Reflective leadership in context

The dynamics of leadership involve deliberate decisions and actions towards creating an environment where leaders and their cohorts can grow and thrive. In other words, the progress of every leadership endeavor is dependent on certain procedures and norms. One of these norms and practices that hold a vital role in leadership is referred to as Reflective Leadership (RL); an ageless term that has not gained as much influence as other forms of leadership despite its enormous role in the scope of leadership. In this article, I will share the various importance of reflective leadership to self-learning and problem solving.

REFLECTIVE LEADERSHIP AND RELATIONSHIPS:

The impact of Reflective Leadership can best be understood in the context of relationships, as our accomplishments reflect what our relationships have allowed us to achieve in connection with others, guiding and mentoring them as a natural outgrowth of good relationships (Suleyman,2012). This is exemplified among individuals in a group saddled with the responsibility of achieving specific goals while experiencing role and communication conflicts. By this an individual is made to pass through various self-discovery, team interaction and integration stages which makes reflective leadership instrumental. In the context of relationships, reflective leadership is practiced as a deliberate effort to integrate previous personal experiences of team members and pick out the useful lessons for the achievement of predetermined goals.

REFLECTIVE LEADERSHIP AND SELF LEADERSHIP:

It is imperative to note that Reflective Leadership is first an extension of Self-leadership, that encapsulates how an individual takes responsibility for his personal leadership growth and how he prioritizes and perceives his mental, physical, spiritual as well as emotional wellbeing. Reflective Leadership is a technique that facilitates a leader re-examining his/her basic beliefs in order to improve understanding and consciousness of why and what forms these beliefs and how it affects relationships. To maximize reflective leadership, the practice of deliberate and consistent meditation, critical thoughts and personal journaling must be appreciated. Here, personal questioning and analysis would be required. Overtime, it has been proven that reflective leadership has a positive impact on self-leadership, however students have not developed the techniques necessary to reflect on their performance as leaders (Flores, Matkin, Burbach, Quinn & Harding, 2012).

REFLECTIVE LEADERSHIP AND TECHNICAL RATIONALITY:

Schon (1983) and Comer (2016) gave a connection between Technical Rationality (TR) and Reflective Leadership (RL) using instances of students in school and professionals at work. They both believe these two concepts involves a few methodical and deliberate steps towards problem solving.  Schon (1983) refer to technical rationality as the instrumental and rigorous process of problem solving, by applying scientific theories and techniques. This implies that attention is usually focused on solving problems using standardized knowledge and processes, and for problems to be solved, one would first need to go through a special activity, called problem framing or problem setting.

While in school, students are taught models and frameworks expected to be transferred to their lifeworld after leaving the academic environment, and even though many of the practicality of these models are not tested while in school, beliefs are formed around them. Comer (2016) posits that the dynamic work environment is faced with unpredictable and unique challenges that would require a more analytical approach to resolve. Schon (1983) and Comer (2016) believe professionals, unlike students reflect on practice and modify their mental models based on experience. This reflection may be tacit or thoughtful, and the practitioners fit their teaching to their experience. They also assert that the thoughtful and purposeful reflection leads to more accurate and robust mental models of practice.

REFLECTIVE LEADERSHIP AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT:

Likewise, Reynolds (1999), opines that a commitment to questioning assumptions embodied in both theory and professional practice should be adopted by leaders, and reflection provides a meaningful way for leaders to gain genuine understanding on any leadership issue. The main objective for integrating reflection in leadership development programs is to maximize individual potential by allowing students to evaluate the significance of their experiences from a leadership perspective (Densten & Gray, 2001). It is therefore imperative to apply reflective leadership and by extension, technical rationality is every aspect of complex problem solving.

Densten and Gray (2001) notes that reflective leadership gives a leader the open-mindedness, responsibility and wholeheartedness needed to experience accelerated learning experience. It is observed that when leadership students approach learning from the standpoint of their previous experiences, and not just a predetermined curriculum, leadership growth will inevitably become the outcome as this would help in gaining insights and consider the complexities of situations. Furthermore, this process would encourage problem recognition and the development of hypotheses which are catalysts for further critical reflection.

As the demand for leadership increases across spheres, there is a need to ensure the adoption of reflective leadership as a tool for leadership development, problem solving and team integration. It is also recommended that more attention should be placed on Reflective Leadership (RL) as other forms of leadership have received. This will help leaders in achieving more successes, while maximizing past and present experiences, ideologies and situations.

References:

Densten, I. L., & Gray, J. H. (2001). Leadership development and reflection: What is the connection?

      International Journal of Educational Management, 15(3), 119–124.

Flores, K. L., Matkin, G. S., Burbach, M. E., Quinn, C. E. & Harding, H. (2012). Deficient critical thinking skills

among college graduates: Implications for leadership. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 44, 212- 

Reynolds, M. (1999), Critical reflection and management education: rehabilitating less hierarchical

approaches, Journal of Management Education, 23(5), 537-53

Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York, NY: Basic

Books, Inc

Suleyman D.G. (2012). Reflective Leadership in EFL. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(7), 1355-  

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