After spending the last few weeks coaching a number of leaders in various roles and industries, I was struck by the commonality of each of their needs. “I just need time to step back and think more strategically,” was the refrain I heard over and over again.
It seems simple enough, give yourself some quiet, focused time to think and strategize. Certainly the research and leadership scholarship identifies reflection as a critical practice for successful leaders. Schon defines “reflection-in-action” as a process that consists of developing strategies of action, understanding phenomena, framing and reframing situations encountered in day-to-day experience. Sounds like something every leader should engage in.
At its root, reflection requires time. And here is the rub. Who has the time? The answer is of course that we all have the same 24 hours in a day. It is how we use it, what we attend to, that makes or breaks us. If sleep was optional, there are some who would skip it. They would of course get seriously injured or ill, but they would have a few extra hours over the rest of us. Reflection is like sleep in its criticality. But unlike sleep, it is optional. But without it, we often find ourselves on the reactive rather than proactive side of the equation. We can certainly survive. The question is, can we thrive?
To be an effective leader, to be a strategic leader, we need to carve out some time each day, or, at a minimum, each week to take stock of things, to look out toward the horizon, to anticipate what’s coming and make preparations, to define where we are going and forge the path ahead.
This reflection can take many forms. It can be narrative, bulleted, illustrative. The form itself does not matter – use whatever works best for you. But be sure to take the time to think through your past, present and future circumstances so that you learn from past mistakes, gather the necessary information to make good decisions now, and chart a course for the future.
Being strategic is not so much a skill as a practice. Give yourself the time to practice yours.
