Personal Reflections

Personal Reflections
Assignment #4
Scott MacPherson
Dr. Marti Cleveland-Innes
EDDE 804: Leadership and Project Management in Distance Education
18 April 2016

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Descriptive Reflection
One of my favourite quotes is from T.S. Eliots, The Dry Salvages, We had the
experience but missed the meaning. Reflection helps people to find the relevancy and
meaning in an experience so that they might be able to create new knowledge and/or make
connections between what they believed to be true, and the new information they have
attained through their experience.

Although there is no one, specific definition or

standardized method for observing it, the purpose of reflection is relatively universal in that
regardless of the setting (educational or otherwise) reflection serves to deepen ones
understanding of a particular topic or experience (Gustafson & Bennett, 2001).

In the

following paragraphs, I will reflect on my experiences in EDDE804 and articulate how they
have contributed to my overall leadership knowledge and skills throughout the past 13 weeks.
Effective leadership is a topic that has intrigued me throughout both my scholastic and
professional careers. In my MBA, my major was leadership and I learned a great deal about
the concept of sustainable leadership.

'Sustainable leadership' recognizes the complex

interdependency between individuals, business, markets and society and the eco-system, with
the aspiration that the organization creates prosperity and social value as well as long term
commercial success, while protecting the environment in which we are all participants
(Mohrman & Shani, 2011).

From a contextual perspective, sustainability and ethics were

buzzwords in business schools at the time of my MBA due to several relatively recent
corporate accounting scandals (i.e. WorldCom in 2002) and Wall Street scandals (i.e. Lehman
Brothers in 2008); and, a great deal of emphasis began to be placed on the importance of
ethical and sustainable conduct and decision-making in business as a result. For me, this
meant that a leader is most effective when her/his behaviours, practices and systems create

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sustainable and ethical value for their stakeholders. The challenge I was then faced with was
how do I translate this knowledge into my everyday activities and decision-making? I
learned that a key factor in the journey to answer to this question was reflection: constant selfreflection and a process of evaluation and re-evaluation. After completing my MBA, I
continued to focus my study in these areas and learned of theories/tools such as framing,
mental models, action inquiry, and leadership agility to support me in my efforts to
continually improve my leadership skills.
My goal in this doctoral program was to achieve a formal education (in subjects such
as learning, teaching, curriculum, etc.) and prepare myself for a professional career in
academia. In 804 it has been stimulating to revisit the topic of leadership. What Ive learned in
804 that differs from my leadership studies in my MBA is how complex situations often
require different or multiple leadership approaches. In researching how education could play a
role in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan for assignment two, it was
troubling to learn how billions are being spent each year on development and humanitarian
assistance yet there is only slow progress in its educational systems. When I presented my
project to my cohort, I received feedback from classmates who were familiar with previous
development efforts in Afghanistan or in similar areas. Kim shared an example of her
husbands experience while serving in Afghanistan where new schools were built in many
rural communities; however, the locals were stealing the wood from door frames, etc. to use
as firewood for warmth and cooking. As in Maslows hierarchy of needs, one must satisfy
lower level basic needs (i.e. shelter, warmth) before progressing on to meet higher level
growth needs (i.e. education). Initially when considering the most appropriate leadership
approach to this project, I favored a more transformational type of leadership that would serve

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to break down some of the cultural and gender barriers that the woman of Afghanistan face.
However, I soon realized that there was much more to the challenge than providing an
inspirational message and that it would be imprudent to think that one type of leadership
method could address everything. There were obvious needs for other types of leadership (i.e.
servant, distributed, transactional), especially considering the myriad of problems (cultural,
economic, and logistical) in Afghanistan.
Prior to 804, my educational focus in the topic of leadership was primarily associated
with the different levels of leadership (Opportunist, Diplomat, Expert, Achiever, Individualist,
Strategist, Alchemist) and how one can become a more effective leader (Torbert, 2004). I have
since developed a better understanding of different leadership theories and how a leader can
utilize a combination of different leadership styles depending on the situation or context. The
desired leadership qualities of the past - experience, decisiveness, authoritative, etc. - don't
necessarily work in our world today (Goleman, 2000). I think in the future we will see more
agile leaders who are able to identify which leadership style best addresses the demands of a
particular situation instead of choosing the style that suits their personality. In the financial
sector a number of years ago there was a shift from investing heavily in key stocks (which left
portfolios quite vulnerable) to applying a more balanced approach by spreading investments
over a number of different stocks. The effective leaders of the future will position themselves
similarly by offering a combination of leadership styles.

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References
Denton, D. (2011). Reflection and Learning: Characteristics, obstacles, and
implications. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 43(8).
Gustafson, K., & Bennett, J. (2001). Promoting Learner Reflection: Issues and
difficulties emerging from a three-year study. Mesa, AZ: Air Force Research
Laboratory.
Mohrman, S. A., & Shani, A. B. (2011). Organizing for Sustainable Effectiveness:
Taking Stock and Moving Forward. In Organizing for Sustainability. London,
England: Emerald Press.
Torbert, W. R. (2004). Action Inquiry. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.