A minute of morning reflection can strongly improve your management performance during the day.
This is the finding of researchers at the University of Florida, who followed managers and aspiring leaders who thought about their daily leadership goals. “It’s as simple as taking a few moments in the morning while you’re drinking your coffee to reflect on who you want to be as a leader,” said coauthor Remy Jennings, a Ph.D. candidate in business administration at the University of Florida, in a statement.
Employees who did so reported providing more strategic vision and help to teammates, as well as feeling more power and influence in the office on the days they reflected in the morning. This was true for both current leaders and aspiring leaders.
The researchers suggest these prompts to help you conjure up your “best possible leader self”:
- Who do you aspire to be as a leader?
- Imagine that today goes as well as it possibly could for you as a leader—what does that look like?
- What qualities of yours make you a good leader?
- What are your proudest leadership moments?
- What impact do you want to have on your employees? (motivation, inspiration, talent development, etc.) What traits of yours will facilitate that?
Go forth and lead.
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