. Because if you are only consistent when there are witnesses, you have already stopped leading.
Remember: your reputation no longer has a private office. Today, you also lead with your shadow. And if you are not the one who takes care of what you represent… you will be the one who pays the price when that shadow is projected on the big screen.
