Reflective practice is nowadays seen as essential for effective work with vulnerable populations. This Sub-Chapter will look at leadership and reflection from a slightly different perspective – more akin to the phenomenon of reciprocity that we came across in the Chapter on Anthropology.
So what is reflection?
We discussed symmetry already and the common understanding of our reflection is that what we see when we look into a mirror!
I, the looker, and my image are symmetrical along the axis of symmetry (remember that term from the symmetry link above) which is the face of the mirror. This, of course, is my reflection – that which is reflected back to me by the polished face of the mirror – or the still lake as we saw in the Chapter where I mentioned the not-very-reflective-Narcissus.
In the human/psychological world, I will assign a slightly different meaning to reflection.
I will define it as the ability (and willingness – which is very important) to consider what impact our behaviour has on both the physical and human environment, take responsibility for it, and then consider the response by the environment – particularly other people.
There is a cause and effect that is intrinsic to this description. The effect is that which is reflected back to us as a result of our action – which is the cause.
This is a little more complex than seeing our perfect image in a mirror (our reflection) because we don’t know for certain how the environment (or the other person) is going to re-act when we act.
Let us consider two rules – one from the world of physics and one from our religious tradition.
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction is Newton’s First Law. Translating this to humanity, (and suspending, for a moment, Jesus‘ exhortation to offer the other cheek if we are slapped) it could mean if I hit you – you hit me back. Or it could mean if I’m nice to you you’ll be nice to me. Both of these statements might have an element of truth in them – but because of the complexity of the human being they are not always true.
And from our religious tradition we also have do unto others as you would like them to do to you. This is all very well – but what if the other doesn’t like what you like?
So while reflection in the physical world (the mirror) is precise and exact and certain, reflection in the human sphere is full of uncertainty.
As a very simple kick-start on our discussion on reflection I ask you to consider whether people who have the ability and willingness to reflect are happy and those who do not or struggle a lot with it tend to be somewhat discontented with life.
I ask this question because it came to me when I considered the developmental aspect of reflection.
At three years of age we have not developed the capability to reflect. During what we call the terrible-threes we assume that the entire universe should bow to our demands and if it doesn’t it’s like a disaster – metaphorically of course.
By seven (which, when I was going to school, used to be called the age of reason), in normal developmental trajectory, we’ve learned a bit about reflection and that it’s good for us. That is, reflection is associated with getting our needs met and/or accepting that we cannot always get our needs met. This is an important developmental stage in respect of acceptance of reality and taking responsibility and there are associated good feelings about it.
In teenage years we suspend reflection again but this is for different reasons that we do it at three. This time we are desperately trying to forge our own identity and place in the world, rebelling against our parents and the establishment in general.
I believe that if we are overly punished as children and/or conditioned to believe that the world is hierarchical and top-down at our maturational stages, we’ll struggle a bit in learning the very important developmental skill of reflection.
This may be because of the protective armour (that we described in a previous Chapter) we construct to defend ourselves, or, in the top-down case, our ready acceptance of myth. When we reflect, we are a little bit vulnerable – because the result of our reflection could be disadvantageous for ourselves.
Just as a simple example, if I reflected on the implications of buying cheap clothes that are coming from a factory where children are exploited my conscience might be aroused and I might choose to buy only those clothes that are made in a factory where people are not exploited – and then have to pay a lot more!
Or if I as a community leader (because this Chapter is all about Leadership) reflect on the implications of making a decision to get something done quickly that rides roughshod over the wishes of people who are living in the community – or, indeed, staff that I am leading- I might experience fear that 1): my authority will be eroded, or 2): my lack of knowledge will be shown up, or 3): I won’t get credit for whatever it is I was going to do.
So sometimes reflection can be very challenging!