I learned one of my biggest leadership lessons in the frozen foods aisle.
In college, I worked at a grocery store. Every week, my manager talked about shrinkage.
Not the Seinfeld kind 🤭 — shrinkage in retail means lost inventory. Maybe it’s theft. Maybe it’s damaged goods. Maybe someone dropped a jar of pickles on aisle 7 and tried to mop it up before anyone noticed.
Whatever the cause, shrinkage is expensive. Grocery stores lose billions of dollars every year this way.
But here’s what hit me: shrinkage doesn’t just happen in retail. It happens in leadership too.
Shrinkage in Leadership = Wasted Strengths
Gallup has been tracking this for years. Their research shows that only 33% of employees strongly agree they get to use their strengths at work every day. That means two-thirds of people are leaving talent on the shelf like expired yogurt.
And the cost? Lower engagement. Missed promotions. Burnout. Leaders who fade into the background instead of showing up at full volume.
Shrinkage in leadership shows up three ways:
- Theft = Self-doubt. You’ve got the results, but impostor syndrome steals the credit.
- Damage = Neglect. You’ve let a talent atrophy because no one asked you to use it.
- Errors = Forgetting wins. You downplay contributions that were actually huge.
It’s costly. It’s silent. And it happens to almost everyone.
Angela’s Wake-Up Call
One of my clients, Angela, was running multi-million-dollar projects and consistently pulling off the impossible. Clients trusted her. Teams loved her. She was the one who made things click.
But her resume? Average. Her LinkedIn? Sparse. Her presence in meetings? Quiet.
When I asked her why, she shrugged: “I don’t want to brag. I figure if I do the work, people will notice.”
Spoiler alert: they weren’t noticing.
Angela’s shrinkage wasn’t theft or damage. It was error. She had forgotten to count her wins.
We fixed that by creating a Strengths Inventory — every skill, every talent, every result. Not dressed up. Not exaggerated. Just real.
Next meeting, she spoke up: “When I led the global rollout, here’s what worked. Here’s what we’d improve next time.”
Not bragging. Just facts. Clear. Credible. Confident.
Within months, Angela was tapped for a leadership role she hadn’t even considered.
Leaders, Here’s the Real Talk
Shrinkage in leadership isn’t humility. It’s hoarding.
If you’re sitting on your strengths, waiting for someone to discover you, you’re not being humble — you’re keeping your gifts locked in the stockroom where nobody can use them.
Great leaders don’t hoard. They showcase.
How to Stop Shrinkage and Showcase Your Strengths
Here’s where you start:
1. Do your Strengths Inventory. Make a list of every skill, talent, and win. No editing. No false modesty.
2. Put something on display this week. Bring one of those strengths into the light. Share it in a meeting, post it on LinkedIn, mentor someone.
3. Repeat until it’s natural. Every time you showcase, you reinforce your credibility. And your confidence compounds.