According to Harvard Business Review, “outstanding leaders take time to reflect”, in order to develop their extraordinary secret skills: “seeing before others see, understanding before others understand, and acting before others act”.

Research shows that leaders need to master 5 soft skills:

active listening

self compassion

empathy

vulnerability 

honesty

In my life, writing has been an important exercise to clarify what I believe, what I see, what I care about, what my deepest values are. The process of converting a jumble of thoughts into coherent sentences makes you ask tougher questions.
Barack Obama
Former President USA
My most essential possession is a standard sized notebook. I carry this everywhere and write down comments that are made to me by Virgin staff and anyone else I meet. I make notes of all telephone conversations and all meeting. The discipline of writing everything down ensures that I have listened to people carefully.”
Richard Branson
CEO Virgin Airways

why you should keep a leadership journal

I used to work as a project manager in different companies for about 7 years

I was good at my job but I was constantly feeling under a lot of stress and pressure.

My responsibility was both to my clients, but also to my team.

If something went wrong, I would take the bullet, if something went right, I made sure to give credit to my team.

I remember many mornings when I’d wake up in anxiety, getting early phone calls from clients on different time zones, asking me about email campaigns and powerpoint presentations.

In moments of stress, I didn’t always know how to prioritize my tasks.

Until I found systems that worked for me and my team.

I had a journal where I’d write down the daily goals and tasks.

I would also take notes during meetings and calls and find ways to keep track of my to-do list.

I even improvised a big white spreadhseet on a wall in the office, where I’d put colored post-it notes to track the progress of complex projects. It helped my team members stay all in the loop and have a visual understanding of where we are on the timeline.

These tools are only a few from the set of proven methods that top leaders use around the world in their business journals.

Writing down, seeing the words on paper, visualising, reflecting – these are scientifically known to improve leaderships skills and make you a better leader, working with no stress and actually enjoying the team management process.

Now, as an entrepreneur, keeping a professional journaling practice helps me stay aligned and clear with my vision and goals, figure out why some things go wrong and make sure creative ideas don’t fly away from my mind.

Just like me and my clients, many successful leaders are known to have a dedicated routine of journaling, so how does a leadership journal can make a difference for your performance?

  • enhance your self-awareness, reflect daily and know your strengths and weaknesses 
  • develop high emotional intelligence, with empathy and compassion for your team members
  • manage stress in any situation and learn to let go of negative perspectives and judgement
  • let your mind wander, listen to your own thoughts and come up with creative solutions and ideas
  • extract meaning from daily events and meetings to inform further actions and mindset 

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST EPISODE:

HOW TO USE LEADERSHIP JOURNALING

MODULE 1 – SETTING GOALS AND PLANNING

Science says writing down goals helps you achieve them 42 times faster. In addition, your team will have clarity and transparency so everyone moves in the same direction.

MODULE 2 – TIME MANAGEMENT AND PRIORITISING

If you and your teammates tend to “get busy” during the day and feel like you have accomplished nothing by the end of it, this module will help you schedule, beat procrastination, outsource and say “no” to what is not relevant.

MODULE 3 – MINDSET AND DEVELOPMENT

Continuous learning, self-awareness and making sense of the day to day experiences are crucial to the ongoing growth and development of the leader, as well as the whole group

MODULE 4 – CREATIVE THINKING AND STORYTELLING

A leader’s unique perspective is important for pushing forward creative ideas and gain competitive advantage. Journaling helps you organize your thoughts and always connect dots. Keeping notes will later be the source of unparalleled stories about your business.

MODULE 5 – REFLECTION AND PERFORMANCE TRACKING

Growth happens in the moments of reflection. Research shows that people who engage in reflection are happier people and higher performers by evaluating experiences and attributing meaning to inform decisions in the future.

MODULE 6 – WORK AND LIFE BALANCE

Being an authentic leader or entrepreneur includes having peace, happiness and inner alignement. That means also dedicating time and energy to other areas in your life. The more positive emotion you feel as a leader, the greater the impact on your team.

SEND AN EMAIL TO contact@alexbadita.com AND ASK FOR A LEADERSHIP JOURNALING WORKSHOP