DISCUSSION 8: Reflections

(Referencing all courses)

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For our eighth and final discussion, we focused our discussion around reflection and the ideas of what we can do with our leadership moving forward. I was able to provide each of the athletes with a physical guide on leadership ideas that they can take with them, in a "Leadership Guide" that I created that can be referenced in the link below. Our reflections followed the ideas below:

 

• We focused around the idea of a full review of everything that we had discussed. We revisited goals and looked at the personal and athletic growth of each of the athletes as a checkpoint. Takeaways from these discussions centered around the ideas of:

  • Goals

  • Structure

  • Teamwork

  • Relationships

  • Imagination

  • Authenticity

  • Communication

  • Forgiveness

• We discussed lessons that we had learned through the season, as the reflection process is always an ongoing and changing landscape. By doing this, we were able to think about steps that we had taken towards growth and personal improvement.

• We then discussed the different ideas behind the Leadership Guide. This Leadership Guide was made as a reference for students to be able to better understand how to use leadership skills and be reminded about the philosophies that we discussed and interacted with. This Leadership Guide comprised the main points that we focused on and gave us further ideas to revisit one final time. This allowed students to connect with their own experiences more and add a deeper layer to the discussion and reflection points since ideas were revisited.

• Lastly, we then talked about the participation and next steps for each of the athletes, using a full discussion and open dialogue format to allow for more questioning and a final reflection on leadership, goals, values, and personal character. This was done with the following questions in mind:

  • "What do you plan to do with some of your leadership skills with your team?"

  • "How would you like to use leadership in your career?"

  • "What was most helpful with these leadership discussions?"

  • "What will you do as a leader to continue your own growth along with others?"

 

This final discussion was very productive as students were able to see how their personal investment in themselves and their teammates made a difference in how they approached their goals, their relationships, and their mindset on leadership. I think many of the students felt a personal connection and felt exceptionally positive about the experience, especially with the opportunity to leave with the Leadership Guide as a reference.