The Return to Reflexivity in Management and Leadership Practice: Seeing More, Seeing Differently

Abstract

This symposium responds to one of the grand challenges of our times, restoring the ethos of professionalism, by inviting a return to reflexivity. Reflexivity provides the connective tissue between theory and practice, allowing us to get out of the dispositions and values of the field, breaking with the ‘logic of theory’ and turning to the ‘logic of practice’. Applied to professions, professionals, and professionalism, a return to reflexivity broadens our sights by offering new ways of accounting for professional conduct, beyond the mere focus on specialized knowledge and competence that traditionally have defined expertise. Instead, the focus is on additional modes of knowledge like practical judgement – phronesis – which bring to the fore neglected aspects of what professionalism truly means, particularly when geared to serving the common good. These neglected aspects include not only values but also virtues, cultivating character and conscience. These dimensions of professionalism can provide a response in addressing the persistence of professional misconduct and malpractice at the core of many social, political, and economic crises. Reflexivity at the interface between social complexity and individual agency supports practical judgments and the development of leadership practice, in ways that allow actors to assess their situations and gain insights into the constraints and tensions they encounter in the social contexts within which they are embedded. Reflexivity offers an essential response in contexts characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity and can enrich leadership practice. Why ‘Return’ to Reflexivity? Why Now? Presenter: Elena P. Antonacopoulou; U. of Liverpool What Does it Mean to be Reflexive in Growing Leadership? Presenter: Beverley Hawkins; U. of Exeter Business School Presenter: Christian Moldjord; Norwegian Defence U. College/Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy Norway Presenter: Chrysavgi Sklaveniti; U. of St. Gallen Presenter: Christina Stokkeland; Norwegian Defence U. College/Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy Norway Reflexivity in Leadership Development Through Art-Based Methods Presenter: Steven S. Taylor; Worcester Polytechnic Institute Cultivating Reflexivity to Avert Conduct Risk – The Internal Audit Department Case Study Presenter: Woon Gan Soh; Singapore Cultivating Reflexivity to Avert Professional Ineptitude – The Germanwings Case Study Presenter: Fotis Vouzas; Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd U. Presenter: Marina Mavromati; U. of Macedonia Presenter: Christina Nizamidou; U. of Cyprus