A letter from Sep 22, 2023

Reflective learning in my leadership practice: Schon (1996) said that reflection can be helpful in an individual's practice to progress. Reflection thinking helps me challenge my leadership learning practice as I justify and rationalize my decisions (Lichtenstein et al., 2000). It simultaneously inspired me to understand different perspectives, viewpoints, and creativities to shape our community or nation; I firmly believe that as a leader in my society, I possess integrity, self-confidence, and empathy. Being honest and trustworthy helps me to act by my words and own up to my mistakes without hiding them or blaming someone or a situation. Integrity also makes me reliable so that people can trust me unthinkingly. I always follow the company's rules and policies; I value time and resources by respecting other colleagues and consumers with my integrity trait. I always remember that as a leader, my positive behavior replicates my organization's and my reputation. My self-confidence assures me that my actions are appropriate and suitable for my community. Being self-confident is necessary to make decisions for myself and others. I always deal with conflict situations directly and clearly with my self-confidence. I always keep a smile on my face in any circumstances, as I am confident and optimistic. If I think positively, I will feel righteous; if I feel sure, I can behave well, which will help me make good human relations and develop my performance to create a win-win situation. I employ empathy in my personal and professional life to make good human relations with my followers, neighbors, and family. Through empathetic leadership, I can connect with anyone on a personal level. If I realize someone in my community who is misbehaving, insulting, or trying to put me down, I show empathy to them firmly, as I feel those people are not in good condition in their lives and need more compassion. This practice helped me understand the reasons for other people's negative behavior and change their mindset into positivity by creating a good relationship. As a human being, I also need motivation and suggestions to hold these traits in my leadership practice. To develop my leadership skills further, I ask for feedback from my students, colleagues, and family members to keep my positive attributes and change any negative traits I have in my blind spots. My students are my genuine advice-givers in my profession. I use a questionnaire survey in my class, asking them what things they expect from me in different ways. This anonymous feedback allows me to learn my accountabilities and change my teaching method accordingly. I always like to interact with seniors who have succeeded in their careers. I ask them to observe my work or personality and provide constructive criticism. Last week, I had my class observation by our Dean of Instruction. Her constructive feedback has increased my enthusiasm and professionalism. She suggested encouraging my students to think and analyze critically; I plan to implement this in my class. Her concluding comment made me more responsible: "Our students and organization are lucky to have you here." My mother is my best coach for my professional and personal life, though she always advises me to improve my thought process further rather than praising my abilities. She thinks her confirmation of my good quality will make me procrastinate to improve further. Last weekend, I had a conversation with my mother, and she reminded me to be empathetic, aware of my mistakes, and down to earth. Her one statement from last weekend made me mature more; "there is always some way to improve yourself." Her significant comment made me understand, "I am in the right direction, but I need to put more effort into improving myself. Spirituality also helps me to rethink my activities. I am still determining how much spirituality has been discussed and accepted in higher education. Still, I practice and take it seriously to develop my integrity, self-confidence, and empathy through religiousness. My faith in my God always makes me do good things for people and eradicates me from selfishness. If I realize that someone gets hurt by my language, behavior, or actions, I immediately talk with them and resolve any misunderstanding. I apologize and express compassion to them, even though I am not the reason for their pain. The last two weeks have been my reflection weeks as I have received much feedback from many sources that allow me to reconsider myself deeply. I reviewed myself to justify that my traits are on the right track and what things I need to add/delete/change from my personality to influence and develop my community. I have decided to keep my smile, which makes me happy, confident, and positive. Also, I will show my empathy to everyone to encourage them in their field; that way, I can build strong relationships, positively influence others, and conquer triumph. Leading myself in a proper direction is more accessible than leading others to the right path. In my leadership practice, I face many obstacles from my surroundings, which could distract my positive spirit. As people think and react differently, it confuses me in understanding their expectations, and this creates conflict. However, I take responsibility for these misunderstandings by compassionating my surrounding people. Moreover, I practice reflection to understand my thoughts and actions repetitively. I also use my critical thinking to realize others' expectations and their ability to accept me and acknowledge my leadership behavior. A few days ago, I had a conversation with one of my colleagues in a very informal way. I tried to make her happy and cheerful during the conversation as she was dealing with personal issues. After our face-to-face conversation, she forwarded me a file that we had discussed during our conversation. Unexpectedly, she got hurt by receiving my formal 'thank you' message in response. She replied, "You are different in writing communication; just now, we had a conversation where we seemed like friends, but now your message seems like you do not know me well." Now I realize that my thinking and behaving-writing/speaking/nonverbal procedures can differ. I could not communicate with her through writing according to my feelings for her. In contrast, I sent a respectful message according to my personality that did not match her informal expectations; in this case, should I change my professional nature? This is a challenge to collaborate with others' expectations and my understanding. I need to understand when it is vital to move beyond empathy into consideration and then be able to outline a way forward. We all have problems, and how we solve them makes us different (Densten & Gray, 2001). As a potential leader, I practice reflection in my leadership to be kind but not weak, firm but not impolite, and humble but not nervous. I also do good things for others regardless of the personal or professional negative impact that can have on my career. I know how to balance individual interests with my community's aims. As a versatile leader, I want to create an environment where my society can achieve its goals without sacrificing people's satisfaction.