Why Reflection Is the Most Under-Utilized Leadership Discipline
And What Not Reflecting Is Doing to Your Leadership
In This Article:
3 things about reflection that you didn’t know you didn’t know
A practical understanding of reflection as a strategic leadership discipline
Insight into how to think in ways that align with how God designed our brains to work
Key Application:
3 simple, actionable steps to begin practicing reflection
Reflection … a Discipline? Seriously?
In my article Are You (Really) a Learner?, I stated that the practice of reflection is the most underutilized of all leadership disciplines. If that claim makes you want to roll your eyes, I get it … I really do. In a world of key objectives and driving results, “reflection” sounds too touchy-feely. But let me explain why that reaction could be evidence that you need reflection in your leadership behavior set.
Stay with me on this … I’m confident I can change your thinking. To begin with, let’s look at…
What Reflection Is
Reflection is a strategic recalibration of perspective. It’s the habitual, disciplined practice of backing away from our usual thought processes to see the bigger picture, to reconnect with the broader context of who we are and what is happening around us.
It may also be helpful to highlight what reflection is NOT. I regularly hear negative connotations like “coping mechanism,” “finding a happy place,” “band-aid,” “symptom-reducing escape from reality” and “waste of time.” By the time you’ve read this article, I hope you’ll be dissuaded of these kinds of associations.
3 Benefits
There is a multitude of benefits that reflection brings. Here’s three that you’ll probably experience right away.
Benefit 01 :: Long-Term Clarity
Reflection ensures that we connect to the big picture. It’s normal to get so consumed by the daily grind that we lose sight of our compass heading, making us situationally driven and reactive. Reflection provides us the opportunity to break away from the urgent and connect to the important.
Benefit 02 :: Short-Term Focus
Greater awareness of the big picture allows us to see our current thoughts, plans, activities and behaviors in their proper context. This allows for a more purposeful focus, exposing distractions and potholes more readily. It makes it easier to realize when we’re getting stuck, and to avoid that hamster-in-the-wheel syndrome.
Benefit 03 :: Higher Confidence and Lower Stress
Aligning the big-picture and present-moment views connects the “what” of our leadership with the “why.” This alignment of mission and purpose increases our confidence and helps us manage the challenges of our leadership role more effectively.
3 Brain Insights to Understand
Reflection works in conjunction with how God designed our brains to function. Check this out …
Insight 01 :: Our Brains Don’t Work Like a Computer
The brain has been called “the most complex thing we have yet discovered in our universe.”1 It transmits and stores energy like nothing else in creation. The right and left hemispheres operate collaboratively, in perfect unison—in fact, both are involved in almost everything we do. But HOW each is involved differs drastically.
The right hemisphere takes the lead on…
Understanding reality and how we connect to it
Intuition, imagination and emotion
Exploration, curiosity and innovation
Comprehension of meaning
Faith, hope and love
In contrast, the left hemisphere takes the lead on…
Planning and executing on reality
Reasoning, categorization and evaluation
Analyzing, defining and concluding
Comprehension of language
Will, application and self-determination
Looking at those lists side-by-side, you can see that each hemisphere contributes in a different—and even opposite—way. The right hemisphere’s best contribution is to “see the forest,” while the left hemisphere’s is to “see the tree.” The benefit comes in operating effectively at both the strategic level (i.e. the forest: big picture, implicit) and the tactical level (the tree: immediate, explicit).
But that’s where the problem is: We don’t usually engage both hemispheres effectively. In fact …
Insight 02 :: We Favor Left Hemisphere Thinking
Another unusual distinction is that much of the right hemisphere’s activity is unconscious, while the left hemisphere’s is conscious. That pushes us to depend on what we can “know for certain.” As an example, which do you lean on more when making decisions:
Intuition and “gut instinct” (right-hemisphere, unconscious thought), or
Analysis and data (left-hemisphere, conscious thought)?
Most rely on the latter. Now no one would advocate against making data-driven decisions, but what happens when the data doesn’t align … or it’s missing? Or when our gut tells us the data is wrong? The point: The best decisions come through using both intuition AND analysis—engaging both hemispheres.
It’s fairly evident that leaders are becoming increasingly left-hemispherically driven in their leadership behavior. That’s why …
We see so much emphasis on quarterly earnings and not the long-term position of the company.
Situational results get prioritized, and purpose and values get marginalized.
So many leaders embrace power and control, and choose not to champion what’s in the best interests of the team.
Leveraging the left hemisphere and dismissing the right creates massive problems and imbalanced leadership. That’s because …
Insight 03 :: The Left Hemisphere Doesn’t Learn On Its Own
The left hemisphere does a phenomenal job of seeing the tree. But because it’s designed for certainty and closure, it easily convinces itself that seeing the tree equates to understanding the forest.
The surprising reality is that the left hemisphere does NOT learn anything new on its own. It depends on the right hemisphere for insight, discovery, innovation, context, history, meaning, value and—perhaps most importantly—truth.
(Remember your last “aha moment?” It happened in your right hemisphere—and it probably came when you had broken away from your left hemisphere’s concentrated focus.)
The left hemisphere gets very comfortable operating within its systematic realm of known thought. Because this realm is conscious, it feels much more certain and reliable. It creates a perception that unconscious thoughts are uncertain and unreliable, and should be relegated to the back burner … if not kicked to the curb. It’s an easy step for the left hemisphere to begin operating autonomously.
From a faith standpoint, this is how people can know about God but not actually know God personally. It’s how someone can be an expert in Greek and Hebrew but not be able to able to hear God speak to them from the Scriptures.
One expert summarized it well: “The right hemisphere believes, but does not know. The left hemisphere knows, but does not believe.”2 Using a leadership metaphor, God designed the right hemisphere to understand reality (“believe”) and to delegate the execution of understanding (“know”) to the left hemisphere.
Reflection gives space for your right hemisphere to reestablish context and connect with what’s important—including, by the way, understanding God’s truth and his Spirit’s direction. The left hemisphere can then determine what action to take and how to re-prioritize/adapt.
If this sounds like good brain stewardship to you, here’s …
3 Things to Do
Here are three steps to make reflection a daily reality.
Step 01 :: Recall & Notice
Set aside 5-15 minutes of uninterrupted time each day for reflection. I recommend doing this end-of-day, while the thoughts of the day are still fresh. This also helps to settle your mind in preparation for a better sleep experience.
Your mindset is also important. Recognize and affirm your complete dependence upon God to provide wisdom, knowledge and insight. Also, don’t multitask; be fully immersed in this exercise.
Start by thinking about the day. What happened? What went as expected? What surprised you? Particularly reflect on your interactions with people.
Notice what comes to your conscious awareness, BUT do so without judgment, evaluation or trying to direct your thoughts (that’s engaging your left hemisphere, which comes later). Just observe what comes to mind.
Let your right hemisphere explore and present thoughts to your left hemisphere. Be open to notice whatever it wants to process on: a conversation, an event, an emotion (whether positive or negative) … it might even be a memory, a song or an image.
Goal: Increased Awareness. Bring to your conscious awareness the thoughts that are present in your unconscious right hemisphere, which (unbeknownst to you) has been recording all your experiences and thoughts throughout the day.
Step 02 :: Explore & Connect
After a few minutes, change from noticing thoughts to capturing them, exploring their source.
Hone in on the 1-2 thoughts that seem most prominent—again, without judgment or direction (left-hemisphere activity that cuts off the right hemisphere). If the thoughts seem random, look for patterns or themes.
Search for the source of the emotions you noticed in step 01. Go beyond the surface issues/causes. Often, emotions are associated with experiences that either affirm or confront something you believe to important.
Ask (yourself and the Holy Spirit): “Where does this come from?” “What’s driving that thought/emotion?” Allow the Spirit to reveal the truth about the nature of your unconscious thinking patterns.
Goal: Connect to Foundational Values. While step 01 reveals thoughts, Step 02 puts them in context. This step connects your behaviors and experiences to your “why.” You’ll discover how they either aligned or didn’t align with your core beliefs, values and convictions.
Step 03 :: Determine Your Application
This is the step of evaluation and direction that I asked you to set aside in the first two steps. The first two (right-hemisphere) steps connect yourself and your leadership with the truth (the forest), and orient you to who you aspire to be. This step (left-hemisphere) evaluates and plans a response (the tree).
Pray, and ask the Lord three things:
1) What do I need to understand?
2) What do you want me to do?
3) Who do I need to talk to?
Shoot for a single application. You might be tempted to do more, but it’s more important that you focus on one step at a time.
You may realize there are things you need to start doing, or perhaps stop doing. You may become aware of things you’ve been avoiding or putting off. You may realize there are conversations you need to have, or someone you need to forgive—or ask for forgiveness.
Take action on what you “hear” from the Lord, in whatever way is natural for you. Journal, set a goal (make sure it’s achievable and measurable), tell a friend for support and encouragement, etc.
Don’t overreach on this. Small and actionable will enhance your success; big and grandiose will get you bogged down.
Goal: Practice Your Learner Identity Daily. Embrace a slow and steady approach, and don’t stop or get distracted. It’s more important to take small steps daily than to finish the race in a week.
Final Thoughts
At times, you’ll likely realize you’ve fallen short of your expectations. You may feel pressure to self-protect, excuse or deflect responsibility. It’s important to accept accountability for your behavior, but do so without judging yourself for not meeting expectations. Instead, simply commit to change anything that’s blocking you from being “a learner”—the follower of Jesus and the leader you want to be.
Other times you’ll come away with a sense of accomplishment. Let this be a time of gratitude for what God has done in you to prepare and equip you. Resist any sense of pride and thinking of yourself more highly than you really are (Romans 12.3).
Over time, you’ll begin to discover the subconscious and unconscious thoughts that are actively shaping your identity. Some will be positive (core values, convictions, matters of conscience, hopes, purpose, etc.), and others will be negative (fears, biases, poor choices, lack of belief, unforgiveness, pride, etc.).
Let the awareness of this identity-shaping process become infused into everything you do, as a way of life. Think of it as yeast in dough: Let it do its work over time. This is all about learning how to follow intentionally—not accidentally—and it’s equipping you to lead more effectively.
Peace be with you…
Curious About Exploring Your Identity?
Check out my book The Field Guide for Are You Who You Want to Be: A Pathfinder to Discover Your Identity and Fulfill Your True Purpose.
James D. Watson, Nobel Laureate and co-discoverer of the structure of human DNA.
Iain McGilchrist, The Master and His Emissary.