R is for Reflect

R is for Reflection

“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” —Peter Drucker

This piece is for you—the leader. At the end of every ANCHOR conversation, take a moment to reflect on how it went. Go back to the three goals outlined at the beginning of this chapter.

Ask yourself:

“Did the teacher walk away knowing that I value her?”

“Did the teacher find value in my contribution to the conversation?”

“Did my conversation with him push his thinking, and will it help push practice forward?”

If you answered with a hearty “yes,” that is great, but more importantly, what were the intentional actions you took to make a positive impact with the ANCHOR conversation? Those are the things that we want to be sure we keep doing as we continue our work with other coaching conversations.

On the other hand, if you answered with a wishy-washy “yes,” or even a “no,” what contributed to that answer? What was missing? Once you pinpoint the specific cannonball that snuck into your conversation, ask yourself how you could potentially revisit the conversation and how you could adjust your sails for the next person you meet? A critical component of leadership is building in the time and space for honest self-reflection. 

Without a constant and never-ending drive to improve our own capacity to lead, positive change will stagnate. And to be completely honest, as leaders, we so often rob ourselves of this much-needed time to stop, slow down, and improve our own practice.

Reflection Challenge

Set aside 5-minutes today to self-reflect.

• Take a deep breath.
• Give yourself some much needed space to regroup.
• Consider your experiences from the day. 
• What went well? What might I do differently next time?

-Shelley

ANCHOR Conversations Live Event

Have Questions for us during the #LeadLAP ANCHOR series? Want to dive deeper into ANCHOR at our LIVE event on April 30 9:30 am CST? Drop your questions and sign up HERE.