Reflection

Personal reflection is vital to successful leaders. There are two basic types of reflection, internal and external. Reflecting provides the opportunity to digest and process our personal interactions. Too often we find ourselves busy each day conducting business, and then we dismiss the critical part of reviewing our day due to “lack of time”. But individual reflection can be as simple as turning off the radio while driving and focusing your thoughts on different personal transactions of the day. Reviewing what went well and why, and what we could have done to be more effective. Individual reflection can also be very sophisticated, for example personal inventory tests or personality assessments are examples of concentrated personal reflection. These reports can be generated by our own thoughts, feelings and impressions, and then the results are compiled in a report for review. Interesting enough these reports are simply the jump point for us to sit back and mentally review.
The other type of reflection is external in which the feedback we receive comes from others. We are constantly getting feedback from others through their facial expressions and body language, but external reflection requires more than just adapting to the environment. External reflection requires investigation and direct feedback. A very simple but effective method is asking someone you trust, “what is something I could be doing better?” but be ready for some tough answers. If you overreact you will never get honest feedback, but if you take it in stride and do a little follow on investigating you will usually find out the root of the issue. On the high end of external feedback there are 360 reviews and performance reports. These all help to provide a picture of how others perceive you and your effectiveness.
So if you have not taken time to stop and reflect on how things are going and how you could be more effective, you are missing out on a relatively easy but very effective leadership multiplier.