Why Self-Reflection is Critical to Leader Development

Reflection makes learning “stick.”

If you began reading this book on a Monday at work, this is your first weekend! What better time to talk about self-reflection?

If we are to truly develop as leaders it is important to pause now and then and reflect on the lessons we have learned. This can be done systematically — what the military calls “After Action Reviews” (AARs), whereby a structured evaluation and reflection is conducted after any important leadership action or event. Or, it can be done more informally. [We will discuss AARs in depth later].

Weekends are good times to reflect on our leadership in the prior week. What went right? What went wrong? How could things have been handled better? What lessons have I learned to guide my leadership in the future?

For Development: Get into the habit of regularly reflecting on your leadership. When can you do this? You can set a structured time, or you can do it during your “downtime.” You can journal or you might talk things over with a partner.

I often find myself engaging in self-reflection when I awake in the middle of the night and can’t immediately go back to sleep. It is a good, quiet time for me to self-reflect on the previous week’s actions (and, when done reflecting, it helps me to feel good about myself and go back to sleep).

Use this first weekend to reflect on why you want to be a leader, and if you have the motivation and strength to develop. My colleague, David Day, uses the analogy of a gym membership for leader development: If you don’t put the time in and work at it, no development will take place.