Instructions:
- Post a new discussion related to the topics covered in this module. Your post needs to provide specific lessons learned with examples from this module helping you enhance your leadership capacity at work.
- After posting your discussion, review posts provided by other students in the class and reply to at least one of them.
15 Comments
Relying on end of year reviews alone feels outdated because employees benefit more from regular feedback throughout the year. I make it a point to have open discussions with my team on a consistent basis, highlighting where they are succeeding and where they can improve. Expectations are clear, and bare minimum work is never acceptable, but employees also have a voice in the process and buy in to their own development. Regular check ins build trust, keep everyone aligned with the vision, and create a culture focused on growth rather than discipline, which helps both the team and the organization improve together.
Have agencies doing end of year reviews has to be an outdated practice. It is important to do regular feedback/reviews with employees. Quarterly reviews help ensure employees know where they are having success and where they need to improve. I use my set down reviews as a time for an open discussion and include the employee with their feedback. Bare minimum work is not acceptable standards, and they know this. They have a buy in to the process and feedback. They know where they need to improve and where they are succeeding. There is never a time an employee doesn’t know what is accepted of them and I know what their goals are. I use this time to help them grow and achieve improvement.
I thought Goleman’s theory broke down what emotional intelligence looks like in leadership well. The five key parts, self-awareness, self-management, social skills, empathy, and motivation, are essentially the foundation for how we connect with others and lead effectively.
Self-awareness or Emotional Intelligence is huge. If you don’t understand your own emotions or reactions, it’s easy to let stress or frustration affect your decisions. Self-management is what keeps you steady, even when things get intense. Then you’ve got empathy and social skills, which are all about understanding others, building trust, and communicating clearly. Motivation or Inspiration ties it all together; leaders need to have internal drive, not just go through the motions.
Goleman’s theory demonstrates that emotional intelligence is crucial to being an effective leader. It’s what makes people trust and want to follow you, not just listen to your orders.
It also connects with the Johari Window, especially the part about self-awareness. The more we understand how we come across to others, and how we manage ourselves, the bigger that “Arena” gets, and that’s where real leadership happens.
People tend to follow those they trust. Being in tune with your emotions, your strengths and weaknesses only make you a stronger leader.
Reflective leadership is important for creating a relationship-based organization. When leaders take the time to know their own strengths and limitations through self-awareness and careful observation, they are setting a good example to the people who work for them. Not everyone has the same strengths and weaknesses, and when leaders take the time to reflect on their own they can become more present with themselves. We lead through relationships and reflective leadership helps us become better connected to those we are leading which only improves the organization.
Reflective leadership is absolutely needed to be a good leader. It shows introspective, forethought, and the ability to understand yourself and others. It can help you understand better on what motivates you and what motivates others. Reflective Leaders are more likely not to be a yes man in the cog of the leadership wheel.
Setting a good example as a leader goes a long way for people to follow. Recognizing what roles each team member can fill is the Super Vision that is discussed at length in this lesson. I believe this a critical skill for all leaders to possess. Seeing the big picture isn’t always easy, but it is necessary for organizational efficiency.
Reflective leadership is an essential aspect of leadership that requires an individual to understand their organization, members, and themselves. A reflective leader should be able to comprehend the agency’s policies and make necessary changes to meet the organization’s goals. They should also be able to think outside of the box and stand up for essential changes that will better the unit or agency. A reflective leader should recognize their strengths and weaknesses and be willing to make changes when necessary. Furthermore, they should be strong enough to admit when they are wrong or when someone else has a better idea.
In addition, a reflective leader should be in tune with each team member. They should know what motivates them and what their strengths and weaknesses are. A reflective leader should spend more time and effort building relationships with their team members instead of just focusing on the bottom line. It is essential for a reflective leader to function in all four areas: emotional intelligence, vision of the organization, organization, and team-building roles.
Reflective leadership is crucial for leaders who want to take their team to the next level. It helps them to understand their team members, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they can make necessary changes to improve the organization’s performance.
Nash, R. (2017). Reflective leadership. 2.8, Week # 8. National Command and Staff College. Retrieved from https://cloud.scorm.com/content/courses/NAGVXPB5E6/ReflectiveLeadership8fcb9cb8-2f4b-484d-873e-77a7415b6ac8/3/index_lms.html.
I thought the analogy of team roles was an interesting way to define things. I’m not even a sports person, but it really brought to life the different roles within a team. Everyone knows the coaches job: provide influence, direction, and mentorship. The score keeper I felt was important. The instructor talked about yearly reviews and I’ve always been a proponent to giving consistent feedback regularly rather than once or twice a year. It does little to tell someone, “hey for the last year you’ve done X and it doesn’t meet standards”. Well, if it’s important enough to mention then, it should have been important enough to address far sooner. I think at minimum monthly check-ins with someone from the leadership team is essential to building the team to be the best it can be and having no surprises about issues/concerns along the way. It will help build trust and respect and fosters an improvement mentality rather than a discipline based one. The waterboy was also a great addition to the analogy because being a servant leader is important to keeping a motivated team that’s committed to you as a leader and your vision.
Obviously all of these roles apply to leaders. Leaders should be living out each one of these roles to have a successful team. But I think the one thing that wasn’t mentioned was the team captain. This is a vital role in every organization. It’s a role with no supervisory authority, but has such value. They are like a mini everything. They do pieces of all the roles, they keep people on track, the encourage, they motivate, they clarify rules, they meet needs of their team mates, and they still are a main player in the game. They’re the assistant coach so to speak and help leaders make their vision come to life.
I completely agree with you. The analogy of team roles was spot on, and I appreciated how it brought to life the different roles within a team. The scorekeeper and waterboy were great additions to the analogy.
I especially appreciate your point about giving consistent feedback regularly rather than once or twice a year. Monthly check-ins with someone from the leadership team are essential to building the team to be the best it can be and having no surprises about issues/concerns. This will help build trust and respect and foster an improvement mentality rather than a discipline-based one.
I also agree that the team captain plays a vital role in every organization. They are like a mini everything and do pieces of all the roles. They keep people on track, motivate, clarify rules, meet the needs of their teammates, and still play a primary role in the game. They’re the assistant coaches and help leaders realize their vision.
I agree with you about the yearly reviews and the importance of constant feedback. My organization does one coaching and one yearly performance review. However, the good supervisors provide constant feedback throughout the year. I meet with the newer members of my squad once a week to talk with them about how they are doing and provide coaching to them. I meet with the more senior members more unofficially in the field pretty often and we have a squad meeting every couple of weeks to talk about the team as a whole. It not only provides them with constant feedback, but they are able to address both individual performance and team performance. I’ve noticed major differences in how they have been working together as a team. They’ve now implemented weekly squad training to address any deficiencies they have noticed and they are always working to better themselves. I think meeting so often has built a relationship of trust and respect amongst the entire team, and as you mentioned is helping them strive to be the best team they can be.
I think the sports analogy was great, as a sports person i can relate to the different roles on a team and can see how that would be compared to a work environment. I think as the boss or coach to be able to get second in command to not only buy into the policies and procedures but also to sometimes need to change the culture of an organization. A reflective leader should at most times be proactive in terms of not only the organization but factors outside of the organization as well. The leader that can plan ahead anticipating change in policy or personnel can also push down to other supervisors the expectation of the change. We recently had a change in leadership and when our jail superintendent retired and the new superintendent comes from a police dept as a deputy chief and brings his expectations with but also looks ahead for what he thinks can change and how to get the buy in from the other players.
A reflective leader has to take a step back and view themselves as one too. What can I do to better my team and myself? How can help make others stronger and work on our weakness together to become one strong unit.
To become a reflective leader an individual has to understand their organization, become self-aware as well as know their members. A reflective leader understand the policies of the agency and has the ability to make changes to meet the goals as well as think outside of the box and stand up for changes that need to be made to better the unit or agency. They also have the ability to understand their strengths and weakness and recognize when they need to make changes. This individual is strong enough to admit when they are wrong or if someone else has a better idea then they do. A reflective leader is in tune with each of their members. They know what makes them operate, their strengths and weaknesses. This member spends more time and effort on building relationships instead of the bottom line. A reflective leader has to function in all four areas; emotional intelligence, vision of the organization, organization and team building roles, or they won’t be a reflective leader (Nash, 2017).
Reference
Nash, R. (2017). Reflective leadership. 2.8, Week # 8. National Command and Staff College. Retrieved from https://cloud.scorm.com/content/courses/
NAGVXPB5E6/ReflectiveLeadership8fcb9cb8-2f4b-484d-873e-77a7415b6ac8/3/index_lms.html
I think knowing your personnel is super important to being a good leader. You have to be able to reflect on peoples strengths and weaknesses, develop their skills to be the best they can do, and motivate them to be the best for the greater good.
But, reflective leaders have to look at themselves before they can look at others though. They need to make sure they’re leading by example and have the proper emotional intelligence to be an effective leader. They also need to develop a clear picture of their faults, character, and behavior and improve as much as possible.