leadership styles reflective essay

My Experience in Leadership Styles Reflective Essay

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Reflecting on my journey through various leadership roles, I have encountered and adapted to a multitude of leadership styles. This reflection explores how these experiences have shaped my understanding of effective leadership and the impact of different leadership approaches in diverse settings.

In my early experiences as a team leader, I predominantly adopted an authoritative leadership style. I believed that strong, decisive direction was crucial to achieving team goals. While this approach yielded results in terms of meeting targets, I gradually realized that it sometimes led to a lack of creative input from team members.

Learning from this, I began to appreciate the value of fostering a more participative environment where team members felt empowered to contribute ideas and solutions.

Transitioning into a larger organizational role, I encountered the transformational leadership style. This style resonated with me as it focused on inspiring and motivating team members towards a collective vision. Embracing this approach, I worked on developing a clear vision and communicating it effectively to my team, which significantly improved our collective enthusiasm and commitment to our objectives. This experience underscored the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership, particularly in terms of inspiring and motivating a diverse group.

Another pivotal moment in my leadership journey was adapting to a servant leadership style in a community-based project. This role required a shift from leading from the front to supporting and uplifting the team. By focusing on the growth and well-being of team members and the community, I learned the power of leading by example and the impact of empathy and compassion in leadership. This experience was instrumental in shaping my understanding of the value of putting the needs of others at the forefront of leadership decisions.

More recently, in a fast-paced and innovative environment, I have explored the agile leadership style. This approach emphasizes adaptability, collaborative problem-solving, and a willingness to embrace change and innovation. It has taught me the importance of being flexible and responsive to changing circumstances and the benefits of fostering a culture of continuous learning and development within the team.

In conclusion, my experiences with different leadership styles have been integral to my growth as a leader. Each style has its strengths and is effective in different contexts. These experiences have taught me that effective leadership is not about adhering rigidly to one style but about being adaptable, responsive to the needs of the team and the situation, and continuously learning and evolving.

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6 Common Leadership Styles — and How to Decide Which to Use When

• Rebecca Knight

Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances call for different approaches.

Research suggests that the most effective leaders adapt their style to different circumstances — be it a change in setting, a shift in organizational dynamics, or a turn in the business cycle. But what if you feel like you’re not equipped to take on a new and different leadership style — let alone more than one? In this article, the author outlines the six leadership styles Daniel Goleman first introduced in his 2000 HBR article, “Leadership That Gets Results,” and explains when to use each one. The good news is that personality is not destiny. Even if you’re naturally introverted or you tend to be driven by data and analysis rather than emotion, you can still learn how to adapt different leadership styles to organize, motivate, and direct your team.

Much has been written about common leadership styles and how to identify the right style for you, whether it’s transactional or transformational, bureaucratic or laissez-faire. But according to Daniel Goleman, a psychologist best known for his work on emotional intelligence, “Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances may call for different approaches.”

• RK Rebecca Knight is a journalist who writes about all things related to the changing nature of careers and the workplace. Her essays and reported stories have been featured in The Boston Globe, Business Insider, The New York Times, BBC, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was shortlisted as a Reuters Institute Fellow at Oxford University in 2023. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade as an editor and reporter at the Financial Times in New York, London, and Boston.

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The Importance of Reflective Leadership in Business

• 05 Sep 2023

Effective leadership is essential to business success. As an organizational leader , you not only guide decision-making but create your company’s culture, retain its talent, and move it toward bigger, better things.

Your leadership style —the behavioral patterns consistent across your decision-making—influences your impact on your organization and team. One of the most beneficial styles to adopt is reflective leadership.

If you want to learn more about reflective leadership’s role in business, here’s an overview of its components, why it’s effective, and how to become a reflective leader.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Reflective Leadership?

Reflective leadership involves self-awareness, introspection, and continuous learning and growth to make better decisions, enhance leadership skills , and improve team performance .

“Reflective leadership requires the continuous practice of reflection over time,” says Harvard Business School Professor Nien-hê Hsieh in the online course Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability . “This allows you to regularly examine and re-evaluate your decisions and responsibilities to practice, broaden, and deepen your skills, and to apply this knowledge when analyzing present situations.”

Reflective leadership also enables you to help your team grow.

“Reflective leadership is about helping others on your team or in your organization,” Hsieh says. “It’s about helping them develop their own skills in awareness, judgment, and action.”

In Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability , Hsieh delves into the reflective leadership model , a framework for conceptualizing your responsibilities as an ethical leader.

The model has four components:

• Awareness: Recognize your legal, economic, and ethical responsibilities to stakeholders.
• Judgment: Consider biases and shared concepts that influence your decision-making.
• Action: Act on your decisions in an accountable, consistent way.
• Reflection: Reflect on all three components throughout the process to learn from past experiences.

“The reflective leadership model involves not only reflection on business decisions but also continuous reflection on your own personal beliefs, goals, and commitments,” Hsieh says in the course. “These aspects of self are often significant influences on your decisions and internal guides when navigating difficult situations.”

The Importance of Reflective Leadership

Before diving into the importance of reflective leadership, it’s critical to note the pitfalls of being an inadequate leader.

According to recruitment services company Zippia , 79 percent of employees leave their companies because they don’t feel appreciated by leaders, and upwards of 69 percent believe they’d work harder if recognized. In addition, only 33 percent report feeling engaged in the workplace.

Companies also lack focus on leadership development. Zippia reports that 77 percent struggle to find and develop leaders, and only five percent implement leadership development at all levels.

Since reflective leadership focuses on continuously improving and developing, it’s one of the more effective leadership styles. By regularly reflecting on your beliefs and values and incorporating them into your actions, you can make ethical decisions and enable your company to be more purpose-driven .

“Along with responsibility, leadership brings opportunities,” Hsieh explains in Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability . “These include opportunities to make ethical decisions where someone else wouldn’t, to influence others to do the right thing, and to make a positive impact on the world.”

Reflective leadership also helps you build authentic, supportive relationships with team members and create a workplace of ethics and accountability .

If you want to adopt a reflective leadership style, here are the competencies to develop.

How to Become a Reflective Leader

Be self-reflective.

Self-reflection is at reflective leadership’s core. According to Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability , you can practice self-reflection by:

• Reviewing, analyzing, and evaluating your decisions—in the moment and over time.
• Continuously deepening your awareness and self-knowledge.
• Developing a general framework for judgment.
• Improving your capacity for action and leadership.

Leading with self-reflection won’t just help you learn from past experiences but also encourage and enable your team members to adopt reflective mentalities.

Identify Your Commitments

Knowing your commitments is also essential to effective leadership.

“It’s important to identify and define your own commitments,” Hsieh says in Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability , “both to set a baseline for what you will and won’t do and to evaluate and clarify your thoughts, opinions, and feelings when making decisions.”

To create that baseline, Hsieh recommends asking the following questions:

• What’s core to my identity?
• What lines or boundaries won’t I cross?
• What kind of life do I want to live?
• What kind of leader do I want to be?

By identifying your commitments, you can better guide yourself and your team.

Consider Your Accountability

Becoming a reflective leader also requires accountability to successfully execute on your values and implement them into action plans.

This refers to the reflective leadership model’s “action” step—putting your decisions into practice in a way that’s accountable and consistent with your responsibilities.

“When leading reflectively, straightforward action planning may not be enough,” Hsieh says in Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability . “An accountable leader will go beyond just answering ‘How will we do it?’ to ask ‘How can I do it accountably?’”

Reflective Leadership Training for Businesses

By incorporating your values into your leadership style, you can learn from your experiences on a deeper level and develop into a better leader.

One way to gain the skills and frameworks to succeed long term is by taking an online course, such as Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability . Through a dynamic, interactive learning experience, the course provides the opportunity to apply the reflective leadership model to real-world business ethics challenges.

Are you ready to become a reflective leader? Apply to Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability —one of our online leadership and management courses —and download our free e-book on effective leadership.

About the Author

Exploring Different Leadership Styles: A Comprehensive Guide

The way leaders guide and influence their teams can significantly impact productivity, engagement, staff turnover, staff wellbeing, and overall morale.

In fact, Gallup (2023) estimates that 70% of team engagement is attributable to the team leader. And a recent study by CMI found that 28% of job leavers cited a negative relationship with their manager as a key reason for quitting.

It is thus fair to say that how we lead really matters, even more so than who we lead. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of different leadership styles and suggestions for further reading and development.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Leadership Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or others adopt positive leadership practices and help organizations thrive.

This Article Contains

Goleman’s leadership styles, the 4 most effective positive leadership styles, leadership coaching: improving your skills, 3 leadership programs to enhance your leadership style, 4 recommended leadership books, 4 recommended youtube videos, positivepsychology.com resources, a take-home message.

In their influential book Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence , the psychologists Daniel Goleman, Richard E. Boyatzis, and Annie McKee (2002) turned the term “emotional intelligence” into a household concept. They also demonstrated the importance of emotionally intelligent leadership.

The authors champion leadership that is self-aware, empathic, motivating, and collaborative. These qualities are ever-more important in our increasingly economically volatile, fast-changing, and technologically complex world.

In the book, they also discuss the core features of six distinctive leadership styles. According to Goleman et al. (2002), each style has its own strengths and limitations. Ideally, effective leaders learn to adapt their style to the situation at hand.

1. The visionary leadership style

Goleman et al. (2002) define the visionary leadership style as the ability to move people toward a shared dream or vision.

Visionary leaders have a clear and compelling dream of the future, and they know how to communicate it. They inspire their team members with a sense of purpose and direction.

Their ability to articulate a compelling vision motivates and energizes their followers and fosters a sense of unity and shared commitment.

2. The coaching leadership style

The coaching leadership style is characterized by the leader’s focus on helping employees reach their full potential. Above all, coaching leaders seek to support personal development and growth.

By providing guidance and mentoring, offering constructive feedback, and promoting skill building, coaching leaders create an environment conducive to continuous learning and improvement. This style promotes employee engagement and generates long-term organizational success.

3. The affiliative leadership style

An affiliative leader prioritizes harmony and bonding among their team members. They emphasize building strong relationships, cultivating a sense of belonging, and creating a supportive work environment.

Goleman et al. (2002) argue that affiliative leaders aim to resolve conflicts and enhance team cohesion by focusing their energies on open communication, empathy, and trust.

4. The democratic leadership style

The democratic leadership style entails involving team members in decision-making processes and truly valuing their input and perspectives.

Goleman et al. (2002) suggest that democratic leaders seek to empower their teams. They foster a collaborative culture where everyone’s opinions are respected. This inclusive approach tends not only to result in high levels of job satisfaction , but also promotes creativity and innovation within an organization.

5. The pacesetting leadership style

The pacesetting leadership style is characterized by leaders who consistently set high standards and expect their team members to meet them. This style can be both inspiring and demanding.

Pacesetting leaders strive for excellence and inspire their team members through role modeling. However, although effective in the short term, this style may leave little room for creativity, development, and autonomy in the long run. It is also important to remember that a great challenge should ideally be accompanied by significant support.

6. The commanding leadership style

The commanding leadership style is assertive, direct, top-down, and expects immediate compliance. While commanding leaders may excel in crisis situations, they may create a negative work environment if they overuse that style in non-urgent settings.

This style can be effective for short-term results but may impede employee engagement and creativity over time.

Adjectives to describe more problematic leadership styles include autocratic, top-down, transactional, bureaucratic, laissez-faire, or military. We will now explore four well-known effective leadership styles in more detail.

The four positive leadership styles that are currently attracting the most interest among researchers and positive psychology practitioners are coaching leadership, transformational leadership, authentic leadership, and servant leadership. All of them are viewed as positive and constructive leadership styles that bring out the best in the people who are being led.

Coaching leadership

Coaching leaders focus on developing those whom they lead and seek to support their growth and learning. Coaching leadership revolves around cultivating a supportive and encouraging environment that promotes growth and excellence in team members.

Unlike traditional leadership styles that emphasize top-down decision-making and unquestioning compliance, coaching leaders adopt a facilitative approach. They focus on building strong relationships, fostering collaboration, and nurturing individual talents.

A coaching leader is in effect a powerful catalyst who reminds people of their own resources and strengths and encourages them to use and develop them.

Key principles of coaching leadership include:

1. Active listening

Effective coaching leaders actively listen to their team members, encouraging them freely to express their thoughts, feelings, and aspirations. This practice helps leaders gain a deeper understanding of their team’s needs and enables them to provide tailored guidance. Because they listen carefully to what others say, coaching leaders can also truly benefit from the collective intelligence of their teams and their team members’ insights.

2. Empowerment

Coaching leaders strive to empower individuals by fostering a culture of autonomy and accountability. They encourage their team members to take ownership of their work, to make informed decisions, and to learn from both their successes and their failures.

3. Growth mindset

Coaching leaders promote a growth mindset culture, in which mistakes are seen as learning opportunities and continuous improvement is valued. This mindset encourages individuals to step out of their comfort zones , explore and develop their skills, and embrace new challenges.

Benefits of coaching leadership include enhanced employee engagement and a focus on skill development and improved communication. By valuing people’s needs and aspirations, coaching leaders create a more engaged and motivated team.

This commitment leads to increased productivity and better overall team performance (van Woerkom et al., 2016). Through mentoring, skill-building exercises, and feedback, coaching leaders help their people develop new competencies and refine existing ones (Webb, 2019).

By listening actively and providing constructive feedback, leaders can foster trust, improve team interactions, and boost collaboration among team members (van Woerkom et al., 2016).

Transformational leadership

Transformational leaders inspire and motivate their teams by articulating a compelling vision and encouraging personal growth. They seek to create a sense of community and commitment, challenge existing norms, and drive positive change within their organization (Bass & Riggio, 2006).

At its core, transformational leadership is about empowering and inspiring individuals to transcend their limits by promoting a collective sense of purpose and growth. This leadership approach moves beyond traditional managerial practices by focusing on developing strong relationships, cultivating vision, and promoting personal and professional growth.

The four pillars of transformational leadership are:

1. Idealized influence

Transformational leaders serve as role models. They lead by example and demonstrate high ethical standards. By being charismatic visionaries, they inspire team members to trust, respect, and emulate their behavior.

2. Inspirational motivation

These leaders are adept at articulating a compelling vision and conveying it in a passionate way that instills inspiration within their teams. By sharing a clear purpose and setting high standards, they inspire employees to achieve their full potential and support the bigger-picture aims of their teams and organizations.

3. Intellectual stimulation

Transformational leaders value creativity and encourage innovative thinking in their teams. They challenge employees to question the status quo and build environments that are conducive to learning, curiosity, and growth.

4. Individualized consideration

Recognizing the diverse needs and aspirations of each team member, transformational leaders provide individual support, coaching, and mentoring . They genuinely care about their employees’ personal and professional development, fostering a sense of belonging and creating a supportive work culture.

Numerous studies have shown the positive influence of transformational leadership on both individual wellbeing and organizational outcomes (see, for example, Avolio et al., 2004; Bass & Riggio, 2006; Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Wang et al., 2011).

Through its emphasis on inspiration and personal growth, this leadership style has been linked to higher employee engagement, job satisfaction, and overall workplace wellbeing . Transformational leaders also tend to foster stronger commitment, loyalty, and organizational citizenship behavior among employees.

Transformational leadership can have a ripple effect throughout organizations, enhancing team performance and increasing overall productivity. By encouraging open communication, generating a shared vision, and valuing innovation, transformational leaders cultivate an environment that nurtures creativity, adaptability, and continuous improvement.

Authentic leadership

Authentic leaders seek to lead with integrity and transparency, inspiring trust and creating an environment where individuals can be their true selves. They prioritize being genuine, self-aware, and acting consistently according to one’s values (Avolio & Gardner, 2005).

Authentic leadership emphasizes genuine self-awareness, transparency, and a commitment to one’s core values. At the core of authentic leadership lies self-awareness, a deep understanding of our values, beliefs, strengths, and weaknesses.

These leaders cultivate awareness through introspection, reflection, and a sincere desire to learn and grow. A study by George et al. (2007) suggests that self-awareness helps leaders align their actions with their core values, which enhances their credibility and authenticity.

Authentic leaders are transparent about their intentions and decisions. They also risk being vulnerable in front of their teams. This transparency promotes trust and psychological safety , enabling followers to reciprocate with their own authenticity. Research by Luthans and Avolio (2003) describes authentic leaders as being down to earth, approachable, and actively engaged with their teams.

Their words and actions are aligned. In other words, they say what they think and do what they say. Even when faced with challenging situations, they uphold their values and ethics. Research by Avolio et al. (2004) suggests that leaders who demonstrate this kind of consistency and integrity are more likely to inspire and motivate their followers, cultivating a sense of trust, purpose, and commitment within their teams.

Authentic leaders possess a high degree of emotional intelligence, which enables them to truly understand and empathize with others. They leverage this empathy to connect with their team members. Positive psychology research conducted by Clapp-Smith et al. (2008) suggests that authentic leaders who display empathy can provide effective support, understanding, and compassion to their followers.

Servant leadership

Servant leaders prioritize the needs of their team members and work to help them reach their full potential, always placing the team’s success above their own. They demonstrate humility, empathy, and a strong commitment to serving others (Greenleaf, 1977).

Servant leadership , as described by Robert K. Greenleaf (1977), centers on the idea that leaders should be driven by a deep-rooted desire to serve and support their team members and the organizations they work for. This counterintuitive approach presents an antidote to traditional leadership styles. It emphasizes the wellbeing, growth, and success of those within the leader’s sphere of influence.

Some key features of servant leadership include:

1. Empowerment rather than control

While many leaders exert their authority and micromanage their teams, servant leaders recognize the importance of empowering individuals to be creative and resourceful on their own terms (Laub, 1999).

By actively listening, providing guidance, and creating a culture of trust, they enable their team members to thrive, pursue innovative ideas, and take full ownership of their responsibilities and decisions (Laub, 1999).

2. Building trust and collaboration

One of the foundational pillars of servant leadership is the cultivation of trust and fostering collaboration among team members. Servant leaders seek to create an environment in which people feel safe, respected, and valued.

By promoting open communication, embracing diverse perspectives, and actively involving everyone in decision-making processes, servant leaders seek to create a cohesive and nurturing team culture.

3. Emotional intelligence

Servant leaders possess strong emotional intelligence, which enables them to empathize with their team members’ experiences, needs, and aspirations. This heightened understanding allows them to provide the necessary support, guidance, and motivation, which, in turn, leads to increased satisfaction and personal growth among team members (Van Dierendonck, 2011).

By practicing servant leadership, leaders not only enhance the wellbeing and productivity of their teams but also seed a legacy of ethical and compassionate leadership. Servant leadership creates a positive ripple effect, inspiring others to adopt a similar people-centric approach. In that way, servant leaders can create sustainable cultures of humility, empathy, and continuous learning in organizations (Greenleaf, 1977).

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Whichever leadership style appeals to you, the good news is that leadership can be learned. It is a teachable skill, and the best way to develop as a leader is by opting for leadership coaching.

Leadership coaching (which differs from the coaching leadership style discussed above) focuses on developing leadership skills through one-on-one coaching and feedback sessions. This personalized and experiential approach helps leaders identify their strengths and areas for improvement and unlock their full potential (Grant et al., 2019).

Leadership coaching is a collaborative and personalized process aimed at improving leadership effectiveness. It can maximize potential and foster growth in individuals or groups (Hattrick & Scholz, 2020). Rather than dictating solutions, coaches empower leaders to discover their unique leadership style, overcome challenges, and achieve their professional and personal goals. They educate their coaches to help themselves and strengthen their own problem-solving capacities and resilience.

Leadership coaching has the following positive effects:

1. Enhanced self-awareness

Leadership coaching aids in fostering self-awareness , enabling leaders to understand their strengths, weaknesses, values, and areas where personal growth is required (Kumari et al., 2020). By recognizing and harnessing their unique qualities, leaders can guide and inspire their teams more effectively.

2. Improved communication and emotional intelligence

Leadership coaching emphasizes developing strong interpersonal skills, effective communication, and emotional intelligence. By honing these qualities, leaders can build better relationships, resolve conflicts with more equanimity, and create a positive work environment (Oakley et al., 2019).

3. Clarifying goals and strategies

Coaches assist leaders in clarifying their goals and defining strategies to achieve them. This process helps leaders focus on their vision and align their actions with their objectives (Salas-Vallina et al., 2021).

4. Increased resilience

Leadership coaching plays a crucial role in fostering resilience in leaders . By developing adaptive and coping strategies, leaders who are receiving coaching can better handle challenges, setbacks, and pressures (Passarelli et al., 2019). This resilience leads to improved decision-making and enhanced overall leadership performance.

To further develop your leadership skills, consider participating in the following leadership programs. Each program focuses on specific aspects of leadership, equipping individuals with the tools and knowledge to become more effective leaders.

Organizations such as the Harvard Business School, the Center for Creative Leadership, and the Henley Business School in the United Kingdom offer some of the most renowned leadership development programs.

1. Harvard Business School

The Harvard Business School is perhaps one of the most prestigious business schools. It offers four comprehensive leadership programs that offer business management and leadership curriculum and personalized coaching.

Find out more about their offerings to choose an option that appeals: Comprehensive leadership programs .

2. The Center for Creative Leadership

The Center for Creative Leadership offers numerous different and inspiring leadership development programs too, including one that focuses specifically on transformational leadership.

You can have a look at their options here: Leadership programs .

3. The Henley Business School

The Henley Business School, which is affiliated with the University of Reading, offers a comprehensive six-day in-person leadership program.

Find out more about The Leadership Programme .

To deepen your understanding of leadership and to develop new insights, you may enjoy reading one of the following books.

1. Leadership: A Very Short Introduction – Keith Grint

This book is a great comprehensive overview of leadership and leadership styles. No longer than a long essay, it is a perfect choice for those pressed for time and needing a good overview, and thereafter you can dive into styles and topics most appealing.

Keith Grint invites us to rethink our understanding of leadership in Leadership . His guide includes valuable reflections on how leadership has evolved over time and also considers the different contexts from which different leadership theories emerge.

Grint goes back all the way to the early reflections on leadership by writers including Plato, Sun Tzu, and Machiavelli.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations – James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

This international bestseller, which is now in its seventh edition, offers valuable practical guidance for becoming an exemplary leader.

The two authors deliver an essential strategic playbook for effective leadership. They explore the five practices of exemplary leadership, providing real-life examples and actionable strategies.

Crucially, the authors also emphasize that leadership is a skill to be learned as well as a practice grounded in relationships. New sections include reflections on how to lead in hybrid environments and how to combat disengagement and cynicism.

3. Dare to Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts  – Brené Brown

In this famous book and number one New York Times bestseller, Brené Brown combines research, personal stories, and practical advice to explore the qualities that make courageous leaders.

Brown’s take on the topic is unique. Above all, she emphasizes vulnerability, as well as self-awareness, curiosity, and empathy, as the key qualities of a great leader. She invites us to see power not as something we should hoard but as something to share with others.

Brown writes:

From corporations, nonprofits, and public sector organizations to governments, activist groups, schools, and faith communities, we desperately need more leaders who are committed to courageous, wholehearted leadership and who are self-aware enough to lead from their hearts, rather than unevolved leaders who lead from hurt and fear.

(Brown, 2018, p. 4)

4. Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t – Simon Sinek

In Leaders Eat Last , the international bestselling author Simon Sinek investigates great leaders who sacrifice not just their place at the table, but often their own comfort and even their lives for those in their care.

They range from Marine Corps officers to the heads of big business and government. They all share that they put aside their own interests to protect their teams. For them, leadership is not a rank, but a responsibility.

If you do not have time to read a book on leadership, you may enjoy watching one of our four recommended YouTube videos instead.

In this short video, Brian Tracy explains five different leadership styles that people can use to lead their teams to success: structural, participative, servant, freedom, and transformational leadership.

Kurt Lewin describes different leadership styles in this slightly longer video. Lewin focuses on autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire leadership. He discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each style as well as the situations in which each style is most useful.

In this much-watched TED talk, Peter Anderton argues that great leadership requires only two simple rules. Curious to find out what they are? Watch the video.

In this last video, Jenn, a career coach, shares insights into eight key leadership styles. Importantly, she also discusses how we can find out which style might be best suited for us. Many of us will have been wondering about this question. Jenn shares practical advice on how we can choose and develop our own natural leadership style.

PositivePsychology.com offers a range of resources to enhance your understanding of various leadership styles. On our website, you will find numerous in-depth articles on specific leadership theories and styles, many of which were only briefly discussed in this article.

In addition, there are a multitude of articles to assist in improving leadership as well as creating a positive working environment.

• How to Use the Johari Window to Improve Leadership
• Assertiveness in Leadership: 19 Techniques for Managers
• Strength-Based Leadership: 34 Traits of Successful Leaders
• 15 Ways to Give Negative Feedback, Positively (+ Examples)
• Job Satisfaction Theory: 6 Factors for Happier Employees
• Why Team Building Is Important + 12 Exercises

Free tools and numerous inspiring activities to identify and enhance your leadership style can be found in our article offering leadership activities , games, and exercises.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others develop positive leadership skills, check out this collection of 17 validated positive leadership exercises . Use them to equip leaders with the skills needed to cultivate a culture of positivity and resilience.

17 Exercises To Build Positive Leaders

Use these 17 Positive Leadership Exercises [PDF] to help others inspire, motivate, and guide employees in ways that enrich workplace performance and satisfaction. Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Perhaps the most important point about leadership is that leadership can be improved. Remember that great leadership is, after all, a combination of skills and qualities that we can work on, practice, and enhance.

As leadership expert Warren Bennis puts it:

“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born — that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.”

(Bennis, as cited in Hunter 2004, p. 42)

Everyone can be a great leader — introverts as well as extroverts, feelers as well as thinkers, visionaries as well as people who care for detail and process.

What matters most is that we cultivate self-awareness, that we remain humble, that we truly care for those whom we lead, that we keep learning, and that we foster a growth mindset both in ourselves and others.

We hope you enjoy using these resources to advance your leadership journey and that they will help you unfold your true potential as a leader.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Leadership Exercises for free .

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• Volume 4, Issue 4
• Your leadership style: why understanding yourself matters
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• http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0110-2378 Clare Felicity Jane Price-Dowd
• People Directorate , NHS England and Improvement , Leeds , West Yorkshire , UK
• Correspondence to Dr Clare Felicity Jane Price-Dowd, People Directorate, NHS Improvement, Leeds LS1 4HG, West Yorkshire, UK; clare.price-dowd{at}improvement.nhs.uk

Understanding of personal leadership style has been shown to be a key part of effective leadership practice. It has been a topic of interest for many decades as we have tried to understand, and replicate, what makes those considered to be ‘great leaders’ so successful. This article gives a brief introduction to different leadership ‘theories’, leadership ‘styles’ and the effect they have on the ‘climate’ in organisations. Having an understanding of the different approaches can help leaders be more effective through comprehending how and why they do what they do, as well as helping them identify where and when they need to adapt their style. By considering how our understanding of leadership has evolved, it is possible to show how effective leadership is not linked to one approach. It is a combination of knowledge, attitudes and behaviours with a focus on both the task in hand and concern for those undertaking that task. Furthermore this understanding supports impactful personal development, which creates positive climates in organisations where compassionate and inclusive leadership behaviours can, and do result in better outcomes for staff and patients.

• effectiveness
• leadership assessment
• role modeling

https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2020-000218

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Introduction

Who, when flipping through a publication has not been tempted by the ‘personality quiz’, hoping to get the ‘mostly A, B or C’ that indicates we have the attributes for long and successful careers or lots of friends? While this level of ‘knowing how we are’ could be dismissed as flippant, when it comes to leadership, understanding our personal approach can be invaluable. If you asked people around you ‘what sort of leader do you think you are?’ they would most likely answer in the singular ‘I lead by example,’ ‘I build relationships with people,’ or ‘I don't tolerate underperformance’. They are unlikely to say ‘I do this here, and that on other occasions’ yet the most effective leaders are those who attune to their context, consciously adapt their practice and have an awareness of how their own style effects others. This article introduces the different theories and styles of leadership and how they can be used to create positive work climates. The key terms are given in table 1 .

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Evolution of leadership theory and understanding of style

A desire to understand what makes a successful leader is not new. For centuries there has been debate about what differentiated leaders from non-leaders, and leaders from followers. In a comprehensive review of leadership theories by Stogdill, 1 a number of categories were identified and in the 80+ years since Lewin et al 2 published their theory on patterns of behaviour in 1939, we have seen an evolution from trying to identify ‘common traits’ based on inherent characteristics of ‘great men and women’ through to the what we now understand to be the successful combination of person, place and approach. Looking further into this evolution, although this is not a comprehensive list, it is possible to group the stages of development as follows:

Trait theory—for example as seen in the work of Carlyle 3 and Stodgill 1 is concerned with the type of person that makes a good leader and the innate qualities and associated leadership traits they have. A meta-study by the Centre for Excellence in Management and Leadership 4 identified over 1000 leadership traits in the literature, which they distilled to 83 more or less distinct attributes. While no specific trait or combination was found to guarantee success, trait theory did help in identifying qualities that are helpful when leading others such as integrity and empathy.

Later, behavioural theory identified what good leaders do—effectively how they ‘lead well’. Examples include the Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum 5 —seven stages of reducing control namely Tells, Sells, Suggests, Consults, Joins, Delegates and Abdicates; the Action-Centred Leadership Model of Adair 6 which sets out the three responsibilities of the leader—‘achieving the task, managing the team and managing individuals’ and the Blake Mouton Managerial Grid 7 also referred to as ‘The Power to Change’ which outlines two behavioural dimensions: Concern for Results and Concern for People.

Situational and contingency theory: looks at the leader in the context of where they lead. By considering how the leader’s success is directly influenced by their environment, it became possible to identify the conditions that support or constrain leaders as seen in work including Feidler 8 Vroom and Yetton 9 Yukl 10 ; Hersey and Blanchard 11 ; Thompson and Vecchio. 12

Transactional theories—as seen in the work of Weber 13 and later by Bass, 14 focuses on the leader getting results by using process and structures while applying reward and penalty in response. Within this are power and influence theory, exchange and path-goal theory by House 15 16 which concentrate on the relationship between leader and led as a series of trades or ‘leader-member exchanges’.

In more recent years, while the transactional and positive view of hero leadership has never entirely gone away, the notion of ‘Hero to Host’ 17 which describes the move to transformational and ‘new wave’ styles outlined by Burns 18 Bass 14 and Kouzes and Posner 19 among others. Transformational leadership not only serves to enhance the motivation, morale, satisfaction and performance of followers, but also sees the leader role model compassionate and inclusive behaviours, which are valued. In ‘Good to Great’ by Collins, 20 the Level 5 leader is described as possessing both indomitable will, but also humility and is often self effacing and shy, the opposite of what we might have previously described as leadership traits!

Relevance for leaders

Every day, leaders in healthcare must constantly analyse complex situations, engage, motivate, empower and delegate. Many leaders now operate within complex adaptive systems—organisations that are an interconnected whole of many parts, which may and may not function effectively together depending on changing circumstances. This calls for leadership skills and behaviours that can move between each required activity with seemingly effortless ease and without loss of effectiveness.

Having an appreciation of different theories and styles also helps us identify our reaction to these changing situations. In considering the global COVID-19 pandemic, the leadership behaviours required, and experienced, may be different to anything encountered before. The effect of leadership in this situation is profound and will have a lasting impact. Displaying command behaviours may be necessary but uncomfortable, while teams may not be used to being directed with minimal consultation. Sustained pressure may have a negative effect, but it does not follow that leadership behaviours slide into being disrespectful or non-inclusive—it is about the leaders focusing on the task and ensuring individuals and teams are clearly instructed on the part they have to play; consulted where possible and informed of when and when they need to do as instructed.

However, knowing about ‘how we are’ is only part of the picture, equally important is understanding the effect we have on other. Goleman 21 found that the one of the biggest mistakes leaders make was to default to a style of personal choice rather than responding with the most appropriate in the situation, while Blanchard 22 suggests that 54% of leaders only ever apply one preferred leadership style regardless of the situation. The result is that almost half of the time, leaders are using the wrong style to meet their current objective or lead the people around them well.

The danger here is trying to be the most popular leader and everyone’s favourite, rather than developing an authentic repertoire of skills. If you have never considered your leadership style or the types of leadership behaviours you have there are a number of tools to help such as the National health Service Healthcare Leadership Model. Based on research of the behaviours of effective leaders, Storey and Holti 23 defined nine domains (Inspiring shared purpose: leading with care: evaluating information: connecting our service: sharing the vision: engaging the team: holding to account: developing capability and influencing for results) against which can leaders can self assess and gain pointers on how to strengthen their style.

Relevance for the work environment

Research by KornFerry Hay Group 24 shows an up to 70% of variance in climate and an up to 30% increase business performance can be directly attributable to the climate leaders create through their style of leadership. This includes feeling included, supported and having a role that is meaningful. To help leaders create a positive climate, Goleman 21 defined six leadership styles—see table 2 —which he then correlated with the type of climate each created for those around them. Those able to deploy the styles in the left column have been shown to create high performing teams in positive climates.

Leadership Styles and the climate they support (adapted from Goleman 21 )

These are not the only leadership styles: others include Autocratic leadership where leaders/managers make the decisions and employees follow orders as previously stated; laissez-faire leadership where the manager empowers employees but gives them few rules to follow with little oversight or direction: bureaucratic leadership where hierarchies and job titles to determine responsibilities and rules and servant leadership which focuses on the needs of employees, seeing them as the organisation’s most important resources and often treating them as clients, but only the six here were included by Goleman.

The effects of the leadership styles displayed and the effects they have on the climate within organisations has far reaching impact for team members. The ability to flex your leadership style and create a positive climate has been shown to create greater job satisfaction and pride in work, greater collaboration and creativity. Having an awareness of the effects of personal style, is therefore an essential part of a leaders toolkit and something every leader should have awareness of

In practice

Delivering health and care is highly complex and effective leadership calls for a match of style and approach to context and presenting challenge. Leadership styles is not a neat category of things, the increasingly interconnected world with ever-evolving technology has dictated a need for leaders who can adapt effortlessly as the situation dictates. Daniel Goleman 21 likens leading to being a golfer—one game but choosing the right club, at the right moment, for the next shot. Lets think about what this could look like: again, thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic the deteriorating clinical condition requires a leader who draws on all their experience, interprets the situation, takes control and ‘tells’ in order to get the best outcome for the patient—transactional and it’s wholly appropriate. At other times, that same leader will need to take time to build relationships and coach others in order to give the best care possible.

We all have a natural tendency towards our preferred style and when under pressure, there is evidence that we ‘revert to type’, relying on the most comfortable part of our personality to see us though. Unfortunately this means using fewer of the leadership skills that usually provide balance. Skilful, mature leadership is about leading ourselves as much as leading others. This level of understanding our style helps us recognise triggers that support adopting the right style for the given situation.

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Different situations require different leadership style and each style can be considered a tool in itself. How we lead needs to be a combination of concern for the task in hand and also the people undertaking it, as both individuals and collectively as teams. We have looked briefly at small number of the plethora theories and styles that can help us understand how we lead. Leaders who understand themselves and can move effortlessly between a range of styles in response to changing situations have been found to have more positive outcomes for their teams and patients.

• Stogdill RM
• Lippitt R ,
• Carlyle T ,
• Tannenbaum R ,
• Blanchard K
• Thompson G ,
• Wheatley M ,
• KornFerry Hay Group
• Newstrom JW ,
• Griffin MA ,

Twitter @clarepricedowd

Contributors CFJP-D completed all part of this paper:

Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interests None declared.

Patient consent for publication Not required.

Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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Leadership Reflection Essay Examples

Self reflection leadership essay example, reflections on leadership, introduction.

When we talk about leadership, it’s not something that is practiced in the workplace but in fact it is in every little thing that exists around us. The phenomenon comes handy in any situation where a leader steps in and takes control. The place doesn’t matter; it could be your home, your office or any public place.

For those who think leaders are born, let me correct, leaders are made, with the ability and the credibility that people put their trust into. In this leadership reflection essay example I will be discussing my leadership strengths and the areas for improvement and growth.

Over the years, I have had the privilege of observing the concept of leadership in different contexts, which made me understand the traits that an effective leader requires. In this reflection essay I will be sharing my learnings and viewpoints on leadership drawn from observations and personal experiences.

Understanding the Nature of Leadership

As mentioned in the beginning of this reflection on leadership essay, leadership is not about imposing power over others. Practically, leadership is a complex blend of character, skill set and decisions that steer people towards one single goal.

Leadership is all about inspiring and influencing individuals that motivate them to complete certain tasks or achieve goals instead of coercing them. In my experience, leadership is a continuous journey to self discovery, its perseverance towards continuous learning and personal growth.

The Role of Vision

One of the most important aspects of leadership is to be clear about your vision and mission. The leader must thoughtfully come up with a vision that is in sync with goals of the team and the organization. If curated carefully, this vision acts as a guiding light towards a shared goal and purpose.

In my experience over the years I have witnessed leaders who have a focused vision are able to inspire others to follow their steps that ultimately lead to success.

Effective Communication and Empathy

To put your viewpoint across, effective communication is key especially when you are leading a team. The role of a leader demands clear communication of the vision, expectations and objectives so that he is able to be persuasive accordingly.

Many fail to understand that listening is equally important as communicating. It is extremely crucial for the leader to listen empathetically and comprehend so that he/she is able to address the concerns of the team.

During my learning experience in the role of a leader I found that when you listen to your team, and you are empathetic to their concerns you build trust, collaboration and people have a sense of belonging.

The Ability to Adapt and Resilience

Leadership is a concept that is variable and fits each to its own, there is no one leadership style that can be used for all. I can tell from experience that the role of a leader is quite challenging, where he has to face uncertainty, adapt to different situations and show resilience.

A good leader is the one who is flexible enough to steer through challenges, learn from the setbacks and have an optimistic approach towards inspiring teams. The ones who persevere through such challenges are able to pull through difficult times. So that makes flexibility, resilience and openness to new ideas as important qualities of a leader.

A Leader Show Lead by Example

The most important trait of a leader is to lead by example. Their role demands to practice the same values, attitudes and behavior that they expect from their team. This way, they lead by example and build trust and authenticity. Below mentioned are 7 ways you can lead by example:

• Polish Your Leadership Skills – One of the best ways to lead by example is by getting training and learning how to build your skills and mindset accordingly.
• Handle Conflict in a Constructive Manner – You cannot expect your team to handle conflicts if you are unable to do so yourself. Learn to address conflicts in a calm and productive way.
• Communicate Kindly and Respectfully: A conflict can only be managed well if the tone is respectful and kind, reflecting that you care about your team.
• Revert After Failure: Failure is natural in a business or personal life that can take place anytime a decision is made or risk is taken.
• Practice Ethical Leadership: Never let moral values like honesty, transparency, integrity, respect and fairness leave your side.
• Embrace Diversity: Create policies and procedures that make employees feel comfortable and welcomed. Keep an open mind and encourage different viewpoints.
• Take Care of Your Well-Being: If you are unwell, it would be difficult to lead the team in compromised health.

To sum it all, leadership is a continuous journey that continues for life. My reflections on these leadership reflective essay examples have led me to understand the complexity and depth of how this concept works.

Leadership is a lifelong journey, and my reflections on this subject have led me to appreciate its depth and complexity. It is not a destination but a continuous process of growth and self-improvement. Effective leaders are not born; they are made through experiences, self-awareness, and a commitment to keep inspiring and empower others.

As I move forward on this journey, I have learned to evolve as a leader. These reflections would work as a guidance manual. So far, I have learned that leadership is not a title or an authoritative state, it’s how we affect others lives in a positive manner.

Beyond a role, this is a great responsibility that I carry with great enthusiasm and strive to make a positive difference in the lives of people surrounding me.

It is a responsibility that I embrace with humility and enthusiasm, driven by a desire to make a positive difference in the world around me.

• https://www.betterup.com/blog/leading-by-example
• https://www.ipl.org/essay/Reflection-Paper-On-Leadership-PKERL7HESCFR  

Leadership Style Reflective Essay Example

Reflecting on leadership styles.

Usually, when one is integrating effective leadership styles into routine practice, there is a need to self-reflect to know your standing and then trying out different approaches to see which one clicks. But at the base, in this reflection on leadership essay I can confidently share that leadership is a concept that one can only develop through time and with continuous development.

In this leadership reflection essay example , I plan to explore the concept with a wideview and walk you through different leadership styles and share how they have impacted my growth and improved me as a leader.

Autocratic Leadership

During the initial phase of my career I realized I was more inclined towards the autocratic leadership style. Since it was so early in my career, I was of the view that being authoritative and decisive is what shapes up a good leader. Most of the time I would find myself making important decisions without keeping my team in the loop or seeking to ask for their advice.

As amazingly effective this authoritative leadership style was in numerous situations, I soon realized its limitations. It tampered with creativity, isolated my team and created an unwelcoming environment where open communication was discouraged because there was only one person in charge.

When I reflected on this style I realized that no matter how important quick decision making was in certain situations, it’s equally important to involve your team in the decision making process. This not only gets you to get creative ideas and different perspectives but also makes the team involved and gives them a sense of ownership.

Democratic Leadership

Once I realized that I need to include my team and give them a sense of ownership, I transitioned towards a more inclusive approach, the democratic leadership style. My team was very happy with this approach since they were more involved, and encouraged collaboration. I started getting some amazing ideas from my team and they too got comfortable in sharing their perspective.

While this leadership style empowered my team and promoted creativity, it had its own set of challenges. It would take a lot of time to reach a consensus and hence delay the decision making process slower. Also, it was difficult to reach a consensus everytime, with so many different perspectives.

So finally I realized that a democratic approach is viable only when you have sufficient time for the discussion and the team is equipped with the relevant expertise. It was necessary that a balance was achieved when it came to making the decisions in a timely manner and involving the team.

Transformational Leadership

My journey as a leader has been a great learning experience and I took each of the lessons to bring about a positive change. As I continued further on my journey of refining my skills, transformational leadership style caught my attention. This style is inclined towards motivating and inspiring individuals so that they can explore their full potential and achieve their best.

This approach included setting up a vision that was compelling to foster innovation and strive for personal growth. The biggest trait of transformational leaders is that they lead by example and bring about a positive change in the work environment where everyone works with full zeal.

When I started practicing this leadership style I found out that it encouraged both personal and professional development amongst the members of the team. But it’s not simple as it sounds, it requires full commitment to the vision and a high level of emotional intelligence to regulate your feelings and connect with people on a personal level.

Servant Leadership

My yearning to be a holistic leader brought me to a phase in my journey where I got an opportunity to explore servant leadership. With this style, you prioritize others’ needs over your own, reflecting an empathetic nature and practicing selflessness and humility. This style demands an active listening ear so that you as a leader are able to understand their concerns, address them and provide support accordingly.

I realized that servant leadership helped me create an impact on the team where I was able to build trust and build strong relationships with my team. Also, putting your team’s needs ahead of your own is something that requires a strong will power and a lot of patience.

To conclude, my leadership journey has been very explorational in nature where I got the opportunity to learn and experiment with my leadership styles, not once but several times. Along with highlighting my strengths and weaknesses in the leadership reflective essay examples in the initial phase of my journey I got to learn, unlearn and relearn a lot of things.

I got clarity that when it comes to leadership, there is no one size that fits all, it is multifaceted. In order to practice an effective leadership style it is important that the leader is flexible and can adapt to different styles according to different situations and different teams.

Furthermore, as I look back and reflect on my past experiences, I am looking forward to polishing my leadership skills and styles all the while seeking opportunities for growth and advancement. Also, I will try to integrate the best of the learnings on my style that I have come across so far.

I strive to be a leader who is quick to think on his feet and is able to make instant decisions. Also, I want to inspire and motivate individuals with my transformational approach and practicing servant leadership. I aim to be empathetic enough that I keep the needs of others above myself.

Eventually, leadership is a dynamic and overwhelming journey that leads to self discovery, growth, and persistent improvement.

Izzah Ahmed

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Home > Books > Contemporary Leadership Challenges

Reflective Leadership: Learning to Manage and Lead Human Organizations

Submitted: 02 July 2016 Reviewed: 20 July 2016 Published: 01 February 2017

DOI: 10.5772/64968

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Contemporary Leadership Challenges

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This chapter mainly focuses on the concept of reflection as a process, both individual and collaborative, involving experience and uncertainty under the theme of reflective leadership. This type of leadership basically means learning to manage and lead human organizations. It originates from the concept of reflection defining leadership roles and responsibilities in all types of organizations. Focusing on reflection for learning in an effort to create reflective learning communities for all stakeholders taking part in both administrative and executive positions in organizations, this chapter is expected to contribute to leadership theories, to link theory and practice in concrete terms describing new leadership roles and responsibilities under the reflective thought considering its unique impact on organizational functioning.

• reflective practice
• organizations
• reflective learning

Author Information

Süleyman davut göker *.

• Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education, Artvin Çoruh University, Turkey

Kıvanç Bozkuş

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

In the literature, leadership is defined by many theories that try to explain what leadership is, in terms of different standpoints. However, the real world is very complicated that cannot be prescribed in some given patterns. This is the very first fact that leaders realize once they enter into professional practice. This is when prescribed theories do not meet the requirements of real practice. How can leaders be effective in an environment that is so distinct from those portrayed on paper? The answer is the grail that many if not all practising leaders had committed him-/herself to following of it. Reflective leadership goes to bat for anyone in the realm of leadership which is not mapped yet.

We start to explore reflective leadership by discussing what reflection is and then its role in creating reflective learning communities in organizations. The route to leadership through reflective thinking is the next topic we will address. Finally, we conclude with reflective practice which is the essence of reflective leadership and its models of implementation.

2. Reflection

Reflection is not only a personal process but also a collaborative one, which involves uncertainty along with experience, and consists of specifying inquiries and essential components of a thing that came out as important, later taking a person’s thoughts into dialogue with himself or herself and with other people. Individuals evaluate insights developed from that process in regard to additional perspectives, values, experiences, beliefs and the larger context within which the questions are raised. Through reflection, new-found clarity to base changes in action or disposition is achieved. New questions naturally arise, and the process spirals onwards [ 1 ].

Within this context, we argue that reflection is a vital component of leaders’ daily life, not a detached or disconnected action but primal, promoted by the culture and structures of an organization, which affects choices, policies and decisions together with the emotions and politics related to them. Considered from this angle, to be reflective should not be considered as a method, which has been acquired and occasionally used, but an inherent component of what to manage or lead means.

2.1. Dewey: father of reflection

Thinking includes all of these steps, - the sense of a problem, the observation of conditions, the formation and rational elaboration of a suggested conclusion, and the active experimental testing. [ 2 ]

For him, reflection is a deliberate and cognitive process triggered by a state of doubt, mental difficulty and hesitation. He sees reflection as a process of researching, clarifying and finding the right way that eliminates the doubt and difficulties. The mental process of reflection is activated by a problem, unstructured ideas and complicated situations to find a solution.

Forestalling something of the spirit of the progresses we maintain in this chapter, Dewey conceptualized this aspect of learning as more important than a problem-solving process. Dewey’s vision was of an educational process which had reflection and action linked at its core and was the means by which individuals gained ‘a personal interest in social relationships and control’—a platform for social change to a more democratic social order and preparation for membership of it [ 2 ].

2.2. Schön: reflection in action

Schön sees reflection as closely related to action and personal experience. The reflective practitioner engages in thinking along with the effect of action. Thus, Schön classified reflection into two types: reflection in action and reflection on action. Reflection in action is conscious thinking and modification while on the job [ 3 ]. The reflective practitioner immediately reflects on the action upon confronting it. Reflection on action is the reflection done after experiencing the action. The practitioner evaluates to understand whether the activity was successful or not by making judgements.

On-the-spot surfacing, criticizing, restructuring, and testing of intuitive understanding of experienced phenomena; often it takes the form of a reflective conversation with the situation. [ 4 ]

… on the feeling for a situation which has led him to adopt a particular course of action, on the way he has framed the problem he is trying to solve, or on the role he has constructed for himself within a larger institutional ‘context.’ [ 4 ]

As discussed above, this included ‘reflection on action’ and ‘reflection in action’ in practical terms. Human beings always tend to take shelter in experienced and accustomed forms of working and in practised processes or similar methods. That is to say, all endeavours to see the unknown in everyday life let people confront routines and connections and to alter those sides of working thought and practice taken for granted. For example, the capacity to make use of certain images, emotions, metaphors, to engage both rationally and aesthetically and to look at relational dynamics considering settings allows for the production of discrete styles of practising and thinking.

2.3. Reflection for learning: creating reflective learning communities in organizations

Ultimately, the outcome of reflection is learning [ 6 ]. It widens our perspective on a problem (broadens knowledge). It helps us develop strategies for dealing with it (develop skills). It helps us acquire new insights into our behaviour (changes attitudes).

Learning is not an individual behavioural attribute or capability but a ‘double-loop’ cognitive learning process that can be shared, and if everyone can participate in shared learning, then, in principle, everyone is capable of leading [ 7 ]. Within this context, the learning organization assures whatever the classical human-centred view about learning treasured at all times that commitment to learning will rescue us from obedience in blind authority in the end.

Even though learning itself as an action could seem self-evident, it is concerned with many issues in determining in what ways learning individually could be ‘effective’ or ‘rational’ against ‘self-deception’ and ‘defence reasoning’ [ 8 ]. As the difference between reflexivity and learning is hard to understand, in all attempts to understand that difference, reflexivity in the organizational development tradition has often been problematic [ 4 , 9 , 10 ]. The question is so clear: is it a neutral and instrumental expression of expert knowledge and control, or is it a methodology of feedback and diagnostic practice that pursues to develop really inclusive forms of distributed knowledge and learning [ 11 ]. The former position treats self-reflection as ‘I think’, whereas the latter tends to treat it as an expression of ‘I do’ [ 12 – 14 ]. What can be said here is that these two conflicting positions usually finish up as remedial approaches to learning. Learning could be thought as a deliberate way of ‘reflexive thinking’, allowing us to keep our distance from existent actions or behaviours and alter them. In contrast, learning as doing is bound by pre-reflective practices, so it is difficult to retrospectively translate or transmit learning or knowing in practice into intentional actions designed to change behaviour [ 13 ].

Leading for learning is an essential aim in creating reflective learning communities, which aim to create strong and fair opportunities of learning for all in an organization and encourage them to benefit from these opportunities. Leaders can accomplish this by committing themselves to the following areas of action: establishing a focus on learning, building professional communities that value learning, engaging external environments that matter for learning, acting strategically and creating coherence [ 15 , 16 ]. The perception suggested centres on supplying each learner, no matter what problems they confront, the ways to overcome intriguing skills and to advance habits of mind for additional and autonomous learning.

‘Let’s try it out and see how it works’ is an active learner’s phrase; ‘Let’s think it through first’ is the reflective learner’s response in a reflective learning community [ 17 ]. Leaders’ learning incorporates skills, the knowledge and standpoints, which they obtain while getting ready for and regenerating their practice. Interacting with other professionals who offer moral support, critique, ideas and inspiration for the renewal process will also promote opportunities for effective professional development.

Nearly all managers wish to create more powerful and equitable learning opportunities when they are given time to reflect. Nevertheless, their abilities depend on how they perceive the existent and prospective links between learning and leading in their own context. Managers can use reflective tools like optimizing video as a self-assessment tool, strengthening electronic portfolios with reflective journal writing, making use of associated resources on the Internet, taking advantage of on-line peer mentoring and stimulating reflection via learning communities as part of professional development.

Creating such a reflective learning community requires building professional communities that value learning, acting strategically and sharing leadership and engaging external environments that matter for learning. This type of reflective learning also fosters system learning, in which opportunities come up by means of evaluation of policies, programmes and resource use, strategic planning endeavours, action research focused on system-wide issues and application of indicators to measure progress towards goals defined. Leaders will be able to support system learning through inquiry into how an organization performs.

2.4. The route to leadership through reflective thinking

Reflective thinking is not only an internal process but an external one promoting improved critical thinking skills together with self-understanding as an essential way of inner work which emerges in the energy for employing in outer work. This type of thinking is required for understanding what it means to be significant for oneself and in one’s organization or practice. Being aware of one’s thinking is essential to make informed and logical decisions while working with others. In other words, taking to heart the feelings, thoughts and behaviours of other people also eases improvement in accomplishing organizational and professional objectives. In this chapter, we keep focusing on becoming a reflective thinker as a means to becoming a reflective leader. Therefore, we believe that managers can raise their awareness on their potential capacity for leadership.

Reflective leaders regard learning as a lifelong process, and they tend to equilibrate the practice ‘telling’ with ‘asking’ and frequently depend on the collective intelligence capacity of the teams formed in their organizations. Rather than being ‘in judgement’, these leaders ‘use judgement’ in handing down significant decisions. They regularly tend to step out of their routine and accustomed settings to think, explore and learn. Because the business environment has grown more complex, volatile and fast paced, leaders are more and more willing to adopt a ‘bias for action’, but effective leaders reflect on their past experiences and search for relevant, different insights before decision-making process.

What have I learnt?

What were my feelings and thoughts as it was happening?

How could I explain my experience?

How could I make use of learning for my future actions?

What is your opinion of way I felt and acted?

How have I reacted and behaved?

Based on the answers to the questions asked above, reflective leadership can be considered as a way of approaching the work of being a leader by leading one’s life with presence and personal mastery. In other words, it requires learning to be present, to be aware and attentive to our experience with people in our daily life, and it regards leadership from the standpoint of human experience. Taking the science of phenomenology into consideration, self-awareness and reflection on one’s own experience together with the experience of other people are the starting point for the process of reflective leadership, which ultimately aim to achieve improved communication changing leadership practice.

We have developed further questions and possible responses to encourage managers to become reflective leaders. Through these six questions and responses, we aim to create awareness on how to become a reflective leader in practice:

2.4.1. In what ways can reflection evoke my self-interests?

People’s self-interests can be met if they reflect on how their work has affected their learning and lives. These effects entail their progress and apprehension in some fields like career search, development of leadership, social justice, civic responsibility and consciousness, intellectual interests and self-actualization. People tend to concentrate on self-learning on particular occasions. They also consider issues related to career search when they finish university. For example, people remember their civic responsibilities only when they vote. The forms of reflection we have been discussing are drawn up to link people’s work experiences to personal development.

2.4.2. How should I proceed to be a reflective thinker?

A reflective thinking model illustrating the process of reflective thinking was developed by Taggart and Wilson [ 18 ]. To identify a problem, dilemma or challenge could be one of the initial efforts. As the next step, you should draw back from the problem concerned for a while and use an outsider perspective to re-evaluate that problem. Within this process you can employ ways of observation, data collection and reflection. They will help you obtain a cognitive picture about the way you think for the sake of defining the setting of that circumstance. This position may be integrated with a similar event in the past to lead you to get probable ways to attempt to solve the problem. You should ask a question at this stage: How have I dealt with the almost identical situation in the past and what makes the present situation different from the one in the past? You will naturally remember your experiences and make predictions and create different approaches. Doing so, you will also have tested the approaches used systematically. Finally, you will review the actions you have taken together with the consequences, and that process will provide you with a new opportunity to reframe the situation concerned.

2.4.3. What do I understand by reflective leadership?

As discussed earlier, a dedication to the continuous process of maintained critical self-awareness and development is essential in reflective leadership. How can you do that? If you are determined to become a reflective leader, you should exchange reflective thoughts of yours with those of others establishing new relationships and ask them to see the situation. We tend to make use of feelings that we highly value, let ourselves experience them and pass along them whenever available. This sort of approach, which is genuine, will certainly give us a space where we will be able to value the contributions of others. This is how we support other people by means of our own reflective practice.

Learning from others basically requires listening to them within the framework of reflective leadership, which will require receptivity to other people. Listening attentively is both an art and a skill to be practised. Effective leaders must listen to cases and stories from all workers to reflect on in what ways they could enrich and change practices. Within this context, those stories providing data about what does work or what does not will tell us to look for significance. Any discussion and reflection on those stories will enrich, change and provide us with opportunities to install any possible changes into practice.

2.4.4. What types of strategies, resources and tools do I need to be more reflective and self-aware?

Awareness is created through communication. To achieve a high level of communication, awareness on what you have been thinking is necessary. In other words, it will enable you a tool to discover yourself and become more self-aware. To do so, any sort of conflict should be seen as an opportunity to understand more of your true self as well as other people. The questions and answers to what you are sensing, thinking, feeling and willing or not willing to do will take time to get. So, you should go on asking them till you could past strong emotions like resentment and anger, because those emotions play a key role in guiding you to what you have been thinking. After reflecting on genuine answers, you can share them with other people directly. Whatever language you use in answering to those questions will encourage ownership, thus enhancing connection. Through this process, you could get a tool to monitor your awareness, expand your opinions and listen to others attentively to resolve problem.

Another efficient approach to work with other people effectively is to be aware of your natural talents. This is something to do with exploration of your strengths. Identifying your talents will naturally provide you with many strategies to build them into your strengths. Knowing what gifts and talents you possess will help you see your weaknesses and align your goals and job with your own talents.

2.4.5. In what ways do reflective leaders affect leadership practice positively and create reflective leaders to be?

Reflective thinking lets you both share your concerns and reveal the concealed issues for you and other people concerned. This process will create an opportunity for you and other people to reflect on your and their point of view, thus providing a sort of catharsis. Doing so will help you develop a wider viewpoint, a new appreciation for everybody and deeper understanding.

As reflective practice is seen as a transformative process, you and the other people around could proceed in a more interconnected way. So, you could define common objectives and goals together with guidelines to avoid possible conflicts in the future. In creating open channels of communication, this environment will bring informal and regular meetings to allow reflective practices supporting reflective leadership. These types of meetings are highly valued by reflective leaders as they see them as productive environments to provide collaborative work supporting the greater sense of collegiality.

Being open and letting testing of propositions and inquiring about one’s strength are another significant task for reflective leaders. It could be necessary for you to face problems like defensiveness of yours and that of other people and the inefficiency of your team for the sake of ensuring the impact of approach you use. So, a reflective learning community, in which reflection is an ideal way of support and learning, should be created by reflective leaders. In such a community, you provide a safe environment for self-expression, identify objectives, give feedback and stimulate self-observation. In defining the strengths of the individuals, you offer other people optional approaches to be successful in their work.

2.4.6. Which leadership processes enhance reflective leaders’ powers and achieve success in other people?

First of all, peer reflection, which helps question assumptions, is one of the main means for reflective leaders to carry out with other reflective leaders. Peers are of paramount importance in clarifying our values. This process helps us build our and peers’ strengths, compensate weaknesses and search for better problem-solving approaches [ 19 ].

To be able to achieve the task, effective leaders should form and maintain the teams in developing individuals. The aspirations can best be achieved if leaders can function in a collegial and collaborative ways by means of reflective practices, which initiate the process of perspective transformation. In other words, reflective leadership is considered to be transformative as long as it builds success in other people by reducing barriers while implementing leadership behaviours. Barriers, to a certain extent, are determined by means of reflection. They are regarded to be intrinsic to our human ego—strivings to achieve, to manage our situation and to compensate for our lack of confidence. The barriers can be reduced by deliberately reacting to what challenges us as a leader under different circumstances. Reflective leaders do that by having a deeper awareness of what sort of leader he/she wished to be, what sort human being is required and what sort of legacy is left by them. These choices direct leaders in how they take up daily leadership. That is to say that the way how leaders go about their day will determine ultimately whether they feel successful and rest with integrity and peace of mind or not.

The rapid rate of changes in our age seems to be one of the biggest demands for leaders. The other striking demand is the need for new frameworks for leadership skills. Leaders can cope with those challenges as long as they can bring each individual to the table to model the future with strong collective dialogues and cooperative actions. Among the other reflective leadership skills, they should be able to manage conflicts, model an adaptive capacity and be efficient in establishing and maintaining relationships. As they are expected to be the cocreators of change, they should accept that any individual or circumstance cannot move out their individual peace or competency. Viewed in this light, they should be able to communicate those feelings to other people in a way that will encourage and enable them to clasp the future and partake in its formation. Ultimately, they should be able to act as a model for other people in their exploration of the value and meaning of whatever they do. They can exhibit behaviours of personal growth and self-awareness if they have a commitment to the ongoing reflective practice.

To conclude, being a reflective leader is initiated through reflective practice. You can begin by being more fully present in every task in your daily life. This requires attending to verbal and nonverbal communication in your interaction with others, often inquiring and clearing up worries and being an attentive listener. You should further take your own experience into consideration together with the experience of other people and each assumption before making decisions. Only after these reflective practices can you establish a sense of mutual respect and sound relationships and see that other people are drawn to you and search for your compassionate consideration about any problem encountered. This transformative process followed will make advance on the way to becoming a reflective leader.

3. Reflective practice

Managers and leaders focus upon events through an intellectual exercise in order to determine in what ways individual assumptions and beliefs together with their experiences and background impact organizational functioning. This is what we call reflective practice that inculcates the intellectual discipline needed to discern ‘what is’ in practice episodes as well as to engage in the self-growth necessary if one is to manage and lead others.

The success of reflective practice depends on learning. For reflective leaders, doing immerses learning. Being aware of what we have been doing does not always create learning as it is a purposeful endeavour. Approached from this angle, realizing the required role of reflection in taking out learning from experience and being aware of the essential principles of a reflective practice will let leaders begin to act on the conception that knowledge is planted in their experience and understand the significance of that knowledge in fostering their practice.

Through learning from experience, reflective practice aims to create a structure, habit or routine. So, a reflective practice can differentiate with regard to how much, how often and why reflection is carried out. Carrying out a reflective practice requires not only clearing the aims it needs to serve but also creating opportunities to install reflection into our activity that are down to earth and yet come about at the right intervals and with adequate depth to be meaningful. However, it is structured; sustaining a reflective practice will transform the probability of learning from our practice into an actuality.

Sergiovanni [ 20 ] classifies three distinct knowledge of leadership conceptions regarding the relationship between theory and practice: (1) there is no relation, (2) theory is superordinate to practice, and (3) practice is superordinate to theory (p. 7). People who adopt the first conception believe that professional practice in leadership relies solely on intuitive feelings disconnected from theory and research. People who put special emphasis on theory feel that leadership is an ‘applied science’ which can be prescribed by theoretical concepts, strategies and depictions. Believers of the last conception see leadership as a ‘craft-like science’ consisting of reflective practice not prescribed but informed by theory.

Since the first conception claims no relation between theory and practice, implication of leadership as no science makes no sense to many, and thus it did not find enough grounds to permeate. Unlikely, the theory-oriented conception of leadership as an applied science pervades throughout the literature on leadership. Its clear-cut linear fashion simplifies every decision to be made into steps and processes predefined in literature. When one has to end organizational conflicts, then there are models of conflict management. When some important decisions have to be made, there are decision-making processes that explain every step in detail. This tool-based approach to leadership has long lived for its feasibility, but when it was realized that the real life is more complicated that it cannot be predetermined to a degree which enables theory to make tools for every situation in leadership, then reflective practice seemed a more realistic way of generating professional knowledge that is different from scientific knowledge. It is different because professionals create it by crafting their intuitions once they encounter situations not defined by scientific knowledge unlike ones in applied science conception. Thus, the craft-like science conception distinguishes professional knowledge from scientific knowledge; the former is created on demand, while the latter is predetermined as a contingency. Reflective practice is about professional knowledge creation by ‘deciding what to do. What purposes should be pursued? What strategies and practice should be used? What should be emphasized and when? In what ways should resources be deployed? How will we know we are on track, and so on’ [ 20 ].

Another distinction implicit in our understanding is that scientific knowledge is prescribed by theory, while professional knowledge is informed by theory. It is informed by interacting elements of reflective practice: practice episodes, theories of practice and antecedents (p. 15). Practice episodes consist of intentions, actions and realities. Leader’s priorities, preferences, strategies and decisions determine his or her intentions that impel actions in the form of leadership and management tactics and behaviours. After actions are performed, realities occur as results, outcomes and consequences. The realities further affect intentions and then actions in a loop which never ends ( Figure 1 ). This infinite loop of practice episodes affects and is affected by theories of practice and leadership antecedents. Theories of practice are mental scenes of a leader’s beliefs and assumptions about how things work in the real world. These are greatly affected by leadership antecedents especially by the theoretical knowledge antecedent. These mental images perform as mindscapes that govern leadership actions both consciously and unconsciously. ‘A reflective mindscape is a perspective in which purposeful activity…is always subject to disciplined examination and re-examination using whatever resources are helpful’ [ 21 ]. Theories of practice may arise from social interactions between leader and others or even from myths on how organizations work. ‘The bundles of beliefs and assumptions about how organizations work, the role of power, authority, management, and leadership, the organization’s purposes, the role of competition, and the nature of human nature’ may evolve into theories [ 20 ]. Workplace is where leaders can best learn about their theories of practice. Therefore, a detailed explanation of these implicit theories cannot be made.

Figure 1.

Elements of reflective practice [ 20 ].

At this point, we will focus on five key leadership antecedents, which play an essential key role in understanding the reflective practice. They are cultural milieu, theoretical knowledge, craft knowledge, self-knowledge and critical knowledge.

3.1. Cultural milieu

As reflective practice is expected to be contextualized in work, it should not be considered separately from the cultural milieu together with the setting and purposes of organization. The cultural milieu includes the elements of educational background, social background, religious background, economic background and historical background, which plays a key role in shaping in what ways a person sees and interprets the outer world. This means that reflective practices will differentiate from individual to individual and from organization to organization and that companies will form different reflective practices that emerge from and further inform their backgrounds mentioned above.

On the other hand, reflective practice can occur through a visioning process or a bigger process of culture change or organizational change. Tucker and Russell [ 22 ] concluded that transformational leaders can have a major influence on organizational culture and change. As culture is a medium by means of which leadership travels and affects performance of the organization, reflective leaders play a key role in transmitting the culture that they believe will most augment organizational functioning.

3.2. Theoretical knowledge

The second antecedent of leadership is the theoretical knowledge, which consists of technical, cognitive and rational knowledge. It means that theoretical knowledge is factual in nature, based in scientific rationality. Reflective approach to leadership is important to the integration of theoretical knowledge, skill development and individualized contexts. The learning organization was often based on a systems theory that handled practice as a result of theoretical knowledge [ 23 ]. Professional learning communities, the name given to leaders’ collaborative professional learning, have become so overused that the term’s meaning is often lost. Only when leaders reflect on their practice based on their theoretical knowledge, consider the impact leadership has on workers and implement insights gained from a meeting to improve their leadership performance can this process be called a professional learning community.

3.3. Craft knowledge

Craft knowledge is believed to be implicit in practitioner; it provides the ‘feel for’ what one does [ 24 ] and manifests itself in the refined ability to interpret what is and to discern what ought to be and what one should do to get there. According to Kluge [ 25 ], knowledge management shows unique leadership challenges. ‘From a leadership perspective, knowledge management has been viewed more like a craft and less like a science. Because of the very nature of knowledge, it is difficult for managers to predict what measures can really improve performance, and how to encourage and guide knowledge flows within an organization’ [ 25 ]. The leaders, according to them, should presume the function of advancing leadership and knowledge in the organization. They should set the tone for the organization and demonstrate that knowledge together with its administration are carefully taken into consideration.

Leaders, from this standpoint of view, should signal a shift in tone when they ask their team to reflect on their learning. Reflective leaders help them realize that they can now look back rather than move forwards. They will take a break from what they have been doing, step away from their work and ask themselves, ‘What have I (or we) learned from doing this activity?’ Some leaders could use music to signal the change in thinking.

In the reflective settings, leaders could invite the teams to learn from their experiences orally or in written form. They ask them to reflect on their learning, to evaluate their metacognitive strategies, to compare intended with actual outcomes, to analyze and draw causal relationships and to synthesize meanings and use their learning in different and future events. Members of the team realize that they will not ‘fail’ or make a ‘mistake’, because these terms are broadly described. Nonetheless, reflective teams realize that they can learn from all their experiences and develop personal insight.

3.4. Self-knowledge

Self-knowledge, even though it is often neglected, enables a vital lens through which leaders could better understand, realize and interpret organizational reality and their position in it. It mainly includes self-awareness, self-understanding and self-management. Without self-knowledge, it is hard for the leaders to understand their weakness and strengths together with their super powers. It lets the best business builders walk the tightrope of leadership: projecting conviction while at the same time staying humble enough to be open to different ideas and opposite thoughts since it is an essential element for organizational functioning. To improve self-knowledge, we highly recommend reflective leaders to (1) observe yourself to learn, (2) keep testing and knowing yourself better and (3) be conscious of other people as well.

While building a team, self-knowledge is also a crucial factor as being aware of one’s weaknesses together with strengths makes them a better recruiter and allocator of talent. In the meantime, you should also be an acute observer of others’ weaknesses and strengths. Reflective teams consist of people who both understand and complement each other. Whenever you notice people developing a common goal by pursuing different ways, there is an implied feedback loop based on peers and systemic learning in that observation itself. Should you have the right complement of people as well as a supportive learning organization, it lets you look at yourself and other people.

That is called the leash of self-awareness: know, improve and complement thyself. They are the common sense principles even though they are not generally practised. In other words, people do not often commit to stand in the face of truth. Rigorous commitment, intellectual honesty and active truth seeking are sine qua non to any process of self-awareness.

3.5. Critical knowledge

The final antecedent of reflective practice is critical knowledge, which includes assumptions, beliefs and values. In other words, critical knowledge (sometimes called ‘philosophical’ or ‘ethical’ knowledge) is a conscious awareness of that which is of transcendent or ultimate value and which perjures beyond the individual. Reflective practice creates an opportunity for development for people holding leadership positions. If you want to manage a team, you should have a clear balance between technical expertise and people skills because this type of role is hard to play. Reflective practice gives an opportunity to leaders to re-evaluate what has been achieved and what improvements could be made.

As discussed earlier, reflection is the conscious and intentional examination of one’s behaviour. Through this process, new understandings and appreciations may be acquired. Leaders should be an active reflector keeping their personal journals. When a difficult event takes place, they can often scribble in their journal to decanter their emotions and thoughts. Schön [ 4 ] described three processes to reflection—awareness of uncomfortable feelings or thoughts, followed by a critical analysis of experience, leading to the development of new perspectives. The phases are not necessarily linear and can involve both looking forwards and looking back.

Asking open and curious questions: let yourself practise asking genius-level questions, which only other people can answer, and about which you should not have any possible theory. For example, you could ask your colleagues about what they are genuinely excited in their work or what their biggest worries are.

Reflecting on the iceberg: doing so takes us back from repairing symptoms and being sensitive to what is going on around us. For example, you can think of a certain event and detail whatever you saw at the level of any event or action. You can then note the different patterns of behaviour seeming to contribute to that action. Detail on different organizational structures and cultural milieu, which created those behaviours.

Using visual art: this is basically a practice for shifting out of words. You could use newsprint or flipchart material with large coloured magic markers and start scrawling, drawing, scribbling or sketching whatever you think. Do not use any words till you feel that you are tired and leave the ‘artwork’ overnight. Look at it for a few minutes, give a name and date it the following day.

Journal writing: to give a chance to what our own inner wisdom says and listen. Doing so, you could learn from your own lives. This sort of practice helps create a greater awareness of your processes of thought. Give yourself some time every day to write in a free way with no prejudice. This process of writing might reflect the sense you possess about tomorrow or what now breaks for you about yesterday.

Role models: without any prejudice, you could observe a leader having a different approach different from that of ours. This practice will help you identify leaders whom you admire. To shadow those leaders, give yourself a day and observe them. Try to have a short interview with any of them asking how they think about leadership and handle the change.

Tackling creative endeavour: spend some time each day for some creative capacity such as writing poems, cooking, playing music, painting or sketching. These can rest our mind placing you in a flow state and enable significant perspectives to understand the world in different ways.

Reaching physical wisdom: to have a better reflection, you should devote to attempt in processes creating different understanding in your body. You may spend some time for some activities like playing golf, jogging, taking up skiing, woodworking or gardening courses.

Discovering people who draw the best out of you: identify who in your life draws your best energies and in whose presence you are the one who you would like to be. Also identify what you have in common. Spend more time with those people who give you best energies.

Through these processes, it will be much easier to learn from colleagues; write downshifts in your awareness and in your sense of purpose. Ask yourself whether you are aware of things you have not noticed earlier, by virtue of any of these processes or practices. The possible responses you will have will contribute to your effectiveness as a leader; increase the capacity to lead change. When people are asked about the most effective leaders, they will talk about the extraordinary capacity of leader to listen. Listening is an essential cognitive skill for a leader. One might conclude from this that reflective practice begins within yourself, and it is a significant transformational leadership skill, which will help you notice and change the profound processes of thought.

3.6. The models of reflective practice

To make reflective practice more concrete, there are some models offered to leaders. A useful model that explains reflective practice is the ALACT model of Korthagen [ 26 ]. The model has continuous phases of action, looking back on the action, awareness of essential aspects, creating alternative methods of action and trial ( Figure 2 ). A leader or manager does an action; judges how well he or she did the action; considers elements that attributed to success of the action or prevented the action to be successful, based on that judgement develops better ways of doing action; and finally tries the action in a better way. Note that the first and the last phases are the same. A sample implementation of this approach would be like this one [ 26 ]:

A: A mathematics lesson was given.

L: This lesson went fine. They were a bit noisier than usual, but I could control them all the same.

A: Ronnie was not present; that may have been a cause of the extra noise. In my opinion he is a kind of ‘leader’, and because he was always cooperative, the others cooperated too. Now that he wasn’t there, the others didn’t know how to behave. Yet they all worked well. Another cause may be that we started at 8:30, which is earlier than usual. The children hadn’t blown off steam yet, but I wanted to start quickly all the same, for I had only 1 h.

Figure 2.

The ALACT model of reflection [ 26 ].

C: The next time I will take more time.

Reflective questioning is another way of performing reflective practice. This model offers questions to be asked by reflective practitioners in three levels of reflective practice, which are descriptive, that is, theory-building, knowledge-building and action-oriented levels of reflection ( Table 1 ). The levels are a type of reflection in action. Reflective leaders first describe the situation they are in and then move to scrutinize the situation to construct knowledge to be used in the action-oriented level of reflection. In this final level, questions to improve the consequences of the action are asked by the reflective leaders.

Table 1.

Reflective questioning [ 27 ].

Gibbs’ model of reflective cycle takes feelings into account when reflecting on and learning from experience. It starts with a brief description of an event and then feelings about the event are expressed ( Figure 3 ). In the evaluation stage, value judgements are made for further analysis in the next stage to draw a personal understanding of the event. In the conclusion stage, insights into how behaviour affected the outcome of the event are developed. Finally, an action plan is developed to be used when encountered the same or similar event. The plan should constitute learned intuition of what a leader would do differently in the next time. This model is a type of reflection on action. A very good example reflection done by a leader using Gibbs’ model can be read at [ 29 ]. Instructions about how to implement each stage are further detailed in Table 2 .

Figure 3.

Reflective cycle [ 28 ].

Table 2.

Stages of reflective cycle [ 28 ].

Kolb’s reflective model presents another circular approach to reflective practice ( Figure 4 ). New knowledge is generated upon experience building on prior experiences and knowledge. The cycle starts with a concrete experience in which a person is actively involved. In the reflective observation stage, reviewing of what has been done and experienced takes place. The next stage is called abstract conceptualization that involves making sense of what happened by interpreting relations between events. The final stage of active experimentation is about testing implications of concepts, which are developed in the previous stage, in new situations.

Figure 4.

Kolb’s reflective model [ 30 ].

Experience needs to be seen as constructed, shaped and contained by social power relations.

Complex and unequal relations around knowledge are constructed between people as an integral part of the learning process.

There is a need to focus on the here-and-now experience and the mirroring process between the people within the education environment and the organizations they represent.

Finding ways of working with underlying and unconscious processes, particularly defence mechanisms, is necessary.

Second-order or metaprocesses relating to each aspect of the cycle are included.

4. Conclusions

Leadership is so complex that everything about it cannot be written in a handbook nor can be prescribed in the literature on leadership. So, how can new knowledge about leadership be generated when it is needed but not available at hand? Reflective leadership fills the gap between theory and practice by enabling leaders to construct their own theories of practice during, after and even before their actions. It teaches leaders how to catch fish instead of giving them fishes. It is a self-development tool and requires little mastery to use. We believe that this chapter is a good starting point for all leaders to acquire this mastery that paves the way for growing as reflective leaders who are self-efficient in creating and updating their own practice of leadership.

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A Reflection on Leadership based on my experience with the LEADER Project

Nov 2, 2012

Leadership is a quality that's innate in me. Whether it was in the playground at pre-school, the soccer-field growing up, student council in high school or various teams I am involved in at Ivey, a common theme has been my desire and willingness to lead. For a long time I thought this was because I enjoyed being in a position of control, a position of influence where I could shape the direction of a particular project or initiative. To some extent, this was the case; but I only recently realized that it was the desire to have an impact that I love most about being a leader. In fact, the ability to make an impact is how I would define leadership. Often times, leadership is seen as a title, a position that one is chosen for or given to make decisions and lead a group of people. These individuals are leaders, of course, as they're able to make significant impact on a large group of people; but we forget that leaders are everywhere in our society and more often than not they are leaders in an unorthodox sense. Whether they are artists, teachers, or musicians, many of them make an impact on their communities and those who choose to do so intentionally are leaders in their own right.

This is not to say that everyone can be a leader. I believe there are certain personality traits, skillsets and motivations that need to be present for effective leadership to take place. However, I believe leadership is a means to generating impact and I believe there are numerous individuals out there who do this on a daily basis who we would never consider as being leaders in the traditional sense of the word.

My LEADER experience has been paramount to me redefining my definition of leadership. I have personally been very fortunate to have had formal opportunities to develop my leadership skills and be provided with opportunities to exhibit it as well. This has given me tremendous exposure to new opportunities and only accelerated my growth as a leader. However, after visiting Russia I realized that such opportunities are unheard of in their communities. They don't have student councils, leadership institutes, summer enrichment programs or entrepreneurship incubators. These were all formal institutions that allowed me to practice and develop my leadership skills. This begged the question: is there a lack of leaders in Russia? Absolutely not. Many of the students I had a chance to work with were budding entrepreneurs with ambitious goals for solving critical problems in their communities. Several of them had already pursued various community service projects and some even had international experiences which they sought out on their own.

One student in our class, Julia, was particularly inspirational. She came from a very low-income family and was financing her tuition by founding an adventure sports startup. Specifically, she had partnered with a hot-air balloon pilot and began offering excursions to individuals in the nearby city of Samara. This was a brand new offering unbeknownst to a region that attracted little to no tourists. Despite this seemingly massive hurdle, Julia persevered with her vision and successfully ran this business over the course of the last two years. Since then, she has expanded their offerings to include mountain biking and hiking tours as well. This just goes to show the determination and commitment she made to her education and creating a service that genuinely added value in a unique way for her community. Julia didn't have mentors, venture capitalists or incubators to help guide her through this process. She did her own research, invested the little capital that she could afford and courage to take on this enormous challenge. Julia is a true leader.

Despite a lack of formal infrastructure in place to foster leaders in the traditional sense, many students were still forging their own ways of making an impact. This is what leadership is all about. I'm extremely fortunate and grateful for having the opportunity to experience this first hand. It inspires me to know that youth all around the world embody a passion for change, a desire to lead and a commitment to making an impact. LEADER is a phenomenal initiative that is supporting this dream and opening doors that otherwise may never have opened - for our students, the entrepreneurs, and for us, the LEADERites.

Leadership: Contemporary Theories and Approaches Reflective Essay

Introduction, a brief overview of leadership, my leadership approach, cultural considerations, contexts for application, works cited.

All organizations and institutes constantly strive to raise their levels of performance and productivity. To reach the set goals of increased productivity in the organization, the contribution made by all members in the organization is crucial. Even so, these contributions can only achieve optimal impact if there is a strong leadership in place to guide both the individual and group efforts.

This being the case, the development of leadership traits and skills is indeed necessary for the survival and continued success of an organization. There are various factors which make leadership roles mandatory in the education industry. To begin with, the teachers act as role models to their students and as such, they must exhibit strong leadership.

Leadership by the school management is also necessary to ensure that the teachers are teaching in accordance to the set standards. There exist many leadership theories and their effectiveness is dependent on the particular environment. A leadership theory or approach that is both theoretical and practically adequate can be termed as the most efficient one for an individual to adopt.

With these considerations, this paper shall set out to develop systematically and defend with reasoned arguments my own approach concerning leadership. My approach will not only borrow from well established theories and leadership approaches but it shall also build on them so as to come up with an even more effective leadership approach.

While leadership has varied definition depending on the context, it can be generically defined as the process through which an individual makes use of the support and assistance of others so as to achieve predetermined goals and objectives (Burns 23). It is only though strong leadership that organizational goals are achieved and as such, leadership is essential for the success of an organization.

Invariably, leadership involves working hand in hand with other organizational members since the leader has to elicit the support of relevant personnel in order to achieve the set goals. Various people favor different leadership styles and approaches and the success or relevance of each approach is dependent on the setting, the individual, and the cultural reality in which the approach is implemented.

My leadership Approach would borrow from a number of contemporary theories and approaches that have proved to be successful in a wide range of settings. To begin with, my leadership would necessitate that the leader engagement his followers and this would result in satisfaction for both the leader and the followers.

This is in line with the influential leadership style in many Western nations, transformational leadership. Burns introduced transformational leadership in 1978 and according to him, a transformational leader is defined as a leader who “looks for potential motives in followers, seeks to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower” (Burns 173).

From this definition, it is evident that a transformational leader differs from other leaders as a result of the due consideration that he gives to his followers’ needs. As such, the leader is not only able to direct his followers to achieve organizational goals but he is also able to empathize with their needs and in actual sense demonstrate genuine concern over their affairs.

This brand of leader puts the needs of the followers over their own which results in increased admiration and respect by the followers’ of the leader (Alimo-Metcalfe and Alban-Metcalfe 3). This increases the leader’s influence over the followers hence leading to greater leadership efficiency.

In the educational setting, once the administration shows concern for the teachers, the teachers can be expected to be even more effective in their work. Another appealing attribute of transformational leadership is that some of its aspects are universally endorsed as effective leadership behavior and can therefore be used in a wide range of settings (Den Hartog 225).

As has been articulated in this paper, a leader accomplishes his goals though his followers. As such, a leader is deemed worthless if he lacks the backing and support of a team. It is therefore important that all leaders work towards cultivating and generating an intellectual capital for their organizations.

This duly gives them a competitive advantage over other competitors in the market. In most organization, only a fraction of the capability of the work force is utilized. Leaders cannot gain much by coercing the employees to work harder.

Instead, an increase in productivity can be achieved if the leaders invest in motivational tactics for his followers. Kondalkar defines motivation as a process of inciting individuals to act in such a manner that they accomplish desired goals. Considering the fact that leadership entails the leader using his followers to fulfill set organizational goals, it would be right to state that a significant part of the leadership role involves motivating staff to achieve set goals.

In my leadership approach, the Expectancy Theory of motivation would be utilized. According to the expectancy theory as advanced by Vroom, people tend to choose actions, efforts and occupation that increase their pleasures while at the same time decreasing discomfort and pain (Chapman and Hopwood 120). According to this theory, a person’s motivation force is directly proportional to their envisioned gains.

Put in another way, the probability that a person’s will bring about particular desirable outcomes will cause the person to be motivated into acting in a certain way so as to achieve the outcomes. A leader can make use of this knowledge on motivation to come up with the most effective motivation for the followers.

Having goals is important for the success of any group effort. These goals represent the vision that the leader hopes to achieve though his followers. One of the roles of the leader is to come up with a vision and let the followers know what this vision is so as to give them a sense of purpose and direction.

The typical leader is required to come up with a set of goals that the followers are expected to achieve. The typical leader may come up with goals that are not properly articulated, are unchallenging or even unattainable by the workforce. My approach emphasizes on the importance of a leader to come up with clear and achievable goals in line with the Goal-setting theory advanced by Locke.

Pynes asserts that according to the Goal Setting Theory, clear expectations result in high performance from the followers (155). With this in mind, a leader should be keen to give a coherent vision and set specific, challenging and attainable goals for the followers. Also, the leader must have in mind that he may be required to adjust goals as time progresses since goals that were achievable and challenging at the onset may become unchallenging and unachievable goals over time.

Creativity is cited as one of this traits that is desirable of a leader. As a matter of fact, creativity has become the defining attribute of successful business organizations over the last two decades. Huge and small organizations alike are constantly in search of new ideas to help them stay ahead of their competitors or provide even better services to their customers.

Shavinina asserts that creativity assists organizations to enhance their productivity therefore giving them a means to remain competitive in an increasingly aggressive market environment (607). While innovation may come from group efforts, in most occasions it is initiated by one individual who mostly happens to be the leader.

My approach would therefore require that the leader exhibit creativity and innovation which should be used to positively impact the organization. This creativity may be projected through acts such as the proposal of novel ideas or by coming up with even more efficient ways for the followers to run their operations in the organization.

My leadership approach would place emphasis on conflict resolution by the leader. Contentious issues arise in all aspects of life and the organizational context is not exempted from this. These issues normally involve people holding different views or opinions and the manner in which contention is dealt with bears directly on the future wellbeing of the organization.

The leader plays a big role in ensuring that contentious issues are dealt with in an amicable manner. This is normally through the use of diplomatic means. Diplomacy entails using power and authority to reach desirable outcomes that are accepted by all or coming to a consensus (London 259).

The leader should possess diplomatic skills which will enable him to handle disputes and arrive at solutions that are not only feasible but also acceptable by all parties involved in the dispute. In most situations, conflicts are most effectively resolved through negotiation which is defined as communication for the purpose of persuasion.

Negotiation is typically based on concession trading where the parties involved reduce their demands in order to accommodate the opposing party. My approach will require that leaders be equipped with negotiation skills which will be essential in conflict resolution.

An important leadership factor is the showing of genuine concern for followers. In a survey by Alimo-Metcalfe and Alban-Metcalfe in which over 4,000 managers were interviewed, it was discovered that the single most important leadership factor was showing genuine concern to staff (27).

The reason for this is because every employee incurs some stress and demotivation as they undertake their work duties if they have a negative relationship with their leader. Engaging in a leadership style that demonstrates genuine concern will lead to a increased productivity and performance in the organization.

My approach would require that the leader demonstrate concern for the followers at all times and be sympathetic to their needs. This may mean that the leader would at times have to defend his followers from attacks by superior members of the organization.

My leadership approach will also work with the understanding that some people possess inherent traits which make them better suited as leaders. This is in line with the Trait Approach which places emphasis on the inborn character traits of a leader. According to the trait theory, individuals are born with some innate qualities which set them apart as leaders.

This theory proposes that critical leadership traits can be identified in people and the people with these desirable traits could then be given leadership positions. The Trait theory has been utilized in military leadership for centuries. By using this theory, my approach would take care to identify certain desirable traits in the choosing of leaders.

Studies indicate that some of the most frequently occurring traits include technical skills, friendliness, assertiveness, emotional intelligence and charisma (Den Hartog 229). A leadership style that would be included in my approach is assertiveness. Assertiveness is defined as the degree to which a person is “assertive, tough, dominant, and aggressive” in their relationships with others (Dickson, Hartog and Mitchelson 746).

Application of assertiveness in leadership springs from the assumption that each person has a right to make known their needs. Assertiveness assists in this since it promotes interpersonal behavior which is desirable in the organization. By being assertive, a person can maximize their satisfaction while at the same time considering the needs of other people.

Assertion is characterized by being direct and honest while communicating with others. This attributes assist in promoting positive interpersonal relationship since they act as a platform for constructive dispute resolution. My approach would require that the leader have the ability to inspire the followers by giving them a sense of purpose and ensuring that they are working towards the achievement of set goals.

The leader should be able to generate and sustain trust and goodwill among all the parties in the organization. By doing this, the leader can promote confidence amongst the followers and hence heighten optimism within the organization. This will greatly boost employee morale therefore guaranteeing the future success of the organization since objectives will be met.

These qualities are of great significance at the present time when optimism is low due to the halted economic growth in most countries. A leader who is able to inspire and raise the confidence of the followers will make a positive difference to the organization.

In the educational industry, the preserving of the corporate culture of the organization can make the difference in the organization. This is because in most educational institutes, the culture responsible for the successful execution of tasks in the organization over a long period of time.

This being the case, it is obvious that the success of an organization can be jeopardized by any move that threatens to weaken the corporate culture of the organization. Morgan states that corporate cultures develop “as an ethos created and sustained by social processes so as to bury out differences” (128). This means that the culture is a means by which the various disparate members of the organization can forge some form of alliance and thus work towards.

Jenster and Hussey assert that a strong culture may be further reinforced in an organization by a strong charismatic figure (231). My leadership approach would therefore demand that the leader demonstrate some charismatic attributes. Sahskin suggests that actions that result in feelings of charisma towards a leader figure will increase the likelihood of the followers copying the leader’s actions (178). This is because charisma enables the leader to ensure that everyone involved buys into the ideas and concepts that they are trying to advance.

The concept of leadership is universal and leaders are deemed as necessary for effective running of all organizations. Even so, differing cultural groups may have varied perceptions of what leadership entails (Koopman 132). Culture is defined as “a system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and that, taken together, constitute a design for living” (Vance and Paik 39).

This definition underscores the fact that culture has a huge impact on the lives of both the individual and the community. This huge influence of culture means that it impacts directly on all human activities. Inter cultural interactions involves people from different cultural backgrounds converging.

These interactions have a significant implication on leadership. Therefore, an adequate approach on leadership must take cultural interactions into considerations. While intercultural interactions have been caused by a myriad of reasons, globalization is viewed as the single biggest contributing factor.

Globalization is a process characterized by large scale integration of both economies and cultures and this process is quickly becoming extensive and with it, there have been profound changes in the running of society and organizations.

With cultural considerations in mind, a concept that my leadership style would take into consideration is power distance as advanced by Hofstede. This concept provides some insight into the leadership behavior that would be most applicable in particular cultures. As is it, different cultures have different power distances and this influences the style that is most relevant.

Power distance is defined by Vance and Paik as “the extents that people have an equal distribution of power” (41). High power distance implies a concentration of power at the top while small power distance implies a wider distribution of power among a higher number of people. In high power distance societies, power is possessed by few individuals while in small power distance power is distributed among a wider ranger of people.

The Western society, which is characterized by high social mobility and low authoritarianism, favors low power distance. In high power distance cultures, an autocratic and controlling leadership style is most applicable and the followers will expect the leader to give specific instructions.

Followers are expected to respect authority and not engage their own creativity. Contrary to this, small power distance cultures require the leader to be more participative and the followers are encouraged to engage their creativity since a more democratic approach is used in leadership (Vance and Paik 41). Culture dictates the power distance that is acceptable in a particular social environment and therefore, a leadership approach that considers this is most effective.

Hofstede goes on to group cultural dimensions into two: masculinity vs. Femininity. The Masculine dimension places emphasis on achievements and rewards for exemplary performcace are the fundamental motivational means. Vance and Paik assert that in this culture the major driving force is outcomes of financial gain and recognition among peers for the individual (42).

The feminine culture in contrast has as its driving force concern for other members. In this culrure, financial gains and prestige are secondary to the welfare of each member in the organization. Hofstede goes on to state that “high masculinity may give rise to a fairly macro type of leadership, where high femininity may lead to a more empathetic consideration type of leadership” (34).

My approach will underscore the fact that dealing with people in the two different cultural backgrounds will be profoundly different. In the masculinity culture, my approach will recommend competition which is the best way to achieve maximum benefits. In the femininity culture, fostering of cooperation is paramount for the achievement of productivity in the.

I would wish to apply my leadership approach in the education industry and in particular, in the administrative aspect of education. The Educational system of any society is fundamental to the development and as such the general well being of the entire community.

With this realization, educators throughout the world have acknowledged that the educational structures and practices that are adopted have a profound impact on the population’s education. This directly impacts on the economic and social outcomes of the members of the community. An educational system which yields high results is therefore seen as being essential for the well being of the entire community.

The leadership styles adopted by educational institutes have huge significances on the success of the educational institute. My approach purports to be all encompassing, since it recognizes that different people favor different leadership styles and that culture plays a huge role in determining the most effective leadership style.

My approach demonstrates that application of motivational theory can result in better leadership. This is because ignorance of motivational theories hampers leadership effectiveness since the leader is unable to incite the workers into producing the best performances.

Without a profound knowhow of motivational theories, the leader is bound to use the basic rewards and punishment mode in his bid to achieve desired goals. While this method may work in some instances, Frey and Jegen warn that “monetary incentives and punishment may have the undesirable effect of crowding-out intrinsic motivation under some conditions” (591).

A leader who has a proper understanding of motivation as has been articulated in this paper adopts a wider encompassing system of motivating his followers. My leadership approach also gives due consideration to cultural since culture shapes the world view of a person. Culture dictates the individual’s perception of what is good or bad leadership style.

Culture shapes individuals’ attitudes, and values and this profoundly influences a person’s actions and their relationship with others (Singelis and Brown 355). My approach which places emphasis on the culture specific view of leadership is therefore most applicable in a world that becoming increasingly globalized with intercultural interactions becoming more prevalent.

In this paper, I set out to develop systematically and defend with reasoned arguments my own approach concerning leadership. The paper began by defining leadership and proceeded to highlight my approach. My approach has taken into considerations the qualities and characteristics of good leadership and subsequently articulated how the qualities of an effective leader impact on the organization.

The impacts of culture on leadership have also been taken into consideration since culture greatly affects leadership effectiveness. This paper had demonstrated that a lack of leadership qualities can result in lost focus and even the presence of unmotivated workers hence lowering productivity for the entire organization. By making use of the leadership approach articulated in this paper, one can become an effective leader therefore bringing about positive results to the organization.

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The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Human Resource Development pp 243–255 Cite as

Reflecting on Leadership, Leading, and Leaders

• Carole J. Elliott 3  
• First Online: 18 November 2022

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To develop responsible leadership practice for equitable organizations, societies require continuous critical scrutiny of the sociohistorical conditions that shape leadership. Critical HRD scholarship and practice accept a responsibility to question accepted leadership norms, and to propose alternatives to leadership practice that sustain asymmetries of power. Informed by the critical leadership studies literature, this chapter proposes the framework of People, Place, and Process as a critical lens that critical HRD scholars can adopt and adapt when researching leadership or developing leadership capacity in a range of contexts. The chapter concludes by proposing tools and learning practices that critical HRD scholars can employ to promote cycles of critical reflexivity helpful in challenging traditional assumptions and beliefs about leadership.

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Elliott, C.J. (2023). Reflecting on Leadership, Leading, and Leaders. In: Collins, J.C., Callahan, J.L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Human Resource Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10453-4_14

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Reflective leadership  

Reflective leadership is something relatively new to me as a formal concept, I have over the years thought about my own personal leadership skills so maybe in hindsight I was being reflective? One of the best ways of describing reflective leadership is from a web article I discovered whilst researching this narrative.

“ 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 .” (Sara Horton-Deutsch, 2013)

It struck me that taking a personal leadership journey, one of self-awareness and self-challenge adds a whole new dimension to the way in which I have reflected on my leadership and engagement with colleagues in the past. I was reminded of situations where I had adopted a more direct approach where, on reflection, it required more collaboration; a bitter pill to swallow in many respects.

What interests me about being a reflective leader is it moves you from an “action bias” to a more reflective and collaborative approach one where you are constantly in a cycle of learning; effective leaders reflect on their past experiences and search for relevant, different insights before the decision making process. (Goker & Bozkus, 2017) Some of the questions you might ask yourself:

• What have I learnt?
• What were my feelings and thoughts as it was happening?
• How could I explain my experience?
• How could I make use of learning for my future actions?
• What is your opinion of way I felt and acted?
• How have I reacted and behaved?

“Reflective leadership can be considered as a way of approaching the work of being a leader by leading one’s life with presence and personal mastery . In other words, it requires learning to be present, to be aware and attentive to our experience with people in our daily life, and it regards leadership from the standpoint of human experience.” (Goker & Bozkus, 2017)

So the journey has to start with a series of self- assessments, in my own personal experience I often look forward, look back and ask myself, is where I am  where I want to be? If the answer is yes then great you must be a great leader…but I suspect, as is with my journey the answer and reflection meant I needed to improve.

The question remains: how is being a reflective leader linked to engagement? I think the short answer is it’s a critical part of the whole process. One model sticks out for me developed by (Taggart GL, 2005). ‘One of the first steps to reflective thinking involves identifying a problem, challenge, or dilemma. Next, step back from the problem and look at the situation from a third person perspective in order to frame or reframe the problem. Ask yourself: How might an outsider view this situation? This second step involves observation, data gathering, reflection, and consideration of moral principles. These aspects help to provide a mental picture of your thinking in an attempt to define the context of the situation.’

Reflective leadership coveys a sense and practical application of collaboration, it involves listening and learning from the experience and from others.

“As a reflective leader, share your reflective thoughts with others and invite them to consider things as well. Enter into relationships with others without presenting a front or pretense, but instead being self-aware, this type of real and genuine approach supports an even playing field and conveys that I value other persons and their contributions.” (Sara Horton-Deutsch, 2013)

I believe that engagement must start with reflection simply so that both parties or at the very least the leader in the conversation has the presence of mind to understand the discussion as a whole and listens without judgement or predetermination; mindful of their responses and open to the process whilst active and fully present in the moment. By considering your experience, their experience and reflecting before a decision, you help to build a collaborative environment and nurture mutual respect in that’s instance and hopefully, as you become a more reflective leader, those future opportunities to engage with your people.

Written by: Richard Louw, Senior Officer, Border Force and Virtual Content Team Volunteer

Would you like to join our Virtual Content Team ? Email  [email protected]  to find out more!

Goker, S. D., & Bozkus, K. (2017). Reflective Leadership: Learning to Manage and Lead Human Organizations, Contemporary Leadership Challenges,. In Aida Alvinius (Ed.)Ph.D., Contemporary Leadership Challenges (p. Chapter 2). https://www.intechopen.com/books/contemporary-leadership-challenges/reflective-leadership-learning-to-manage-and-lead-human-organizations.

Sara Horton-Deutsch, P. C. (2013, February). Thinking it through: The path to reflective leadership. American Nurse Today, Vol 8 no 2. Retrieved from American Nurse TOday.

Taggart GL, W. A. (2005). Promoting Reflective Thinking in Teachers. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

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How ‘The Squad’ and Like-Minded Progressives Have Changed Their Party

By Mara Gay

Ms. Gay is a member of the editorial board.

When the far-left politicians Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley were first elected to Congress roughly half a decade ago, many moderate Democrats saw their unapologetically progressive vision for America as an albatross around the neck of the Democratic Party.

That certainly seemed to be the view of Democratic leaders, who seemed intent on making “the squad,” as the progressive caucus is known, a group of permanent outsiders.

“All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the House, told Maureen Dowd in 2019 . “But they didn’t have any following,” Ms. Pelosi said of the squad. “They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.” At the time, Ms. Pelosi was bristling from criticism the progressive members had levied against her over her support for a funding bill the progressives said failed to protect migrant children, a major issue during the Trump presidency.

Five years later, Ms. Pelosi has stepped down from the leadership position she long held. The House progressive caucus has grown to nearly 100 members and has become a significant force within the party. The progressives have outlasted not only Ms. Pelosi, but also moderate Democrats who once led the party, like Representative Steny Hoyer, who has also bowed out of his role leading House Democrats. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the new minority leader, isn’t a member of the progressive caucus. (He left the caucus when he became leader of the House Democrats.) But he has been far friendlier to the group’s members and their agenda than his predecessor, Ms. Pelosi, a nod to the blossoming role of progressive politics within the Democratic Party and its voter base.

And in recent months, the insurgent group of unapologetic leftists has gained even more sway within the Democratic Party. Some of this is clearly a reaction to the extremism of Trumpism and far-right House Republicans. But the progressives have gained power in Washington amid rising anger over the U.S. role in Gaza.

For the first time in decades, possibly since the anti-Vietnam War and environmental movements, the left wing has led the center of the Democratic Party in a new political direction on a major issue — one sharply critical of the Israeli government, impatient with the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and increasingly willing to use American leverage to curb Israel’s military plans.

In recent weeks, Democratic leaders have begun inching closer to the progressive view that it is against U.S. interests to continue sending unconditional U.S. military aid to Mr. Netanyahu’s government in an asymmetrical war that has killed thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza. And they have recognized that anger among Democratic voters — especially young voters — over the U.S. role in Gaza is a serious threat to Mr. Biden’s re-election that cannot be ignored.

In March, Senator Charles Schumer of New York, a staunch supporter of Israel, signaled an increasingly unified view of the conflict within the Democratic Party when he called for Israeli elections to replace Mr. Netanyahu. “The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Mr. Schumer said in a March 14 speech that stunned the political world.

Progressives have cheered the shift.

“We stood our ground on this issue since day one,” Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts told me. “Today our vision is a part of that mainstream political discourse, and the party is responding.” Ms. Pressley said it was not only Gaza but other issues, including student debt relief, that have contributed to the rising influence of progressives on Capitol Hill. “People want a Democratic Party that fights,” she said.

Shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, such a transformation within the Democratic Party looked extremely unlikely. In the first days after Israel invaded Gaza last fall, progressives like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez were calling for a cease-fire, a position that, in the wake of the horrific attacks on Israelis, seemed far out of step with much of the Democratic Party.

Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, another progressive Democrat, accused Israel of threatening actions that amounted to war crimes. Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, a progressive Democrat and the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, has described Israel’s longstanding approach to the conflict as apartheid. For months, President Biden and the mainstream of the Democratic Party treated these views as unwelcome and extreme. Outside Biden campaign events, protests against the war were also largely ignored.

Six months later, though, the political landscape looks drastically different. When Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, speaking on the House floor on March 22, described the war in Gaza as an “unfolding genocide” against the Palestinian people, the Democratic House leadership barely blinked.

“A lot of what I was trying to do was legitimize this position,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez told me in a recent interview. “That it’s not just like some fringe-activist thing.”

The Democrats who are now openly talking about putting conditions on aid to Israel are hardly on the fringe. They include mainstream senators like Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Chris Coons of Delaware, Peter Welch of Vermont, Tina Smith of Minnesota and Chris Murphy of Connecticut. Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a longtime supporter of Israel, said he would not support the sale of F-15 fighter jets and munitions to Israel until he received assurances Israel would do more to reduce civilian deaths and increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Even at the White House, it’s clear the rhetoric surrounding the conflict has shifted. In a phone call with Mr. Netanyahu on April 4, the day after the killing of seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza by Israeli forces, Mr. Biden told the Israeli leader he would attach conditions to U.S. military support if more were not done to protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Partly, the drift away from decades-old American foreign policy is a reflection of the enormous death toll and suffering in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed, as well as the intransigence of the right-wing Israeli government. But it is also a mark of the growing influence of American progressives on the Democratic Party.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, for example, wasn’t taking on only the role of organizer in recent months, but also of fund-raiser : She gave $260,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this year; a spokesman said her PAC, Courage to Change, has more than $500,000 on-hand it plans to put toward the campaigns of progressive House Democrats facing serious challenges this cycle. It was her first contribution to a central core of the party, moving her from an outsider to an important influencer. This kind of fund-raising, if it continues, could put progressives in a position to play a growing role within the Democratic Party, displacing the aging centrists.

On Israel, the pressure from the left has been clear: protests by young Americans and many others against the American role in the conflict; an “uncommitted” movement that led thousands of Democrats to cast protest ballots instead of voting for Mr. Biden, especially in Michigan, a key swing state; and an intense, behind-the-scenes lobbying effort at the White House and in Congress by progressive Democrats.

One reason this had seemed improbable was divisive rhetoric on the left, including phrases like “from the river to the sea,” which some view as a call for Palestinian rights but others see as an antisemitic call for the erasure of the state of Israel.

This language was at best unhelpful. In the shadow of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust, and amid rising antisemitism on and off campuses , it often felt deeply offensive. If American progressives are serious about driving foreign policy on Israel, they will have to find a way to strongly confront any antisemitism within their coalition.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged that antisemitism was on the rise, but said the progressive movement is operating in a “tinderbox situation” in which groups like AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobby, have used unfair accusations of antisemitism to silence any criticism of the Israeli government.

“Two things can be true at the same time,” she said. “You have a lot of cynical weaponization of false accusations and conflating of criticism of Israel with antisemitism, alongside the fact that antisemitism is very real and on the rise.”

The long-term political strategy behind the uncommitted movement remains unclear. If it continues into the November election, it could help put Donald Trump in the White House, imperiling American democracy, never mind the progressive agenda.

Allies of the movement, though, say the U.S. role in Gaza has become too personal to ignore. “I have constituents who’ve lost dozens of their family members,” Ms. Omar said. “They’ve been killed with weapons provided by their own tax dollars.”

In classified briefings, at the White House and in scores of private conversations with other Democrats, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez pushed hard for a permanent cease-fire and conditions for military aid.

“There was no lack of outside organizing, but I don’t feel like there were enough inside voices that were able to get through these halls of power, particularly to people who disagreed with us,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said. “And so I decided to dedicate a lot of time and energy to really spending a lot of time in those spaces.”

She also said she sat with families of the Israeli hostages and was alarmed by the rise antisemitic attacks, especially in New York City, part of which she represents.

On the campaign trail and at the White House over the past six months, decades of fixed American foreign policy on Israel were suddenly tested like never before. In swing states across the country, large groups of antiwar protesters stalked campaign events. In Washington, Biden administration officials began receiving phone calls from members like Ms. Pressley, who for weeks pestered the White House with constant requests for aid on behalf of a single Palestinian-American family, the Okals, that was trapped in Gaza.

Representative Sara Jacobs of California, the youngest Jewish member of Congress and a Democratic member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has also lobbied her colleagues. She said the administration should enforce the Foreign Assistance Act, which bars the United States from giving arms to any country that impedes humanitarian aid, as Ms. Jacobs said she believes Israel has done.

“A lot of people think that any criticism of Israel is antisemitic,” Ms. Jacobs told me, adding that she has family in Israel. “I have been working very hard to try and carve out that space where there are legitimate criticisms.”

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said her decision to publicly call the war in Gaza a genocide was driven largely by reports of imminent famine among Palestinians in the enclave amid what she said she believes to be the intentional blocking of humanitarian aid by Mr. Netanyahu.

Before giving the speech on the House floor, she said, she carefully considered other factors as well, including rising antisemitic attacks and the history of genocide against Jewish communities. She also said she spoke with a close childhood friend who is a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

“I said, you know, ‘What do you think would have been helpful?’” the congresswoman recalled. “And my friend told me that people need to see these folks as human. That’s why I chose to use the images and in my speech to discuss what famine means.”

Much is at stake at home as well, where U.S. policy toward Israel could sap the Democratic Party of its moral force — among its greatest assets in the battle against Trumpism — ahead of an existential November election.

But if progressives and mainstream Democrats can continue to find common ground, that policy might really change. That may save lives, and heal a painful and politically dangerous fracture in the Democratic coalition.

Photographs by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images and Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times.

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Mara Gay is a member of the editorial board . @ MaraGay