Dear Friends, I was gratified to see that 🔗 FC #27 on ‘Resolutions’ evoked very interesting comments from you all. Please continue to provide your feedback, I love reading your thoughts.
On January 10th, 1964, the first album of the English rock band, The Beatles, Introducing the Beatles, was released in the US by Vee-Jay Records. The Beatles were a group formed in Liverpool in 1960. Formerly called the Quarrymen or the Silver Beatles, byname Fab Four, the British musical quartet was a global cynosure for the hopes and dreams of a generation that came of age in the 1960s. Their best-known line-up comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, and they are regarded as the most influential band of all time.
🤔 Reflections
In this edition of FC, I will be reflecting on what meanings could be attributed to ‘Reflections’. The word normally connotes ‘serious thinking or considering something carefully’. It could also mean a thought that develops out of that thinking. Reflection could also be related to an opinion either good or bad. Someone might say, “The manner in which he conducted himself is a reflection of his integrity” or “The manner in which she espoused the cause of discrimination is a reflection of her courage”.
Reflecting deals with something which has occurred or which is a thing of the past. It can be seen as an obsession if one were to relentlessly reflect ruefully over something bad that happened or regret something bad that could have been avoided. Living a bad experience over and over again, wishing it never happened, can be traumatic.
Reflecting and regretting should not be considered as synonymous. In fact, if you reflect more on an incident or an occurrence instead of regretting it, you may think of ways to avoid repeating it or find a way to make amends. It is common for us to regret having said something or done something. But we should move from regret to reflection, which helps you to think through what happened, how it happened, who caused it to happen and whether it was justified or not. Regret clouds your thinking and clutters your brain with all kinds of thoughts. Reflecting helps you to think clearly. It is for this reason that meditation is recommended as it helps you to reflect on a regrettable incident and come to terms with it.
You may have heard people preface their conversation with “On reflection, I think I should not have/could have done this.” In either case, it is not an expression of regret but a sign of realisation.
Reflection can have positive connotations like introspection, contemplation, and cogitation. You tend to introspect, before taking a particular action or embarking on something that’s out of the ordinary, thinking of the consequences of your action or planning your next move.
A chess player may well reflect on what happened in his past games and how he must make his moves.
Reflection can help plan for the future. Imagine, the reflections of a lady who has been proposed to by the man she has been dating. She would then think deeply, reflect on their relationship, the man’s traits, behaviour and various other attributes before she can say either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the man’s proposal.
Reflecting on your past may evoke mixed reactions. Some of it may make you smile and some may make you frown.
Meditative reflection is a very powerful process. It helps the mind to analyse in-depth a certain matter and either come to terms with it or take a positive view and dispel any misgiving that may be associated with it. Meditation helps you sort out the web of conflicts and the flood of diverse thoughts and paint a clearer picture of the situation.
Thinking and reflecting have their own interesting differentiation, though at first, they may sound synonymous. But critical thinking and reflective thinking demonstrate how different they can be.
Critical thinking leads toward what needs to be done whereas reflective thinking focuses on what has happened. However, reflective thinking is important in problem-solving situations because it provides you with an opportunity to step back and think about how you can actually solve problems. Reflective thinking can also be a part of the critical thinking process, helping you analyse and form opinions about what has happened.
If you visualise a thief thinking through his plan to commit robbery, he no doubt contemplates on his moves and the timing of them, but at the same time, he reflects on what might happen if he gets caught in the act and plans ahead to avert being caught. Whether he succeeds or not is dependent on certain other factors over which he may have no control.
👩🏽💼 Thought Leadership & Reflective Leadership
Thought leadership is about individuals who are successful in their respective fields. But a thought leader should not be confused with an expert. Subject matter experts use their knowledge and skills to drive performance to the next level and share their expertise, often training other people. On the other hand, thought leaders use their knowledge to drive innovation. In other words, they inspire others to think out of the box.
Reflective leadership involves self-awareness, responsiveness and a keen sense of observation. These leaders draw from past experience and historical evidence and are keen on creating a relationship-based organization.
A turnaround manager may well display certain qualities of thought leader, a reflective leader and an expert. He identifies the problems plaguing a company which is on its way down, uses various diagnostic tools, inspires people and uses his own expertise in reviving the company. His reflections of his past experience and his reflective thinking about the problems on hand help him analyse them and put matters in perspective.
Readers - what reflections do you have to share about “Reflections”?
✈️ In Other News: A Historic Moment for Air India
An all-women cockpit crew consisting of Capt Zoya Aggarwal, Capt Papagari Thanmai, Capt Akansha Sonaware and Capt Shivani Manhas will operate the historic inaugural flight between Bengaluru and San Francisco — directly connecting the two silicon valleys. The aerial distance between San Francisco and Bengaluru is one of the longest in the world, and the route will take the plane over the North Pole.
The inaugural flight AI176 will depart from San Francisco in the USA at 8.30 pm PST on Saturday, January 9th and it will land at the Kempegowda International Airport at 3.45 am IST on Monday, January 11th. What a proud moment for all of us as India’s woman-power flies high!
🥚 Mental Eggcercise
Dear folks, please feel free to share any disagreements or different perspectives that you have over what I have said in the comments section. Before I sign off, I ask you to reflect on the life you have been living for the past 10 months. Think of others too. Wear the mask and let the vaccine come on the scene.
Ciao!
Professional like me are Thought Leaders. This is my reflection on leadership.
Shahji is quick thinker !!! Thanks for new insight.
Probably the best one so far pras excellent definition of reflection is brought out
Beautiful presentation 👏👏👏