Leadership Journal: Why and How to Keep One

A leadership journal gives you a place to write down what you're learning and the questions you want to come back to. Step 9 of the 10 Steps to Leadership Development covers why keeping a leadership journal pays off, how to start one and the prompts that make it easier to write each day.

step 9 leadership journal hero: a spiral notebook with a pen

Many leaders keep a journal to record what they're learning, and taking a few minutes to write gives you time to reflect on the day. It's where you work through the lessons from your job and decide what you believe about leading people.

If you read back through a journal for leadership development a year or two later, you'll see how far you've come and how much better you handle situations that used to be hard for you.

John C. Maxwell writes about the value of setting aside time to think in his book Thinking for a Change, and a journal is a good place to write down what you come up with during that time. When you write down what you're thinking, you're more likely to remember it, and you can come back to it later.

There are no hard rules to keep a journal. A spiral notebook and a pen will do, and you can add ideas, questions to follow up on, goals and commitments as they come to you. How you use your leadership journal is up to you.

Jump To: How to Keep One | Prompts | Example | FAQ

How to Keep a Leadership Journal

Leadership journaling works best when it's simple enough to do on your busiest day. These five steps will get you started, and you can adjust them once the habit sticks.

Choose paper or an app. A notebook you can carry works for most people, and a notes app works if your phone is what's always with you. Choose the one you're most likely to use every day.
Set the same 10 minutes each day. Right after your last meeting or before you pull out of the parking lot works for many leaders, because the day is still fresh.
Write three things in every entry. Write what happened, what you learned from it and what you'd do differently next time. A few sentences on each is enough.
Note your open questions. When something comes up that you can't answer yet, write the question down and mark it, so you can come back to it after you've had time to think or ask someone.
Read it back. Once a month, read the last four weeks and look for patterns. Once a year, read the whole thing, and you'll see how much you've grown.

Jim Rohn taught that journals are one of the treasures worth leaving behind for the next generation, along with your photos and your library. A leadership journal becomes a record of the lessons you learned on the job, and someone on your team may benefit from it someday.

Leadership Journal Template

Copy these five lines into your notebook or app and fill them in at the end of the day.

Date:
What happened:
What I learned:
What I'd do differently:
Question to come back to:

"For leaders, finding that calm place where you purposely take the time to reflect is a powerful antidote to the rush-rush-rush of the rest of the day."

- Joel Barker, Futurist

Leadership Journal Prompts

Leadership journal prompts make it easier to start writing when you're tired or not sure what to say. Pick one that fits the day and write for a few minutes.

After a hard day

What conversation did I avoid today, and what would I say if I had it tomorrow?
What frustrated me most, and what part of it was in my control?
Who did I let down today, and how can I make it right?
What would I do differently if I could replay one moment?

Weekly review

Who on my team did something worth recognizing this week, and did I tell them?
What did I promise this week, and did I deliver it?
Where did I spend most of my time, and was it on the right things?
What's one thing I want to do better next week?

Long-term growth

What kind of leader do I want my team to describe a year from now?
What feedback have I heard more than once?
What's a belief about leading people that I've changed my mind on?
Who has helped me grow, and how can I do the same for someone else?

Use these to start a leadership reflection journal, and add your own questions as you go.

Leadership Journal Example

ELENA'S LEADERSHIP JOURNAL

Elena supervises a 22-person shift at a distribution warehouse. Six months into the job, she started writing for 10 minutes in her truck after each shift in a spiral notebook she kept in the console.

One entry read: "Talked to Jordan about the late pallets again. He got defensive. Learned: I opened with the problem instead of asking what's slowing him down. Next time: ask first." Over four months she wrote 61 entries like that one.

At her monthly read-back, she noticed that 9 of her 12 tense conversations had happened on Monday mornings, when the weekend backlog had everyone behind. She moved her one-on-one check-ins to Friday afternoons, when the floor was calmer and there was time to talk.

Write-ups on her shift dropped from 6 in her first two months of journaling to 2 in the next two, and she stopped writing about Jordan's late pallets.

Elena's leadership journal example shows how a pattern can go unnoticed until you read back through your entries.

Leadership Journal FAQ

The questions below address what leaders most commonly ask about keeping a leadership journal.

Click on the (+) sign below to expand each question. Click the (-) sign to collapse it again.

What is a leadership journal?

A leadership journal is a notebook or app where a leader writes down what happened, what they learned and what they'd do differently. Over months and years, it becomes a record of how you've grown and a place to spot patterns in how you lead.

What should I write in a leadership journal?

Write what happened, what you learned and what you'd do differently, plus any questions you want to come back to. Leadership journal prompts such as "What conversation did I avoid today?" make it easier to start when you're not sure what to write.

How often should leaders journal?

A few minutes every workday works well, because the details are still fresh. Even three entries a week will build a useful record, as long as you read back through it once a month.

Is a paper journal or an app better?

Either works. Paper helps some people slow down and think, and an app is easier for people who always have their phone with them. The best choice is the one you'll keep using.

What are some good leadership journal prompts?

Good prompts ask about something specific, such as "What frustrated me most today, and what part of it was in my control?" or "Who on my team did something worth recognizing this week, and did I tell them?" Keep a short list handy and pick one that fits the day.

Continue the 10 Steps Series

See all 10 steps

Step 7: Learn on the Go

Step 8: Use Wise Words

Step 10: Make Time for Life

Richard Gorham has led teams in financial services for more than 30 years, from retail branches and operations to investments and insurance, and he still leads a team today.

He founded Leadership-Tools.com in 2002 to give managers free, practical tools like the ones he used in his various leadership roles. Every tool here has been used in a real workplace and comes with a filled-in example you can follow.

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