Why Reflections Matter

Jargon is where good ideas go to die. 

I’m sure the first time someone said, “think outside the box,” or “let’s circle back,” it was exciting and signaled a new way of working. But when a word or phrase is overused, it starts to lose its meaning. You know when your grandma started saying “on fleek” when you were in middle school, and suddenly, that word lost its rizz, it happens with the language of the office as well. 

Lately, I’ve seen reflection suffer this same fate. It loses its luster when it is weaponized: “you might want to reflect on that.” Or when it becomes another box to check in a list of activities for your annual review. 

This one in particular hits me deep. I’m a reflective person. What I am noticing in the workplace and even in the personal space is people reflecting as prompted by others, but not taking up the deep work of reflection. I also see leaders getting stuck in a loop: read, act, perform, reflect, repeat. That type of routine doesn't lead to lasting growth.

This loop isn’t just in the office. It is across all reflective, development programs. For example, I’ve done 75 Hard a few times. It is a strict routine that requires daily progress photos, sticking to a specific diet, working out twice a day, and reading 10 pages of a nonfiction book. It is hard. What I learned through being part of the 75 Hard communities online is that people read the nonfiction book. They may try a few of the strategies, but for most people, in the long run, it doesn’t stick or they move on to the next nonfiction book and take up the next set of strategies.

I see this pattern repeating in organizations. 

Reflection is meant to show you who you are. It is deeply personal, and cannot be accomplished by checking a box on a list. Reflection can help show you where you have been, where you are going, and it holds up a mirror to allow you to see yourself completely. Reflection can be a place where you explore your successes to make them repeatable, your failures to make them not repeatable, and your path forward. 

You can buy a million journals with prompts. You can find sentence stems and performance review forms everywhere. But this ubiquity leads to jargon death. An idea that started out as transformative loses its power.

Well, I’m not quite ready to host a funeral for reflection. 

Seneca noted over 2,000 years ago that reflection is a daily habit to judge your own character, correct your faults, and pursue wisdom. The practice has stood the test of time, and I refuse to toss it into the jargon pyre.

In the pursuit of wisdom through reflection, I offer you two types of reflection: the activity based reflection and the growth based reflection. 

The activity based reflection happens pretty regularly. This may be what you do at night as you are wrapping up your day or an “after action reflection” post event or conflict.

This type of reflection can look like a quick wrap:

1. What did I do well today?

2. Where did I struggle or stray?

3. What helped me to stay grounded?

4. What was the cause of my struggle or stray?

   
   

It might also sound like:

1. What was my role in the success of [event]? 

2. What was my role in the shortcomings of [event]?

3. What amends do I need to make?

4. What am I actively working on integrating?

   
   

Growth-Based reflection is different and more guided. At The Wellman Way, we build custom reflections for leaders looking to pursue personal wisdom. For reflection to build true wisdom, externalizing the event or action helps unlock new insight. For example, you read a book, watched a movie, listened to an album, and it stirred something in you. Then you can reflect on what you can learn from others and their success and shortcomings. 

Personally, I have a trove of favorite external examples that I turn to time and time again to aid in my reflections. One of my favorite books is Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday. He tells the story of President Kennedy who is working through the Cuban Missile Crisis. When I am struggling with a complex decision, I return to that chapter. I reflect on how Kennedy weighed advice, processed tension, and found certainty. That external reference point helps me navigate my own difficult choices.

This works beyond crisis decisions. At The Wellman Way, we have created (and continue to create) a suite of external reflections using popular media as the tool. What I love about these reflections is you can enjoy a movie with your spouse, read a book with your child, or listen to an album with your dad, and still find space to reflect and grow. 

We currently are offering free, downloadable reflections on The Odyssey, Project Hail Mary, and Fourth Wing. We also offer custom reflection guides for you and your team. Want to throw a team movie night? We’ve got you covered. 

Don’t let reflection become another meaningless corporate buzzword. Head over to thewellmanway.com and check out our current reflections or reach out and we will help you plan your next team reflection.

Explore Reflections