10 Reflection Prompts to Help You Flourish

I recently met up with a friend whom I hadn’t seen in a while. I was so excited to catch up with her, knowing that her life was filled with so many exciting changes: a new position at work, a home remodel, and taking on a new role on her church’s board. Naturally, the conversation began with me excitedly asking, “How are you?!” However, she responded a bit unexcitedly, “Oh, I’m just surviving.”

Let’s be honest, we’ve all likely said those exact words or at least something close. Unfortunately, the demands and pace of life make responses like my friend’s rather ordinary. And it seems like regardless of our lives being filled with great things, hard things, or a combination of both, life often finds a way of leaving us depleted or fried. “Just surviving” life has become the goal, while hopes of flourishing and thriving feel like a luxury most of us can’t afford.

But what if flourishing wasn’t so far out of reach? What if we reignited our imaginations and saw flourishing as not only a reasonable goal, but as the way of living that God intended for us?

Here at De Pree Center, we are committed to helping you and others understand that flourishing is an option. Yes, now—and yes, for you.

Below are 10 reflection prompts based on the findings from the De Pree Center’s Flourishing Leaders Research. Each prompt focus (the words in bold) is derived from a quality that we discovered to be true of flourishing leaders through our research. The reflection questions are designed to help you engage with and reflect on the ways you are currently flourishing as a leader, as well as help you identify areas of growth.

Tip: You can do these at any pace, but some examples are: one prompt a week for 10 weeks; one prompt a day for 10 days (don’t forget to take a day to rest from all that reflecting); or take an hour or so to answer all the prompts in one sitting.

Flourishing leaders….

1.  Are Vivid and Practical Followers of Jesus. What priority does Christ have in my life? In other words, does my life revolve around Christ, or do I expect Christ to revolve around my life? What are some ways that I vividly reflect Christ in my work and leadership? What are some ways I fall short? How might the Lord be asking me to follow him more practically?

Go Deeper: Want to learn how to grow in wisdom and lead like Jesus? Read The Wise Leader by Uli Chi.

2. Are Oriented by Hope. As a Christian, what does hope mean to me? In what ways do I actively live and lead out of a hope in Christ in my work? What situations challenge hope most for me and cause me to lean more into cynicism or despair? Why do those situations challenge me most? How might your life and leadership look different if the Lord let hope enter in?

Go Deeper: Ignite your imagination for a hope-filled future with our free downloadable exercise, “Living and Leading with Hope: An Exercise in Imagination.”

3. Are Guided by a Sense of Calling. How does my primary calling of being a follower of Jesus shape the way I lead? What areas of my work and leadership do I feel are untouched by this calling to follow Jesus? What other callings do I sense God has put on my life? How might these callings be altered, revived, and/or reenvisioned in light of my primary calling to follow Jesus?

Go Deeper: Watch Executive Director Michaela O’Donnell unpack the concept of calling from a theological lens.

4. Seek the Best for Others. In my work, who are the people entrusted to my care (Consider coworkers, direct reports, supervisors, executive leaders, clients, etc.)? How do I specifically and actively seek the best for those entrusted to my care? What situations or people in my work and leadership prove to be the hardest for me to want what’s best for others? Why might that be?

Go Deeper: Read Senior Director Ryan Gutierrez’s article, “How to Navigate Inherited Relational and Organizational Challenges.”

5. Care About Their Impact. What are specific ways I am making a positive impact through my work and my leadership? In what ways are people’s lives being changed for the better due to my work and leadership? Where might God be inviting me to stretch and extend my impact, either in scale or scope? What feelings come up as I consider this stretching?

Go Deeper: If your desire is to pursue meaningful work that will impact your community and change the world, be sure to read Make Work Matter by Michaela O’Donnell.

6. Attend to Their Ongoing Growth. How do I currently attend to my growth and development as a leader? What kind of fruit do I see coming from this? What is one area I recognize I need to grow in, but am hesitant to press into or simply haven’t prioritized? How might my leadership change if I attended this is area of needed growth?

Go Deeper: Sometimes a good starting point for growth is listening to the stories of leaders we admire. The Hidden Work of Leadership is a podcast is a great place to find inspiration, questions, and practices to tend to your growth as a leader.

7. Do Their Inner Work. How difficult or easy is it for me to look deeply at my feelings, motivations, fears, and desires and why? Where am I proud of and thankful for the work God has done in my inner life? How do I sense God is using these good things? Conversely, what areas of my inner life do I feel nervous, scared, or unwilling to look at more deeply? What kind of obstructions in my work or leadership do I sense as a result of ignoring certain corners of my heart?

Go Deeper: We have a whole theme page on Inner Work, but be sure to read Mark Robert’s devotion “An Invitation to Inner Work” for a great description of this type of growth.

8. Develop Skills to Lean into Crises and Crucibles. Where do I find it both easy and hard to believe that God is present with and attentive to me in crises and challenges? What seems to be my default response to challenges and trying seasons? What mental, emotional, or behavioral patterns emerge in these types of seasons? What would help me lean into challenges, crises, and crucibles in a more secure, steady way?

Go Deeper: Want to take a deeper dive into a specific crucible in your life? Download our free resource, “Learning from Challenges, Crises, and Crucibles.”

9. Grow for the Sake of the Common Good. How does the growth I’ve experienced in hard seasons help me lead for the common good, or shalom? How have the ways I’ve worked through challenges helped me be a more understanding, empathetic, and patient leader? Conversely, where might some of the pain of those seasons interfere with how I work or lead others? What might I need to heal in these areas?

Go Deeper: Learn more about what it means to listen with empathy in this article by Hugh De Pree Associate Professor of Leadership Development at Fuller Seminary Scott Cormode.

10. Know They Can’t Do It Alone. What type of leadership style do I lean toward: a hero or solo model of leadership, or a team model? What makes me lean toward that particular style? What advantages can I name for a more team-style of leadership? Who is or who can I invite to be part of my inner circle of trust?

Go Deeper: If you haven’t already, find someone to invite into your inner circle of trust. Additionally, we believe that a mentoring relationship is an important one to have on your leadership journey. Check out all our mentoring resources to learn more about becoming a mentor or getting one.