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This is Part 6 in a series of articles that introduce the main ideas about Reflection Leadership.
Leaders have a responsibility to not only pay attention to those things that are happening within the organization but also those things that are happening outside of the control of the organization. What happens outside of the organization helps to shape the activities inside of the organization.
As leaders, when we are able to look outside of the organization, we’re able to scan the environment in which we operate for various threats and opportunities. Our ability to recognize the importance of outside factors can many times mean the difference in a highly competitive environment.
Organizations don’t operate in a vacuum and understanding the environment in which we do business is just as important as understanding our followers, having a clear vision, and having appropriate organizational systems. When we are able to stop and reflect on our environment we are able to shape our organization to leverage the outside forces.
Practicing Environment Reflection
As with the other areas of Reflection Leadership, the most important thing to being able to practice Environment Reflection is to be able to take the time to stop and look around. In this case, it is important to be able to get our heads up above the day-to-day grind in our own organization to be able to see what is going on outside and to recognize those things that will most influence our work. Environmental Reflection starts with being able to ask questions like:
Who are our direct and indirect competitors?
Which way is the economy heading and how will it affect us?
Are there trends happening in society that we can use as opportunities for our organization?
Are there trends happening in society that are threats to our organization?
What is the current state of governmental regulation related to our organization and is likely to change?
When we are able to take the time to ask these types of questions we are able to begin understanding the context in which our organization operates.
Environment Reflection is a way to regularly take a look at what is going on around the organization that can affect it’s operations. By taking the time to reflect on what is happening outside of the organization, we can recognize opportunities early enough to be able to take advantage of them. We are also able to recognize threats to the organization in time to lessen any damage these threats may pose. Once we are able to reflect on external factors that influence our organization, we are able to go back and reflect on those things that are internal to the organization with a different understanding of where we stand in relation to the world around us.
Even though many of the things that we find when we practice Environment Reflection are beyond our control they are nevertheless extremely important. Since no organization operates in a vacuum it is our ability to respond to external forces, either from a positive or negative perspective, that determines our effectiveness as leaders. Environment Reflection allows us to take the time to understand what is going on around the organization. It also allows us to reflect on what these external factors mean to the organization and how best to use what we have found to the greatest advantage of the organization.
As effective leaders, we also have to be able to articulate what we see outside of the organization and how we interpret what it means for the organization. Doing this is important so that everyone in the organization can understand when we have to make changes to what we are doing or to our systems or vision it is because of outside influences.
Are there certain external influences that you have had to pay particular attention to? How have you been able to practice Environment Reflection to help you understand the environment that your organization operates in?
