A Journey of Learning: Reflecting on Two Lenses of Leadership Development

Abstract

This paper shares a personal reflection on engaging two leadership development lenses – Goleman’s (2000) leadership styles and Silsbee’s (2010) coaching voices - which have resonated with me as a facilitator of learning. The application and reflection has resulted in a heightening of self-awareness, enriching presence, allowing unlearning and relearning which continues to frame everyday practice and modus operandi. The intention of this paper is to open up new ways of reflective practice and thinking for the reader, encouraging reflection on possibilities for experimenting with integrating leadership styles and coaching voices into their practice. It is a reflective paper, not a critique of frameworks, drawing exclusively on two leadership development frameworks as interpreted and operationalised by the author, with relevance for educators, coaches and other professionals. A brief insight into Goleman (2000) and Silsbee’s (2010) frameworks is provided, while the focus is on sharing a personal journey of adapting and adopting these frameworks within a single context. The extent to which the reader reflects on the usefulness of these models, for their specific context, will be one measure of the paper’s effectiveness.