Journaling for Professional Development
As we grow in our careers, it becomes harder and harder to find mentors who are more experienced than us, who have wisdom to share about where we are headed as we continue to progress. Additionally, our own leaders often become far more aware of and invested in company growth and strategy versus the individual growth and strategy of their direct reports. At some point in your growth, you really are expected to be self-managing.
Others of us, regardless of the place we are in our careers may lack a good manager and may have to take up the torch of our own management earlier than most. One of the best ways of engaging in self-management for your own professional development and growth is through journaling.
Journaling can be a very introspective activity, and managing up or self-management are really about knowing who you are and knowing what you need. Below, I will share some specific journaling techniques to help uncover these insights.
1 The first method, The Rubber Ducky One-on-One, is one that I’ve created over 20+ years of managing teams and myself much of the time. It’s a set of questions I use as a One-on-One template which you can use to walk yourself through a one-on-one, and also, if you happen to be a people leader, you can use this method with your team members.
2 Next, Finding Your Red Threads, is a method I learned from the book Love + Work by Marcus Buckingham. It helps you to, over time, identify the things that keep you the happiest, most fulfilled, and doing your best so that you can continue to seek out additional opportunities and paths that enhance your value over time.
3The third method, Turning Outcomes into Learnings, highlights a Harvard Business Review article outlining a journaling method for understanding outcomes at work and turning those into learnings for future reference. Check out this blog for walking through that process.
4And the final method, Self-Reflection for Better Leadership, reviews the journaling process of a Forbes article which highlights the importance of having a self-management and journaling practice as you grow in your career and have fewer resources actively investing in your own growth and development.
Dive into these methods and see how your confidence, decision-making, clarity, and leadership all improve in the process! You have everything you need to be successful.
