Reflect to Create
2. What the research said and what it means for leaders
2.7. Other headlines from the research
Other key findings have been published elsewhere, but to help to understand how to create the practices for a "Reflect to Create" leader, the key headlines are summarized below.
2.7.1. Triggers for reflection
The leaders reported that triggers for reflection were predominately from an embodied awareness of something that was new, surprising or troubling. Work issues nearly always returned to the personal.
2.7.2. The "How" of reflection
Reflection predominately took place on their own, sometimes in a facilitated conversation with a thinking partner or coach or (and much less frequently) within a larger group. Reflective journaling was the most frequently used mode of reflecting.
2.7.3. The "Where" of reflection
The leaders reported that reflection predominately took place away from their workplaces because of the busyness of the office. But there was a sense that reflecting is also actually accessible to them anywhere at any time.
2.7.4. What helps reflection?
Reflection emerged as a personal choice. The leaders had chosen to make the time and space in their busy schedules to reflect and learn from experience because they understood its benefits. As the research discovered, other mechanisms like
"a supportive organizational culture, being ‘taught’ the tools for reflection, the requirements of a course or training program to write learning logs, working with a thinking partner (like a coach or supervisor) or the support of others were seen as helpful but secondary to this very personal commitment".
One said that
"I learnt the value of having personal thinking space".
Another said:
"I learnt a framework for thinking which was new".
All seven leaders also felt that their participation on either leadership or personal development courses had helped to remind them or fine‐tune their own reflective practices. They also felt that there was no one best way to "do" reflection: that this emerges as a result of personal experimentation, choice and preferences so as to:
"remove its threat and mystique".
2.7.5. What hinders reflection?
The biggest factors inhibiting reflection was where their more senior leadership - and/or the leadership culture around them - did not invest in reflection, did not role model reflective learning or did not believe in the benefits of reflection. There were also worries about trust and safety, possible breaches of confidentiality and the personal and business risks of sharing personal vulnerabilities.