Here’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.
Most leaders I know will spend some time in July setting new goals, reviewing what worked, planning what comes next. And that’s valuable. But almost none of them will pause to honestly assess how they actually feel heading into the new year.
I’ve been guilty of this myself. I used to treat the new financial year as a calendar prompt to do more, plan better, lead harder. It took me a while to realise that you can’t build a strong year on a depleted foundation.
And right now, a lot of leaders are depleted.
The 2026 Gallup data puts manager engagement at 22%. Burnout is being named as the number one business risk this year. The pressure to absorb AI uncertainty, team fatigue, constant change and rising expectations has been significant, and most of it has landed on the people in the middle: leaders like you who are holding it together for their teams while figuring out how to keep going themselves.
I worked with an Operations Leader in a mid-sized organisation earlier this year who described it as feeling “always being one step behind.” She was meeting every deadline, managing well by any external measure. But internally? Running on fumes.
What we worked on wasn’t more structure or better planning. It was reclaiming some sense of agency over how she was showing up. And the change was significant.
So before you write the goals, here’s what I’d offer instead:
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Pause before you plan. A 10-minute honest reflection on what drained you most last financial year is worth more than a full goal-setting session built on avoidance.
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Name what you want to feel, not just what you want to achieve. “More in control.” “Less reactive.” “Clearer.” These are legitimate goals. They shape how everything else gets done.
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Talk to someone outside your team. Not a vent. A real conversation about what you actually need. This year, more than any before it, that’s not a luxury.
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Give yourself credit for what you held together. Seriously. This past year has asked a lot of leaders, and most of them showed up anyway. That counts.
Being reactive doesn’t need to be your only mode.
We work with leaders to build the focus, clarity and skills that make leading feel less like If any of this is sitting with you, I’d love to have a chat. Not to give you more to do. Just to help you think through what this year could feel like if you went into it differently. Sometimes naming it with someone outside your team is the first real step. That’s what the 30 minutes is for. Book a free 30-minute chat.
