Reflective Essay on MBA Leadership and Management Residential Trip

This reflective essay provides a detailed account of a student's experience during an MBA Leadership and Management residential trip to the Lake District. The essay utilizes the Gibbs reflective cycle to analyze the student's reactions, feelings, and evaluations of various team-based activities. The student reflects on challenges faced during tasks, such as the "sheep and shepherd" and "raft-building" exercises, and the impact of poor planning, communication breakdowns, and ineffective leadership. The essay highlights the importance of teamwork, effective communication, and the application of leadership theories. It discusses the student's emotional responses, including frustration, embarrassment, and eventual realization of the importance of learning from mistakes and building strong relationships within a team. The student identifies areas for personal and professional improvement, emphasizing the need for better communication, proactive problem-solving, and the development of a supportive team environment. The essay also references key leadership and management theories to support the reflections.

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REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Institution affiliated:
student name:
Course:
Date:

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REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Introduction
In this reflective writing, I am, going to reflect on my residential experience. This was
an assignment for MBA Leadership and Management module where students were taken to
Lake District Windermere. The trip involved a lot of activities which made me feel so excited
on the days ahead. Moreover, since the residential trip involved going with other colleagues
from another institution, I was very nervous because, since I am more of an introvert, I don’t
like socializing much and I prefer spending most of my time alone or with people I know.
However, against my expectations, the trip turned out to be full of fun and the other
colleagues were very friendly and kind to me making the trip experience very exciting and
full of learning.
I feel like the trip was a lifetime achievement to me as, it enabled me to mingle with
other individual from diverse origins whom we learnt a lot from each other including sharing
our experiences. Through that trip, I have acknowledged the importance of good
communication, proper coordination and planning, wise decision making, emotions control
and being keen on instructions. Therefore, I will utilise the Gibbs cycle (1988) to reflect on
my experience during the residential trip while connecting it with relevant theories as
discussed below (Gibbs 1988).
Description
The journey was the best experience to me because, throughout the journey, people
were very calm and quite. This really suited my personality as my test results indicates that, I
am a reserved person, very formal, serious and one who likes keeping quite. When we
reached our destination, we were taken through orientation and we were explained in details

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the activities of those three days. Afterwards, we were sub-divided into four groups by our
mentor.
After being sub-divided into the four groups, we were then given five different tasks.
The first task was about a sheep and a shepherd. In this task, one person became the
shepherds, and the other three were the sheep. The shepherd was given a whistle, and his role
was to guide the sheep. Whenever the whistle was blown, the sheep had to respond by
moving based on the instructions given by the shepherd. However, we failed this task because
the shepherd didn’t have a good tactical approach of guiding the sheep, and the sheep were
not aware of what was needed to be done. Besides that, there was improper guidance from the
shepherd and the sheep were not keen in listening to the whistles. However, there was good
communication and good planning among the group members.
In the second, the tutor gave us an equipment and 25 minutes to complete the task. I
struggled a lot with my group members but didn’t manage to pass the test. This is because,
firstly, I was confused and my team members also confessed to having been confused while
doing the task. My group also didn’t do proper planning on how we were to go about the task
including the role of every individual in the team.
The third task was about a number cruncher. In this task, the tutor randomly placed
numbers 1 to 25 in different places. My team members and I were to touch each of the
numbers in order in only five seconds. Therefore, to my relief, we were able to finish this task
successfully and within the stipulated time because there was maximum cooperation in my
group and every member was giving their opinions and cooperating to ensure that we have
selected the letter in order from 1 to 25 which we succeeded.
The second day was the most complicated one as we all gathered early in the morning
for the breakfast and followed by the session. The first one was about building a raft.

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However, we had ropes which could not be used in building the raft. We needed to have
barrels to successfully construct it. Therefore, we had to negotiate with the barrels’ company
on equal terms to exchange our ropes for the barrels. Fortunately, they agreed, and we then
bought other materials like sculls and wooden poles from that company. We then began the
construction, but to our disappointment, none of us knew how to construct the raft except for
one member. We, therefore, helped him to build it which we managed successfully and won
that task.
The second task was about a business task. We had to form a group of nine
individuals who will work together. From that group, the first person was to be a leader; the
second person becomes a financial manager, the third a sales manager and the remaining six
becomes the production department. With the team, the first task was to enter a tunnel and
competing for this task earned every member 100 points which we could use it as money for
production in our business. We managed to win this task successfully due to proper planning
and good communication.
Feelings
In the task of a sheep and shepherd, the shepherd was instructing us one person at a
time and we could not understand whom he was referring to. This made me feel frustrated
because, initially we had already laid out a clear plan on how we will handle the task and here
the sheep was giving us other instructions which created confusion among us. This went
against my self-assessment tests which portrays me as a conscientious person, disciplined,
efficient and well organized person. This was in agreement with Gould (1972, p. 165) who
said that great theories are expansive and people learn from the lose they have experience in
the past thus justifying why I am a very conscientious person.

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Initially, I felt very miserable when we failed the task of sheep and shepherd and the
task of rolling a ball. This is because according to my personality tests, I am a person who is
easily hurt, and has the habit of discerning things when it happens. I also felt very agitated
and embarrassed by my inability to act the role of a leader and help my team members to win
the task forgetting the words of Eden, (2014, pp. 266) who said that: “a good leader is the
one who learns from his mistakes and improves in the future.”
Additionally, since we failed some of the tasks, this made me feel very distressed to
the extent that I didn’t even want to face my group members after that incident. I lost faith in
myself and see myself as incompetent to handle complex tasks. It also made me feel like I am
not good at working with groups and that I cannot perform better when working as a leader
forgetting what was said by Adair (1983) who said that “leaders are representing the key
components that are required within the work environments. Being a brave person does not
make you a leader but you cannot be one without it.”
However, since we were able to win other tasks, this encouraged me and made me
feel that I was not a failure. It made me feel that, I should not be easily losing hope as failing
enables someone to correct his mistakes and become a better person as said by Kolb (1984)
who said that “perhaps the act of visualizing oneself in a successful situation removes blocks
to performance and improves one’s abilities”.
The tasks that we passed also made me to have confidence in myself again and
it motivated me to be working in teams as it proved the power of team work. This could be
linked with the theory that (reference) people who work in a group can yield better results
than the one produced by an individual working alone (Parbold, 1998, p.223).

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.
Evaluation
After failing the sheep and shepherd task, the task made me feel like there was poor
planning and poor coordination from our leader. I felt that, we failed this task due to poor
relationship that existed among our group members, lack of cooperation, poor teamwork and
poor leadership styles thus linking it to the team role types of Belbin. Poor coordination
between the leader and us can be linked to James Kouzes (1987, pg: 1) who stated that:
“Leadership is explained as the link between the leaders and the subjects. Leadership can be
explained from the point of the followers by asking them what a leader does look like.”
Additionally, after failing the other task, we did not sit down like a group and talk. I
didn’t even give my group members time to explain themselves as I was so offended. I was
even angry to my team leader while forgetting what was said by Adair (1983) that: “leaders
are needed to have key elements that promote quality working in the work environment”.
However, we were able to talk, and after that, I left there feeling very relieved. Besides that, I
also phoned my friend later and explained how disappointed I was, and he made me feel
better by explaining to me that failing is normal. I thus realized that everyone has failed at
some point when even doing group work and this should not worry me as I can improve my
group next time. This has been pointed out by Greene, (2006,p.43).
Analysis
The situation was worsened by the way my group members and I behaved towards
each other while conducting the task. We never planned well, communicated poorly and
didn’t make joint decisions. I feel that I should have stood up for my group and save it from

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failing Besides that, I should have talked to my group leader after the task and tell them what
he could have to ensure we are able to win tasks just as explained by Adair (1983) who said
that “The leaders have a personality that is needed in the work environment that supports
work. Being brave do not make you a leader but you can’t be one without it.”
Additionally, Daynes and Farris (2003) explained that, when a problem is not handled
immediately, it can worsen the problem and even ruin the relationship of the people involved.
Ignoring the group members and blaming them for the failure could have made the group feel
like I was going against them as explained by Thomas, (2003, p. 22). I also realised that, my
reaction towards my group members was not right because I did not give them time to speak
and explain themselves and thus, I apologized to them.
However, in the end we were able to do our best as we could and managed to win.
This was because our leader guided us very well, there was good communication and proper
coordination. This made me feel that a good leader wouldn’t shout or blame their mistakes in
front of everyone but guides them to ensure those mistakes are corrected. This therefore
relates to the theory by Lea, (2017, pp. 14 -158) who said that: “Time management is a key
component and skill in life which then demand that some of the activities are run
simultaneously.”
Conclusion
In retrospect, I will do several things differently. Firstly, I will avoid assuming things
and investigating it clearly before blaming anyone for anything. I should have initially spoken
to my group members immediately after the task had ended and given them my suggestions
concerning the tasks we had taken and how we can improve it in the future. I should have
also been keener before overreacting and being angry with my group members. This is

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because taking rush judgments and poor communication can really destroy a relationship and
ruin it completely.
Therefore, the incident taught me the essence of building a good relationship with
your team members and communicating well as explained by Jackson (1999) who expounded
that, a good relationship is fundamental for the success of any task. Thus, I feel that if had I
developed a good relationship with my group members, I would have influenced them to
cooperate during the task and we would have been able to win all the tasks possibly. I would
have also been able to talk to my team members and ask them of better ways to tackle the
tasks, and since the relationship would have been good, everyone would have spoken freely
and given their opinions thus improving the performance.
Action plan
In the future, I will do my best to ensure I build up a good relationship with my team
members. I will also ensure that we build up good communication and planning before the
commencement of another task. Since I am a monitor evaluator, I can help my leader in
improving his skills by guiding him on the best way to handle future tasks. I have already
talked to my group members, and we have agreed to hold a series of meetings on how we can
improve our performance when we do another task in the future. We are looking at how we
will be communicating when handling the tasks including how we can organize ourselves to
ensure that we can complete future tasks successfully.
Moreover, since I am a monitor evaluator and a shaper, as explained by Belbin’s role
(Belbin, 1993) I can have more ideas to deal the task in a better way. I would have given an
individual sign to each person in a unique way to understand what exactly I instruct them. It
will be much easier to complete the task on time. As a monitor evaluator, I can discern
options and judge the accurately which will enable me to give proper guideline.

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Since I am also a shaper, and I thrive very well under pressure and in harsh
conditions, I will use these skills to be guiding my team especially when everyone is nervous
and come p with a solution. This will ensure that petty mistakes are avoided. It will also
ensure that every group member has clearly understood the task ahead and this will thus
increase the group members’ cooperation towards completing the given task successfully
(Gibbs, 1988). It will also ensure that all the group members are open to giving their views
concerning the assigned task and thus in case the probability of winning the task.
Besides that, since I am also a conscientious person, I can I have had a good
conversation with my group members where we have all talked and have formulated a
technique of team-teaching so that we can know how to work together in group work and
ensure we succeed. The team teaching will involve selecting tasks and trying to solve it
together while trying to improve on the weaknesses that made us fail in the previous tasks. I
will also be speaking to my group members more often about how they feel concerning how
the group is being carried and what we can do to make our group stronger just as explained
by Brennan and Little, (1996) who said that, “communication is the best tool for any given
group or organization to ensure they work together effectively”
As a team, decided to work on our decision making skills to ensure that we can easily
win tasks in future. This has also been explained by Morgan (1997) who suggested that: “There
are three domains of interest which informs our actions- in other words, we make decisions based on
these interests. The interests are the job we are paid to do, our career aspirations and our out-of-
work interests”

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