I'm Louise the head of L&D for a global financial services firm.

I have three little ones and on top of that I'm studying for my level seven.  I would describe myself as someone who's passionate about development of myself and others.  I start MOOCs but I don't usually finish. I listen to podcasts on the way to work and I read when I can - but my organization's culture is all about results, so it's hard to justify stopping even for a moment to reflect.

About this time last year, I had been given a few projects to run and after the first two have been completed I started to notice the same mistakes coming up time and time again. There were miscommunications that could have been avoided and generally team morale was low.

I hadn't been putting the time in to check in as much as possible. We hadn't been reviewing projects and learning the lessons before starting another one. And I realised then, that the same was true for myself.

Start so many things when I don't actually build in time to reflect on the assumptions I've made for how my feelings played a part in my decision. I found a reflective practice group which initially felt very unnatural. But I had to be completely honest with a total stranger, but it was liberating.

I felt safe to admit my mistakes and saying some of my thoughts out loud was quite a wake-up call. There are a load of underlying thoughts and feelings that I just sort of affirmed by virtue of keeping them locked up.

Since then, I use the same techniques in my alone time and also build them into regular team discussions and project reviews. Long story short, the quality of our work had vastly improved.  I now see my work challenges differently I see them all as learning opportunities and we have a sense of shared ownership without blame when things go wrong. Better yet, my manager has also seen a difference - he's totally sold on it - and he's organised for my colleagues to exchange reflective practice workshops.

I'd recommend as a key skill for anyone at any stage in their career. I have no doubt that if you can find a way to ritualise reflection sharing and learning in your teams. And in your life, you will get results.

Reflecting by pacing alone isn't enough, you may only re-affirm your existing thought process. Reflective practice requires routine reflection in order to create the shift in behavior.

There are lots of ways to do reflective practice,not just in a group. Ensure to pass on the benefits of reflective practice to your team by nurturing a culture of reflective practice.