Reflection is an important tool in every leader’s development. When you start reflecting, you start boosting your self-awareness and learning, you gain new insights and add value to your experiences.
As a leader, you are responsible to learn how to make the right choices to create an environment where you and the others can grow and develop. Reflection is a critical step in your self-awareness process as it provides you with the opportunity to think of your successes and mistakes and learn from them.
Benefits of reflection:
SARA HORTON-DEUTSCh
-'The path to reflective leadership'-
“Reflective leadership is a way of approaching the work of being a leader by leading one’s life with presence and personal mastery. Learning to be present, to be aware and attentive to our experience with people throughout the day is the focus of reflective leadership.”
Of course, when you reflect, you have to be honest with yourself. Honesty is key at this stage if you want to improve your self-awareness and your decision-making skills. It is also very important to understand that this will not happen overnight and it requires practice first and then progress will follow.
Top tip
Think of it as a conscious reflection on your performance. Try to set aside 5 or 10 minutes for your daily reflection practice. You might want to start with the questions below:
Reflection
How did I do today?
What could I have done better?
What have I learned?
How could I explain my feelings and thoughts?
How could I explain my actions and behaviours?
What would I do differently next time?
If it was excellent, how can I repeat this next time?
What kind of leader do I want to be?
Reflection is amazing because you can practise it anywhere and anytime.
Journal
You could keep your journal entries short and always try to reflect on why something happened, rather than just what happened.
Commute
Studies show that people who are reflecting while commuting are more productive than people who don't. Take advantage of this opportunity.
Running
This is a great opportunity to clear your mind and reflect on your day, your performance, answering the Hows, the Whats and the Whys.
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