Start your Travel Journal

One of my first recommendations for my mentees is to select a “special notebook”. This notebook will be dedicated to your development process, your LeaderTrail.

Writing with your hand on paper has several benefits compared to taking digital notes. Without getting into brain research, writing with the hand has a positive influence on the thinking process and on the memory. You can compare it with journaling, where the process is more important than the result.

Here are some ideas what you may want to note down on your LeaderTrail:

• Valuable feedback
• Major take-aways from books or trainings
• Answers to guiding questions, like
  • What went well (this week)?
  • What did I learn (this month)?
  • What do I want or need to learn?
  • What am I grateful for?
• Notes on the exercises in this blog (more to come)
• Situations, in which I experienced good or bad leadership
• Quotes
• Graphs or sketches
• New job resolutions
• Key messages for an “inaugural speech”
• High- and lowlights on your LeaderTrail

Chose a notebook and a pen, which you enjoy to touch, look at and use. This notebook should be dedicated to your development process, not to your daily projects and task. Don’t confuse this journal with your agenda, both, in terms of content and in terms of importance.

If you are ready and set, then start here: Exercise: Management & Leadership