Part 4: Coaching Reflection

Reflect on the following questions:

How do you plan to overcome your limiting assumptions? How do you think your trusted
colleagues (e.g., people you selected as raters) could help you overcome these assumptions?
What have you learned about your own learning processes so far in this course? How do you
tend to approach assignments? What have you found to be effective in learning the class
content and develop your leadership competencies?
Your reflection should be about 500 words. You may reflect on each of your coaching
conversations separately, or combine the learning from both conversations.

Your answer:
I have been intentionally working on limiting my assumptions by actively listening and reflecting
on the feedbacks from peers, leaders and direct reports. The assumption I’ve had of everyone
should know what I know because we were all provided the same material is so far from the
value believe in, accepting diversity and uniqueness. My assumption is baseless and forgetting
we are all different. Additionally, it’s been proven an organization who supports and encourages
a diverse environment outperforms those who only want like minded individuals.

Additionally, my desire or assumption, I suppose, to volunteer to take on projects in my district

because that’s what a good partner does was led by my own assumption of I need to do more to
prove I belong in my position. This was also self propelled because not only did I want to prove
to others but because I wanted to support my leader in ensuring he’s represented well as the
district manager. I did this for couple of years and consequently took a negative toll on my
health, productivity as a manger, lack of time management and strain on my relationship. The
truth was, I was not helpful to anyone because my performance was impacted by having to
juggle so many projects at a time. Looking back I wondered why my district manager continued
to let me take on so much and when asked few years back, he said, he didn’t see the need to
step in because I should know myself better than anyone and made changes when needed.
This was pretty hurtful and I felt very discouraged. However, with this harsh feedback, I decided
to step away and take a honest look at myself and my skill sets. I’ve learned to have the
courage to say, “No” and building on planning and prioritizing skill has helped me maintain my
time management to incorporate life, school and work balance. This has also helped me be
present for my partners and provide the support and guidance they need in a manager.

My learning process continues to develop and gives me the opportunity to reflect on my journey
and who I am as a person and what kind of leader I am currently and where I want to be. I have
learned however the importance of maintaining my values and it’s acceptable to lead with them
when placed in a position with ambiguity. This has helped me during these times of uncertainty
as we all continue to navigate through the pandemic. As I mentioned relying on planning and
prioritizing, I have been successful in ensuring to set the appropriate space aside to focus on
my studies. Obviously, there are outside factors that I need to assess and adjust the
approach/plan when needed. Unfortunately, I did not have a contingency plan and it got the best
of me this week. I do find connecting with my peers to be effective, in hindsight, wish there was
a discussion of what to expect this week and when….perhaps for our future coaching
conversations.