Importance of SELF-REFLECTION in LEADERSHIP

SELF-REFLECTION in leadership is crucial for sustainability and for contribution from a leader to take place. This is applicable for political and corporate leadership.

Leaders sometimes fail to self-reflect or analyze their strength, weaknesses and whether their actions are in tandem with people’s needs and favour.

Self-reflection gives information on leadership performance.

Some leaders fail to do this as they are in a comfortable mindset where they only believe their actions are always correct. They develop this illusion of high confidence and, coupled with ego, is where they fall into a trap.

This prevents them from self-reflecting or accepting their mistakes.

But one may ask, how can I self-reflect?

Willingness and openness are important behaviours that leaders must possess for self-reflection. Then, various approaches can be implemented to obtain information on leadership performance.

One of the best methods is by listening to people’s opinions about one’s leadership efficiency. In the corporate world, it can be done periodically via open and non-biased discussions.

An organizational survey is another method to obtain data on leadership performance and effectiveness.

As a leader, one’s advisers can be an input regarding the climate of one’s leadership styles.

But, often, leaders prefer to hear nice things about themselves. This can force advisers to say only good things to their leaders.

Social media, such as Facebook, is a good tool for political leaders to measure or gain information about their leadership performances as social media is a good window to people’s feelings.

A leader would know whether his actions are liked by his people by listening to the heartbeat of the nation via social media. As a leader, one could take measures to stabilize a situation.

In the corporate world, there are times when leaders rarely think about correcting themselves, but place the blame on people for downturns organizations face.

Sometimes, primary leaders in corporate arena, such as the chief executive officer (CEO), fail to look at the emotional aspect of their employees.

Many employees can get frustrated by the negative actions of a CEO.

Leaders in corporate and political world must realize that their employees are their first asset and key to their success.

If your people do not like your leadership styles and actions, they will not be with you forever.

Self-reflect by listening to the voices of your people for continuous improvement.

by VIGNESWARAN KANNAN