This week we have a guest poster, the team over at OweYaa led by Luke Jenkins. They would like you to take out the time to understand the importance of reflection. Reflecting over lesson’s learned and experiences greatly enhances our growth. MilitaryMentors encourages you to consistently and constantly reflect during your daily developmental journey. Sign up, share, and tell people about us so we can all help each other grow!

Life can be fast paced and hectic, especially during years of government or military service. Days in the field, day’s deployed, early morning physical training, extra duties, late nights, social time, and all those life tasks in between. Take a minute right now to think about those experiences. Narrow it down to one big moment. Maybe it’s a rotation to a training center or specialty school, maybe it is from your personal life taking care of your kids, or maybe it is a special moment spent with a loved one. Did you take time to assess the outcomes of that moment? Are you able to point out success and what made the moment possible? Can you point out failures that may have been barriers for other moments and what led you to them? Was there a mentor who may have guided you, and if not, how would one have helped? Most importantly, have you thought about all these things and applied what you may have learned to your next big moment? Before you dive into this article, please take a minute to reflect on the above questions.
Reflection, as it relates to personal life, leadership, and everyday growth in your profession is extremely important. Day-in and day-out we experience highs and lows, peaks and troughs, good times and bad. Every single day, every single project, every single decision you make, you can learn from. So how is it that you can take all those experiences and truly learn from them, especially in a way that you can apply what you have learned to be better tomorrow? The team at OweYaa, a skills based volunteering service, have narrowed it down to four areas to focus your reflection on that will help you grow as an individual and a member of the profession of arms. As you walk through these areas, ask yourself if they are currently self-sustainable areas of reflection in your life, and if not, how could you potentially incorporate the use of a mentor to help keep personal accountability!
1. Reflecting for Leadership Growth
Reflection allows you to grow as a leader in multiple ways. Regardless of rank, position, or status, we are all leaders and followers at some point. Asking yourself the right questions are key to driving your leadership growth:
When were those times where you were naturally called to lead? Reflect on situations where you were asked to be the person to demonstrate what right looks like. Try to understand why you were the right person to do just that.
What are your leadership skills? Know your qualities that put you in a position to lead and most importantly understand the actions you displayed that led to either success or failure in those moments.
What have you learned from those who’ve led you? Be prepared to learn from others. We have all had great and terrible leaders… and we know that there is much to learn from both.
Take the precious time to reflect on the interactions between you and those you know were good and those that were bad. Find the differences. Then understand how you can take those principles learned and apply them to your own personality so that you create a genuine form of leadership.
2. Reflecting for Personal Growth Personal growth goes hand in hand with all aspects of a successful career in both the profession of arms and civilian careers. Taking the time to understand the things that frustrate you, the things that excite you, and the type of people you work best or worst with are all incredibly important for growth as an individual. There are three important facets to growing on a personal level; the things you learn, the things you experience, and the time you spend reflecting. Without that ever important third piece, valuable lessons gained from the first two will likely go unseen and the personal growth will not be as great.
3. Reflecting for Development of Moral and Ethical Awareness It has been said that all humans have their moral compass set by the time they are five years old. Although that is true in many respects, there is an aspect of competency related to moral and ethical standards. As you progress in life and are put up against difficult situations you are presented with the opportunity to continue to grow and establish your moral-ethical self. OweYaa is a social enterprise that values tackling the most pressing social issues and solving them innovatively, just as much as we value financial viability. As a social venture, our team measures the moral and ethical application in everything we do every day. As leaders, you can consider how your choices affect the greater whole, be it your fellow soldiers or your fellow co-workers. Reflect on your approaches and find solutions to how you work that can make the world more equitable, sustainable and just.
4. Reflecting for Development of Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence is an integral part of life. That basic understanding of perspective enables you to command rooms and find valuable compromises that lead to organizational successes. Emotional intelligence can be acquired, but it takes a lot of hard work. Think about a time where you were in a difficult argument with someone. Were you able to understand where they were coming from? Did it end in blows or was a compromise found? Take a moment to reflect on what you could have done to understand that individual’s perspective. Now picture that moment again, where the problem is diffused, one another concerns are heard, and an effective decision that met the outcomes was reached. Understand that for nearly every problem, there are viewpoints, and the more viewpoints you are able to see the more comprehensive the solution becomes.
To us, reflecting in these areas will lead you to a stronger more commanding place that separates you from your peers which in today’s competitive world, both in the service and out, are the aspects that set success apart. As stated earlier, these can be tricky to do on your own at times. The process of mentorship should be an avenue you seek out to help with this process. We want you to try these four areas of focus out, taking five minutes to reflect and write down the things you’ve learnt from the more potent moments of your life. You may notice that at some point, you might even look up and realize you are exactly where you want to be. If that isn’t the case, let MilitaryMentors and OweYaa help to get you there, as we want to be of service to your future growth.
OweYaa enables veterans to develop skill sets, connections, and experience by working on real projects with civilian companies. Through these projects Veterans can better position themselves for success in their service careers as well as post transition. To begin working on projects today, go to www.oweyaa.com.
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