Reflecting on activity one, my personal top 5 attributes of admired leaders and those I strive to demonstrate each, and every day are like the top 5 listed in the book called Leadership Challenge where they asked over one hundred thousand people around the globe to select seven qualities, out of twenty, that they “most look for and admire in a leader, someone whose direction they would willingly follow.” (Kouzes, J. & Posner, B., 2012, p.33-34).
| Ranking | Dorothy | Leadership Challenge |
| 1 | Inspiring | Honest |
| 2 | Honest | Forward Looking |
| 3 | Intelligent | Competent |
| 4 | Supportive | Inspiring |
| 5 | Competent | Intelligent |
I found great success in my leadership journey within my role as the Manager of the Learning & Development to implement digital learning transformation and change within my organization because I’ve been able find meaning and purpose in my role as a leader to make an impact and real difference in the learning lives of our employees.
Through strong self-awareness, I’ve been able to lead and support strategic priorities and large projects and align our departments contributions in the learning space directly with vision, mission, values, and culture. “One key role of leaders involves communicating visions and values that help followers understand the ultimate purpose of their work” (Castelli, 2016, p.223). Being able to make the connection between ones’ work and how it directly contributes to the organizations vision will motivate individuals as they are able to see how they make a difference.
Author, Patricia Castelli wrote about reflective leadership being a consistent and focused practice of reflection, which includes self-awareness, mindfulness and personal wisdom resulting in conscious awareness of behaviors, situations, and consequences with the goal of improving organizational performance (2016).
Part of my journey on self-awareness has been consistent reflection and practice of Insights Discovery, a psychometric tool and resource, I was exposed to early on in my career. This tool has helped highlight my strengths and weaknesses, values to the team I bring, personal communication do’s and don’ts, and my blind spots. Understanding myself and how best to adapt, connect and strengthen relationship with others who are different.
Being self aware of my tendencies and how I show up on a good day when things are going well and, on the flip-side, when overworked, overexerted and over stressed how those may show up, has helped elevate my self-awareness and be mindful of my judgement, behaviors and reactions. This has been advantageous when working with team members, leaders, key stakeholders, and decision makers to influence and get support through the era of digital learning transformation, whether it be to implement an LMS, engage in social learning communities through SLACK or facilitate soft skill training through virtual platforms.
“Self-awareness is central to reflective leadership and involves actively focusing on some aspect of the self instead of the external environment. By focusing on our own behaviors through candid self-evaluation, we can more accurately assess our strengths and weaknesses. As a result, attempts to make positive improvements and meaningful change can occur” (Castelli, 2016, p. 219).
As I continue my leadership journey, I will continue to lean in to my strengths as a reflective leader and develop new leadership qualities to support, lead and advocate for digital learning transformation.