Reflect
What do you see when you look again?
Some decisions need thinking through. Some things are difficult to see from where you stand. And sometimes the work itself leaves a mark.
Reflection gives us another way of noticing.
Noticing what we’re doing, what we’re missing, and what we’re carrying.
Why Reflect?
Sometimes you need to test your thinking.
Sometimes you need to notice what you are missing.
Sometimes you need to understand what you are carrying.
You’re working a live case
You need somewhere independent to think through what you know, test your reasoning, consider different perspectives and decide what happens next.
You might be too close to see clearly.
Experience and relationships shape what we notice. Independent reflection can help uncover the assumptions, biases and blind spots that we all have, and that are difficult to see.
Leadership can be a lonely place.
The work is demanding, uncertainty is draining, and there are things you cannot always say to colleagues, governors or the people you lead. Regular supervision provides a confidential space to think and speak freely, without having to manage the relationships around you.
You want to check your practice.
You’ve made – or are about to make – a decision and want to test whether your thinking, actions and processes are professionally and procedurally sound.
Something keeps coming back.
A case, a decision or a situation continues to occupy your thinking. Reflection can help you make sense of the experience, identify what you are learning from it and consider what that means for your practice now.
Someone in your team needs supervision.
You want a DSL or other leader carrying significant responsibility to have regular, independent space for reflection, professional challenge and support.
Some things weigh heavily.
Some things are difficult to leave at work. A decision you keep replaying. A child you’re worried about. A conversation that stays with you. Responsibility that follows you home. Reflection doesn’t make those things disappear. But it can change how heavily you carry them.
Need an independent perspective?
If you have something you would like to discuss, in confidence, get in touch for an initial, no-obligation conversation.