How to Write a Successful Reflective Piece for your Professional Status or CPD

Professional reflection isn’t just about looking back. It’s about learning forward as a valuable way to develop and grow.  

At the Agile Business Consortium, we believe career advancement isn’t only about qualifications. It’s about how you apply what you learnt to get the qualification.  Your skills and competency are built through experience and practice. That’s why we see personal reflection as a key part of the professional journey and your ongoing development. 

If you’re aiming to achieve Professional status or complete your CPD Self-Reflection, writing a strong reflective piece is a powerful way to understand what motivates you. It shows not just what you’ve done, but how you think, how you impact others, and what you’ve achieved, both professionally and personally — all part of how you grow. 

But what makes a reflective piece truly impactful? 

Why Reflection Matters

Reflection is a vital part of continuous learning. It demonstrates your ability to examine experiences, derive insights and improve future outcomes. This is especially relevant within the context of business agility, where adaptability and growth are core competencies. 

Structuring Your Reflection: Thomas Ullmann’s Framework 

Thomas Ullmann’s reflection model provides a practical way to structure your writing. It goes beyond simple storytelling, focusing instead on self-awareness, learning, and forward-thinking. 

His framework includes four core dimensions: 

• Descriptive Reflection – What happened? 
• Dialogic Reflection – What were the perspectives and responses? 
• Critical Reflection – What broader insights or theories relate to this? 
• Reflective Action – What will you do differently next time? 

To go deeper, Dr Ullmann also outlines seven indicators that show the presence of genuine reflection in writing: 

1. Description of the experience - a practical example from the learner that give the context for reflection 
2. Feeling - an expression of emotion, perhaps surprise or uncertainty, that can trigger deeper thinking 
3. Personal belief - the thoughts and assumptions you hold based on your world view 
4. Awareness of difficulties - the recognition of responses to a situation or problem 
5. Perspective - the ability to consider alternative situations or points of view 
6. Lessons learnt - the outcome that leads to new knowledge, changes in behaviours or perceptions, and increased self-awareness. 
7. Future intentions - the desire, evidence, and plan for ongoing self-development  

These indicators help gauge the depth and quality of your reflection. For more, visit Dr Ullmann’s profile at The Open University: iet.open.ac.uk 

Aligning with the Agile Business Competency Framework 

Your reflection should align with the Agile Business Competency Framework, which highlights key domains like: 

• Personal Agility – How have you responded to change, ambiguity or challenge? 

• Contextual Agility – How have you adapted your approach across environments? 

• Leadership Agility – How have you empowered others or influenced change? 

• Business Agility – How has your practice improved outcomes at a team or organisational level? 

Aim to map your reflections directly to these domains, using examples that are specific, measurable, and relevant. 

Tips for Writing a Strong Reflective Piece 

• Be honest – Authenticity strengthens your credibility. 

• Stay structured – Follow a clear flow: context, learning, impact. 

• Be specific – Use real examples to support your claims. 

• Stay concise – Focus on quality, not quantity. 

• Connect to future action – What will you do differently next time? 

What Good Looks Like 

Let’s say you led a retrospective that initially fell flat. A strong reflective piece would explore why it didn’t work, what feedback you received, how you restructured your facilitation, and what results you observed in future sessions. Crucially, you’d relate this to the competencies of leadership and team agility. 

Final Thought 

Professional reflection is your opportunity to learn more about yourself and grow. It’s a demonstration of your commitment to learning, your growth mindset, and your ability to lead change in a dynamic world. When done well, it’s more than a box-ticking exercise. It’s a powerful tool for self-development, growth, and a cornerstone of business agility.