Reflexivity – an innovative leadership research methodology and an ongoing means to develop personal effectiveness

Abstract

This paper offers an innovative way to consider leadership that is both relevant to the leadership research community and as a means to enquire and develop one’s own personal practice. Instead of focusing on abstract themes, in which their context are often absent, here I have argued that it is the rich detail of human interaction, from the individual’s own perspective, that is important in understanding one’s own practice and offering valuable insights to others. The nature of reflexivity that I offer is heavily influenced by analogies drawn from complexity sciences as a way of increasing our understanding of ongoing human interaction, namely complex responsive processes of relating (Stacey et al, 2000). The article explores the current problem in leadership research and goes onto consider the nature of reflexivity, as distinct from reflection, how this can then be taken up, the essential differences to other research methodologies and practical means for engaging with reflexivity