The countdown to 2026 is getting shorter.
Not quite single digits, but we’ll be there soon enough.
The days begin to feel slower somehow — not empty, just less crowded.
Fewer emails. Fewer expectations. More pauses between things.
Sure, the days will fill with the commotion of holiday celebration.
But the space between the action feels… quieter.
For many leaders, this quiet is unfamiliar.
When the noise drops, the weight becomes more noticeable.
This is the moment when the questions surface:
What did I do this year?
What did I carry for others?
What moved forward — and what stayed stuck?
Why does it still feel like time slipped through my fingers?
Now, what if…?
What if we didn’t try to solve an entire year right now?
What if we simply closed this one with care — and stepped into the next stretch with intention?
The Problem with “Next Year”
A full year sounds generous.
Expansive. Responsible.
And yet, for leaders especially, it often becomes permission to wait.
To postpone difficult decisions.
To keep important work parked just beyond the horizon.
Brian Moran’s The 12-Week Year offers a different rhythm.
Instead of treating a year as one long horizon, it asks us to lead in short, focused seasons.
Twelve weeks.
Not rushed.
Just awake.
Before You Plan, Pause
Before setting new goals, it helps to stop.
Not to judge what happened this year.
Not to fix your leadership.
Just to notice.
What decisions drained you?
Where did your presence make the biggest difference?
Which efforts created momentum — and which only created motion?
This kind of reflection isn’t about performance reviews or outcomes on a spreadsheet.
It’s about honesty.
And honesty is one of the most underused leadership tools we have.
Choose Fewer Things — and Mean Them
In the 12-Week Year, planning begins by choosing very few priorities.
Not everything your role demands.
Not everything others want from you.
Just the things that matter most now.
The minimal, viable version of leadership for this season.
No overextension. No heroic pacing. No overengineering that quietly leads to burnout.
One to three goals.
Ones that ask something of you.
Ones that align with the leader you’re becoming — not just the results you’re chasing.
There’s a quiet relief in this narrowing.
Focus gives leaders something rare: permission.
Turn Hope into Weekly Practice
Vision doesn’t carry teams forward on its own.
Consistency does.
So the work becomes simple — if not easy:
What will I do this week that reflects the direction I’ve set?
Not someday.
Not when capacity magically appears.
This week.
The power of a 12-week sprint is that it anchors leadership in the present — again and again — where trust is built and momentum forms.
Each week offers feedback, whether we ask for it or not.
Did I show up the way I intended?
Where did I avoid something that I said mattered?
What supported me when I followed through?
This isn’t about perfection.
It’s about relationship…with your time, your energy, your people, your word.
Small course corrections compound faster than dramatic resets.
Ending Well Is a Leadership Skill
At the end of twelve weeks, you stop again.
You look back, not to criticize, but to learn.
You name what worked.
You acknowledge what didn’t.
You model reflection instead of rushing ahead.
This is how sustainable leadership is built:
not by pushing harder,
but by closing cycles cleanly.
As this year winds down, you don’t have to solve the next twelve months for yourself or for anyone else.
You only need to decide how you want to step into the next season.
Twelve weeks is enough time to begin.
Enough time to pay attention.
Enough time to practice leading with intention.
If this way of working sounds steady, but you’re not quite sure how to begin, you don’t have to figure it out alone.
In January, I’m opening the first cohort of the Leadership Accelerator for 2026 — a small, intentional space to plan a 12-week season, stay accountable to what matters, and lead alongside others doing the same quiet, meaningful work.
If you’re curious, reach out. We can talk.
Illuminate Possibilities 