An insight into reflective practice, leadership
Reflective practice allows individuals to examine their thoughts and actions with the encouragement and support of colleagues who often struggle with similar questions and dilemmas.
Miller (2005) points out that the value in reflective practice is in gaining insight into personal strengths and challenges.
Reflective practice is also the ability to reflect on one’s actions to take a critical stance or attitude towards one’s own practice and that of one’s peers, engaging in a process of continuous adaptation and learning.
Reflective practice can take the form of simply thinking about something to engage in a well defined and carefully crafted exercise.
Reflective practice can be implemented individually, with a partner or within a group.
Reflective Practice and Leadership
Reflective practice in leadership has two main pillars which are mindfulness and inquiry. Mindfulness being thoughtful and deliberately attentive to the needs of the self, others, and the environment.
Inquiry on the other hand means taking personal inventory of the values and life experiences that served to shape leaders “vocational calling”.
Reflective practices form the basis of a learning organisation through continual review of personal assumptions and current practices. Leaders who adopt a learning perspective are open to transformative experiences. Transformation is about change, a process through which an individual, organisation, or collective guides large, fundamental, radical transitions from one existing state to a more positive, desired state. Through reflective practice individuals can confront and respond to change in a healthy and inspiring manner.
Reflective leadership is key to creating a relationship- based organisation and is characterised by three important skills namely self-awareness, careful observation, and flexible response.
- Self-awareness is the ability of a leader to know themselves, their strengths, and limitations. Being self-aware makes a leader committed to examining their own reactions, thoughts, and feelings about their work.
The importance of self-awareness in leadership arises from the fact that leaders need to be aware of how their behaviour impacts the people they lead.
It contributes to leaders’ personal growth and enables them to use their strength to guide the team to success.
- Careful observation is a skill leaders use to decipher the meaning of what they are seeing and hearing and try to make meaning of them.
Observation can provide leaders with powerful information to help them understand the people they interact with and their emotions.
- Flexible responses require that leaders know their teams’ personal styles, how they work best and what motivates them.
Leaders therefore respond to each individual in an effective manner that reflects a particular team member’s needs, strengths and areas for development.
Individuals who fail to consider their actions are at risk for limited, stunted growth as leaders.
In the absence of reflection leaders rarely challenge their own assumptions and practices, and are unable to recognise distorted, and dangerous ways of being.
Reflection is dynamic as it allows leaders to shift positions and navigate different contexts and challenges, armed with multiple insights and ideas.
By implementing reflective practice, leaders model a leadership style that supports inquiry, authenticity, and reality-based decision making.
Densten and Gray (2001) point out that good leaders are those that continually reframe what they know and need to know to address current challenges.
Reflective practice is a system for change, helping individuals to expand their thinking and consequently consider alternative perspectives and actions.
Chiedza Kadare is an OD Practitioner. You can get in touch with her on WhatsApp/call +263 77 283 0986 or Email chiedza.kadare@gmail.com
Paul Nyausaru is an OD Practitioner and leadership coach. For all your OD interventions and leadership development training you can get in touch with him on WhatsApp/call +263774062756 or Email pnyausaru@gmail.com
