Most weeks end without a pause. Friday merges into Monday, and the only rhythm is urgency. The week’s successes get buried in email, disappointments are carried forward like extra weight, and what mattered most is soon forgotten.

A weekly review offers a different posture. It is less about control and more about authorship. Instead of measuring what was done, it asks what mattered, what surprised, and what might be possible next. Leadership shifts from being about fixing and directing to being about creating the conditions where accountability and connection can take root. Reflection is one way leaders hold themselves steady before they hold others.

This is a practice of stewardship: slowing down to notice, to learn, and to choose the next step with intention.

Why it matters

Evidence supports what reflective leaders have long practised. A Harvard Business School study found that people who deliberately reflected on their work performed 23 percent better after 10 days than those who did not (Di Stefano et al., 2014).

Reflection also counters overload. Microsoft’s Work Trend Index reports that 64 percent of employees feel they do not have enough time and energy to get their work done, a state that undermines strategic thinking (Microsoft, 2023).

For teams, engagement and feedback are decisive. Gallup finds that when managers give weekly feedback, people are 5.2 times more likely to strongly agree they receive meaningful input, and far more likely to be engaged (Gallup, 2019). Engaged teams are also 21 to 23 percent more profitable than disengaged ones (Gallup, 2022). So reflection is not indulgence. It is leadership work.

Examples of reflective leaders

Reflection is not new. Leaders across time have found ways to pause, to question themselves, and to choose again. Some are remembered for what their reflection made possible. Others have shaped reflection into a discipline for modern leadership. Both invite us to see that time to think is not escape from leadership, it is its essence.

Leaders who practised reflection

George Shultz and the discipline of an hour: When George Shultz was U.S. Secretary of State, he insisted on one inviolate hour each week. He would sit alone in his office with only a pen and paper, reflecting on what mattered most in his role. His staff knew the rule: only two people could interrupt him, the President or his wife. Everything else could wait.

This was not about indulging in quiet time. It was a public declaration that reflection was part of the job. Shultz later said it kept him from drowning in “the tyranny of the inbox.” He understood that without reflection, leadership becomes a reaction to other people’s urgencies (Next Step Partners, 2021).

Invitation: What hour could you protect each week? And what two exceptions would you allow, if any? The power is not only in the thinking but in the boundary itself.

Abraham Lincoln and the solitude of notes: Lincoln often turned to handwritten notes he called “meditations.” These scraps of paper were never intended for public view. They were where he explored arguments, tested language, and processed his doubts. One of his most famous notes, written during the Civil War, wrestled with the question of divine will and human responsibility.

What made these notes powerful was not their polish but their honesty. They were messy, uncertain, and deeply human. In them, Lincoln permitted himself to sit with complexity before speaking to the nation (Goodwin, 2005). His practice shows that reflection does not need an audience to shape history.

Invitation: Could you begin your own “meditation notes”? Not journals for others, not polished writing, but a private space where you let unfinished thoughts breathe.

Arianna Huffington and the wake-up of collapse: In 2007, Huffington collapsed from exhaustion and broke her cheekbone. That moment forced her to rethink the leadership she had modelled. Relentless, sleepless, “successful” in outward form but unsustainable inside. From that fall came a new commitment: to embed wellbeing, recovery, and reflection at the centre of how we work.

She went on to found Thrive Global, a company dedicated to shifting cultures away from burnout. Her story is a stark reminder that reflection is not optional. The body will force it if we refuse to choose it (Huffington, 2016).

Invitation: What small practices of renewal could you put in place now to sustain your energy for the long run?

Together, these leaders show three faces of reflection. Shultz models disciplined space. Lincoln shows the power of private wrestling. Huffington demonstrates the cost of neglect.

Reflection guides who teach the practice

Stephanie Pollock and the 25-minute chamber: Pollock invites leaders to step into a “weekly chamber.” Twenty-five protected minutes to name what they are proud of, what they are grateful for, and what their top three priorities will be. Its power lies in brevity. It is long enough to prompt reflection but short enough to sustain over the course of a week. Leaders who practise it often say it becomes an anchor, a ritual that gives the rest of the week more shape and meaning (Pollock, 2021).

Practical step: Block 25 minutes in your calendar and guard it like a meeting with your board. Use three headings: Proud / Grateful / Next 3. End by sending one note of appreciation to a colleague.

Michael Hyatt and the structured weekly preview: Hyatt built reflection into his Full Focus Planner. His “Weekly Preview” begins by celebrating wins, highlighting lessons learned, and identifying three priorities for the upcoming week. Its genius is alignment. It ties the daily grind back to long-term goals. Without this link, leaders risk drifting into busyness, where effort no longer serves purpose (Hyatt, 2019).

Practical step: Write your three priorities as outcomes, not tasks. Ask: “If these three things happened this week, would it move the story forward?”

David Allen and the weekly review ritual: David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, calls the weekly review the “master key” to a clear mind. It is a structured pause to collect loose ends, reflect on commitments, and reset focus. His process involves reviewing calendars, project lists, and notes, not simply to tidy up, but to step back and ask: Am I clear, current, and complete?

Leaders who adopt this find the review creates a sense of psychological closure for the week. It reduces the mental load of carrying half-remembered promises and shifts attention from firefighting to forward planning. More than productivity, it offers calm.

Practical step: Set aside an hour each week to gather your notes, unfinished tasks, and open questions. Decide what to keep, what to delegate, and what no longer matters. End by writing your top three priorities for the week ahead.

The lesson from both the famous leaders and the guides is the same. Reflection is not about leaving work behind but about choosing the story of leadership you want to write.

A framework for weekly reflection

Hold your review through three relationships: Me, Team, Customers or Stakeholders. Look both back and forward. Keep the language human. Wins, losses, pride, gratitude, priorities.

Looking back

Me

• What am I most grateful for this week?

• What am I most proud of in how I showed up?

• What wins mattered most, large or small?

• Where did I experience loss or disappointment, and what does that teach me?

• Where was I stretched or reactive, and what triggered it?

• What feedback did I receive or notice, and how will I use it?

Team

• What are we most proud of together?

• What wins deserve celebration?

• Where were our losses or misses, and what learning do they offer?

• Who was not heard this week, and what might that silence mean?

• Where did we shrink back from possibility?

Customers or Stakeholders

• What positive feedback or wins did we hear?

• Where did we fall short or experience loss of trust?

• What am I grateful for in how they engaged with us?

• Which voices surprised me or shifted my perspective?

• What unspoken needs or hesitations did I notice?

Looking forward

Me

• What are my top three priorities for the coming week?

• What one thing will I not do to create space for what matters?

• Where will I lean into curiosity rather than certainty?

• How will I carry gratitude into the week?

• If this were my first week in role, what would I choose?

Team

• What are our collective priorities for next week?

• How will I recognise what the team is already proud of?

• What invitation will I extend to spark learning or experimentation?

• How can we turn this week’s losses into next week’s discoveries?

• What pattern do I want us to notice together?

Customers or Stakeholders

• Who will I reach out to or listen to this week?

• What priorities must we deliver to honour commitments?

• What small act of generosity could meaningfully improve their experience?

• What risks or assumptions might derail trust, and how can I address them early?

• How will we make our pride and our progress visible to them?

Practical invitation

Protect this time as fiercely as you would a board meeting. Begin with private notes, then consider sharing highlights with your team. Model reflection as part of leadership. Over time, look for themes not just in tasks completed, but in patterns of trust, relationships, and culture.

The review is not about judgment but about authorship. Each week becomes a chance to write the story of the leadership you intend, rather than the one imposed by circumstance.

So the essential question remains: What questions, if asked every week, would help you become the leader you want to be?

References

• Di Stefano, G., Gino, F., Pisano, G., & Staats, B. (2014). Learning by Thinking: How Reflection Improves Performance. Harvard Business School Working Paper 14-093.

• Gallup (2019). More Harm Than Good: The Truth About Performance Reviews. Gallup, Inc.

• Gallup (2022). Employee Engagement Meta-Analysis. Gallup, Inc.

• Goodwin, D. (2005). Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Simon & Schuster.

• Huffington, A. (2016). The Sleep Revolution. Harmony Books.

• Hyatt, M. (2019). Free to Focus. Baker Books.

• Microsoft (2023). Work Trend Index: Will AI Fix Work? Microsoft.

• Next Step Partners (2021). How Senior Leaders Make Space for Reflection.

• Pollock, S. (2021). The Weekly Leader Review. StephaniePollock.com.

• Schwaber, K., & Sutherland, J. (2020). The Scrum Guide. Scrum.org.