Reflections on completing a Masters

Slowing Down to Make Sense of Leadership

I’ve recently completed a Master’s in Leadership and Management (Organisation Dynamics) through NIODA, and I’ve taken some time to reflect on what I’ve learned over the past three and a half years. This reflective pause felt like an invitation to “slow down to lead,” allowing the deeper patterns of my learning to surface.

The learnings have been intense, layered, and transformative. Three areas stand out in particular:

• Gaining a deep understanding of systems psychodynamics and its language
• Applying this theoretical lens to my workplace
• Exploring my own behaviour and roles within group dynamics

Learning Through Cohort and Container

The course was delivered primarily online, though we had some valuable opportunities to meet in person within our small learning cohort. For the first two years, we studied most subjects together, which allowed us to use the group itself as a living case study. Observing how we took up roles, responded to authority, and navigated complex dynamics both individually and collectively.

Applying Theory in Real Time

In the final year, five of us collaborated on an action learning project with a client in the healthcare sector. This was a powerful way to put our consulting skills and theoretical understanding into real-world practice.

An Eclectic Group and the Energy Beneath the Surface

We were an eclectic group, with backgrounds in consulting, law, human resources, psychology, and the public sector. Early in our journey, I was energised by the rich discussions and the metaphoric exploration of organisational systems through case studies and our own work settings.

“I was intrigued by the visible energy in the ‘room’, and curious about what was driving it beneath the surface.”

Discovering My Observer Role

Over time, I began to understand that these dynamics were more than just surface interactions. There were deeper, unconscious forces at play influencing how we each took up roles in the group.

Initially, I found myself naturally drawn to the observer role, asking questions, reflecting on group behaviours, and distinguishing what was mine to own versus what belonged to the group. Eventually, I learned to pull back even more, allowing myself to witness how others responded to the same dynamics I was sensing.

This process taught me that I feel most comfortable in the observer position, and that stepping out of that space often provokes anxiety. I also realised that I rely heavily on my bodily responses as an instrument for sensing and making sense of what’s happening around me.

Moving Through Classic Group Stages

As a group, we moved through classic stages of development: from dependence, to counter-dependence, to independence, and eventually, to interdependence (Bennis & Shepard, 1956). We challenged authority, questioned the literature, and resisted certain frameworks—not out of defiance, but from a desire to make the theories meaningful in our own contexts.

We learned to "flirt with a hypothesis" (Borwick) rather than becoming wedded to any one interpretation.

Key Learnings About Systems Psychodynamics

Above all, I’ve learned the power of reflection—how essential it is for understanding what's really happening, and how it empowers thoughtful, purposeful leadership. This discipline of reflection is at the heart of “slow down to lead.”

Applying the Learning in My Professional Role

In my current role as General Manager of Advocacy, Policy and Research at a mental health peak body, this reflective stance is critical.

We work to embed lived experience, particularly that of family carers, into shaping systemic reform. But while the system invites this input, it is often deeply challenged by it. My role involves creating reflective spaces that can hold multiple, often conflicting, perspectives. I do this with my teams, across the organisation, and in government forums.

Recently, I was challenged in an open forum by a staff member who felt she was not being adequately supported by me or her manager. While I found it confronting and felt it physically, I was able to tell myself that it was not so much about me, but more to do with the lived-experience role she takes up in the system. I remained calm and addressed the situation offline, helping the staff member and her manager understand where they were failing to connect.

Why I Chose NIODA — And What Comes Next

I initially chose NIODA because I had an intuitive sense that something deeper was at play in group dynamics, and I wanted to understand it better.

Just as a musician continues to practise and refine their craft, I hope to keep honing my awareness and application of systems psychodynamics in my work and life, continuing to slow down to lead as my practice evolves.

Jo Tilkeridis