In today’s high-speed world, most leaders are in motion—but not necessarily in control.
They’re running meetings, answering messages, making decisions, and constantly communicating. But behind all the activity, many are just reacting—moving fast without moving forward.
The question isn’t “Am I doing enough?”
It’s: “Am I leading with purpose?”
And perhaps even more importantly: “Am I actually getting better?”
The most effective leaders I’ve worked with—the ones who earn trust, stay steady through change, and deliver meaningful results—share two essential practices: they lead with intention and they grow through reflection.
These aren’t just good habits. They’re the foundation of leadership that actually works—especially in a world where complexity is rising, and clarity is increasingly rare.
Intention: Act on Purpose, Not Just Out of Habit
Most leaders assume they’re intentional. They care about doing good work, they want to support their teams, and they’re constantly making decisions. But caring is not the same as clarity.
Intentional leadership is active. It’s about aligning what you’re doing with why you’re doing it—making choices that are grounded in purpose rather than default behavior.
The challenge is that our brains crave routine. Cognitive science shows that we rely on mental shortcuts—fast, automatic thinking—to manage our daily load. It’s efficient, but in leadership, that efficiency can turn into inertia. We repeat what worked before, even when the situation calls for something new.
Behavioral psychologist Peter Gollwitzer found that people are far more successful in achieving goals when they create specific implementation intentions—clear mental plans for how they’ll respond in key moments.
This kind of intentionality—“If X happens, I’ll do Y”—has been shown to improve follow-through dramatically. It’s a subtle but powerful tool for leaders trying to show up with more consistency and presence.
And research in positive psychology shows that when people set not just outcome goals but behavioral intentions—like showing up with curiosity or calm—they perform better and report higher well-being. In other words, intention doesn’t just help us lead better. It helps us feel more grounded while we do it.
Leaders who lead with intention:
- Align actions with values, not just urgency
- Show up with greater focus and presence
- Make fewer regrettable decisions
- Build trust through consistency
Reflection: Turn Experience Into Real Growth
If intention sets the course, reflection keeps you on it.
One of the biggest myths in leadership is that experience automatically makes you better. But in reality, experience without reflection just reinforces habits—whether they’re helpful or not.
As John Dewey wrote in How We Think (1910), “Reflection involves not simply a sequence of ideas, but a consequence—a consecutive ordering in such a way that each determines the next as its proper outcome, while each in turn leans back on its predecessors.” Over time, this insight has been popularly paraphrased as: “We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.”
That’s more than a philosophy—it’s backed by data. A Harvard Business School study found that employees who spent just 15 minutes at the end of the day reflecting on their work performed 23% better over time. They weren’t doing more—they were simply thinking more deeply about what they were already doing.
Reflection sharpens our thinking, reveals blind spots, and turns isolated experiences into usable insight. And it doesn’t need to be formal. It can be a quiet moment at the end of the day to ask yourself, What went well? What didn’t? What would I do differently next time?
David Kolb’s work on the Experiential Learning Cycle shows that sustainable learning happens when we reflect on an experience, extract meaning from it, and then try something new. When leaders skip that middle step, their growth stagnates—even if they’re constantly in motion.
Leaders who reflect consistently:
- Improve decision-making and adaptability
- Avoid repeating mistakes and missed signals
- Build deeper self-awareness
- Cultivate a stronger learning culture around them
The Future Requires More Intention & Reflection
Leadership is getting harder, not easier.
The pace of change is accelerating. The number of inputs—and expectations—leaders must juggle is growing. And the playbooks of the past are losing relevance. Rigid structures and command-and-control thinking no longer deliver the clarity or trust people need.
In this environment, leaders can’t afford to drift. They can’t afford to lead purely on instinct or routine. They need to show up with clarity, presence, and a commitment to learning.
Intentionality helps leaders cut through noise and align their efforts. Reflection ensures they don’t just repeat the past—they evolve from it. And as complexity grows, those two capabilities—when practiced with discipline—will define the difference between staying afloat and leading forward.
Sparking New Leadership Thinking
Most leaders don’t lack effort or experience. What they often lack is a repeatable rhythm of pausing before action and learning after it. Here are five ways to build that rhythm:
- Declare your leadership intention. Before stepping into a meeting, making a decision, or engaging in a tough conversation, pause to ask: What impact do I want to have? What tone do I want to set? How does this moment reflect the kind of leader I want to be?
- Build a daily debrief habit. Take five minutes at the end of each day or week to reflect: Where did I lead with clarity? Where did I fall short? What’s one shift I’ll try next time?
- Turn feedback into a ritual. Don’t wait for formal reviews. Ask trusted colleagues: How did that land? What’s something I don’t see about how I’m showing up? What’s one thing I could do better?
- Step back to see the pattern. Every few months, zoom out to assess your trajectory: Are my actions aligned with my values? Have I grown in the ways that matter most? What habits am I reinforcing?
- Model learning in real time. Let others hear your thinking. Share your intentions before key actions. Reflect out loud after tough decisions. When you narrate your learning, you invite others to do the same—and shape a culture that grows with you.
The Bottom Line
Leadership today isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what matters. Intention gives you direction, reflection gives you insight, and together, they help you move with clarity, presence, and purpose. When you build both into your leadership, you don’t just react to the world—you shape what happens next.
