The power of reflection

Reflection is mentioned in so many leadership books and to be honest for vast parts of my career I’ve just not felt I had the time. I’m naturally the sort of person who can think of their perspective on the spot (the oppositive of a reflector in personality – whatever that is), and therefore I questioned how relevant it was to me. I don’t think I even knew how to do it.

Then, shortly after the world started to re-emerge after COVID lockdowns, something changed. At work we made the transition to agile/hybrid working and in my role I was required to be in the office around 50% of the time to support other staff in my leadership role. That change pitched me back into a commute 2 or 3 days a week. If I’m honest I wasn’t thrilled about reintegrating a commute into my life, I’d fully embraced home working and for me personally it was great.  That said, I knew that a key part of being a leader is supporting and enabling other people to do their job. As a Director leading a department of 30 people, it’s not efficient or effective for me to work from home all the time and not be on hand to support people. The most important part of my job is enabling others to do their job.

At around the same time I changed my car, and with that came new technology that my previous 10 year old Mondeo couldn’t have even dreamed of. The ability to connect your phone to the car radio! What an absolute game changer that is! Then I discovered podcasts and audiobooks. As I write this, I realise that I sound like an absolute dinosaur, but I’ve never been a big reader. I’m not sure whether I’m undiagnosed dyslexic or that my brain is just wired to absorb information in ways other than reading. I find reading tiring and I struggle to concentrate over many chapters. When audiobooks and podcasts appeared I initially saw them as an extension to reading and couldn’t see how I could make time to appreciate them. However, all that changed when given my commute (and the gift of time) returned.

Armed with a seemingly infinite list of leadership audio books and podcasts I fully embraced my new 30 minute commute. What was previously, before COVID, a stress induced top and tail of my day that I could have done without, was now my time. 30 minutes of unadulterated time to absorb and reflect.  I actually started looking forward to the drive!

I quickly established a routine of finding some leadership material (Barry’s, Simon Sinek, Adam Grant and others), sometimes based on topics I was grappling with myself in life and other times just out of interest as to what it might open my eyes to. Guilty of judging a book by its cover (or a podcast by its title) I nearly skipped some of them, but every time I reached my destination I felt energised by what felt like personal coaching I’d received. 

The crucial bit for me then was to make the information stick. I developed a habit of documenting 3 key points I’d learnt or reflected on at the end of the journey. Sometimes that was an action to go and find out something, sometimes it was an approach to try following insight I’d learnt. Then sometimes it was note on what to listen to next as every podcast or case study in a book urged me to learn more.

By stumbling across a method of focussing my passion for leadership in a way that turned into a habit I’ve been able to get regular reminders of key leadership principles and learn from so many great minds on this subject. For me, finding a way to make leadership reflection, and reflection on my life in general, a habit has been a game changer. I’ve found a way to integrate it into my life when at times in the past I’ve felt like I didn’t have enough hours in the day. 

In real terms it’s helped me prepare for important meetings, made me a better husband and father by improving my listening skills and communication, reminded me of other leadership skills I’m wanting to practice and refine by keeping things very current. We’re all guilty of going on a training course or learning something new which is brilliant at the time, but unless you make it stick then its value fades. Creating time for reflection helps you to prevent that and it’s now one of my key recommendations to others.

It’s also worth saying, even if you’re passionate about leadership like I am, there are times when rather than energise you this stuff can feel like one thing too many. It’s important to be kind to yourself and not force this upon you or you’ll lose the benefit and it’ll potentially negatively impact your mindset. To combat that a different form of escapism and mental recovery is sometimes needed. For me that’s 90’s pop and this afternoon on the drive home there were some absolute bangers! Never feel guilty for decompressing, it’s what helps us be relentless.

Ian Jelley