Resource information
Introduction
The Australian Professional Standards for Middle Leaders (Middle Leader Standards) are a national voluntary set of standards that are designed to be used developmentally to improve the capability of middle leaders and provide a clear pathway for progression.
For those using the Middle Leader Standards to develop their own capabilities, the first step is to self-reflect against the Standards.
What is self-reflection?
Self-reflection is a deliberate process of analysing your practice and challenging your assumptions. It involves using insight and feedback about yourself as a leader to change future actions and decisions to improve your leadership impact.
Why is self-reflection important?
Middle leader roles are inherently complex. They involve working in high trust relationships with others to improve teaching and learning, responding to changing circumstances, and collaboratively solving complex problems while building a team.
Developing the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed for effective middle leadership involves planning, practice and perseverance, and is strengthened with intentional self-reflection as part of a continuous cycle of growth and development.
Self-reflection is critical for middle leaders because it:
- improves the quality of your decisions
- identifies mismatches between how you intend to behave and how you actually behave
- strengthens your leadership identity
- increases your impact.
How to self-reflect using the Middle Leader Standards
Self-reflection against the Middle Leader Standards can be completed at any time, but is ideally undertaken when beginning a new performance and development cycle. You can use the online self-reflection tool or follow the process outlined in the quick start guide.
