How many times have you been in the car, wrapped in thoughts of the day, and found yourself driving somewhere other than where you intended?
Defaulting to familiar routines in the absence of conscious thought has uses in life, not the least enabling us to navigate a highly multitasking world. But “auto piloting” in the human sphere ensures that our interactions with others end in the same kinds of places over and over again.
If we wish to find new and more productive end points for our relationships, then, we must abandon well-worn paths of ingrained habit and begin making more intentional choices about what we are doing and where we are going.
Reflecting on beliefs, behaviors, and choices in this way requires mindfulness of ourselves as we go about our day – an awareness not only of what we are doing, but why and how we are doing it. It requires us to be in the moment, to give attention to what is going on around and inside us right now.
This, in turn, requires detachment from self and a certain degree of distance from personal thoughts, feelings, and desires. When we succeed in adopting a mindful and reflective attitude, we take part in the interaction of the moment—strategizing with a partner, clashing with a coworker—but we also stand apart and at a distance. We monitor proceedings through the eyes of a neutral observer, rather than an invested participant.
If this sounds similar to meditation, that’s because it is. Mindfulness and reflection are two expressions of the same fundamentally meditative process. Both center on the removal of personal attachment to ideas, outcomes, and views as a means to achieve specific goals.
But where traditional forms of meditation seek connection with a higher being or state of existence, the workplace discipline of reflective leadership seeks connection with those higher human realities inherent in ourselves and others.
Leaders walking this path undertake a moment-by-moment appraisal of below-the-line values and beliefs and consider the way those mindsets affect the thinking, attitudes, morale, commitment, and vision of their employees.
They work to understanding how the human spirit operates in their organization, how it translates into concrete performance, and how they are personally involved in furthering or hindering that spirit.
Pursuing a reflective practice benefits leaders, but it is no mere tool of self-help or strategy for personal improvement. Rather, it is a practical means of optimizing the functioning of a human system.
Leaders who understand their effect on the systems and interactions around them can best identify and achieve the changes needed to advance those systems. Ultimately, reflective leadership is a path to continuous organizational improvement.