The greatest skill
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The greatest skill isn't one that you can buy. The greatest skill is one that's never done. The greatest skill is the simple act of reflection. You might wonder how the act of reflection can be a skill, but if you can be good or bad at something, it's a skill. Reflection can be done in a bunch of ways, can take just a minute or go on for hours, and be completely personal to what you need. For most of my life, I've been terrible at the skill of reflection, and even worse at taking that skill and acting on what it produces. It's only until this year, 2024, that I've been able to build the skill of regularly reflecting every single week, even daily in some bursts. I have a journal that's almost completely full, with 7 prompts that I answer every time, and now the journal has a history that I can skim through to learn more about myself. (If you want to know what they are, send me a note and I'll share them.) This year, reflection became a secret strength. By pausing more often this year it helped me with big insights into what was happening for me personally and professionally. Was I perfect in acting on every reflection? Absolutely not. Often I learned that I needed more "soak time" with the reflection. What it's ultimately done for me is build up the confidence in using it when I know I need it. Sounding like... "I'm feeling stuck; time to go take a walk and think." "Something has felt off the last few days, I'm going to make sure I journal in the morning." The type of reflection I'm talking about now is what Donald Schön calls, "reflection-on-action", in his book "The Reflective Practitioner" (1984). When we practice reflection after the fact, seeing how we could show up better next time - we're reflecting on something that's already happened. The other type of reflection he mentions is "reflection-in-action" - which involves pausing while doing something, thinking of alternate options, and adjusting if you need to. When you practice more "on" reflection, you get better at "in" reflection. Here are a few reasons why reflection is the greatest skill, especially for leaders: 1 // Working in complexity makes it impossible to have all the "technical" tools and answers for every situation. Regular reflection helps you think again about what you've been through to sharpen up for the next time a similar complexity shows up, and it will. 2 // It helps build your confidence in your future decisions. Taking the time to understand better how you handled a situation helps clarify your experience and trust yourself more in the future. 3 // Reflection helps you stay loose. Taking time to look at things through different frames and angles helps you stay flexible to new ways of doing things. Have you ever wished you were more rigid? Probably not. Like any skill, if you don't use it for a broader good, it's not as useful to you. Taking time to reflect often but not acting on the new learning is like being a great cook of a single ingredient but never becoming a chef who can create amazing meals. Reflection is the ultimate re-balance practice, and it's a skill I want to keep building. Since this is the last "Bring Balance Back" newsletter of 2024, please take time for yourself to think about big experiences from this year, and what you learned from them. Try writing them down and revisiting what you learned, in the months ahead. Learning from reflection can help you do more of what you hope to do, and be how you hope to be, but only if you let it. I wish you all the best reflection in 2025. ❤️ Here are a few related resources that I've enjoyed recently and have been sharing: 1 // "In an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still." (15 min TED Talk) 2 // "What would I have to believe for this truth to change?" (Unleash Your Complexity Genius, Jennifer Garvey Berger & Carolyn Coughlin) 3 // Stop asking, "how do I fix myself?". Stop fighting your nature. (5 min read) If you enjoyed this, would you forward it to 1 friend who might like it too? Subscribing is easy, click below.
I hope you all have a great week ahead! With gratitude, Jason P.S. - There are 3 ways I can help you when you're ready: working with you 1:1 as a leader, helping your team "team" better, and learning as a group how to manage Accidental Diminishing tendencies with the Multipliers Leadership Development program. You are receiving this email because you subscribed at https://kinkou.org. Did you make some changes or no longer want to receive these emails? You can update your profile or unsubscribe below. |