How to Make Your Leadership Count in 2026

2026 will be another year of uncertainty. Why? Because that’s reality - we don’t know what the future holds but we really wish we did.

I have my first book going on shelves February 10th - It’s the book I wish I had on my desk for the last 25+ years. But, I have no real clue of how it’s going to impact my future. Sell thousands of copies? - What does that mean for my life? My business? What if I sell no copies? What does that mean for my life? My business? My self-esteem?

The future is filled with the unknown. Therefore - the only thing we can prepare is how we will navigate it. For our lives this means all kinds of things, like food, rest and activity that nourishes. For leading teams this means building islands of certainty focused on how you will handle the unknown that will create a sense of stability. 

The key isn’t to ready your expectations - it’s to ready you and your team with purpose, process and the intentional practices that keep the ship not just on course - but a ship worth sailing in.

1. 2026 Won’t Reward More Effort - It Will Reward Direction

Most teams don’t lack drive. They lack alignment. The best leaders in 2026 will work to build it for their teams, organizations - and frankly, for themselves. 

“Listlessness” has been the theme of the year for the leaders and teams I’ve worked with throughout the year. Busy but not productive, they have target, but they don’t feel like they matter, people are looking for growth - but to what end?

If you feel this way - you’re not alone.

One of the constant issues we work to avoid are situations, particularly in the training we design, where everyone will naturally assume they are already capable - when they probably aren’t.  We call this the “everyone is a good driver” problem. Around 96% of drivers rate themselves as better than average. But, because we are rating ourselves we judge ourselves by our intention - not our impact. You could make it home safe and cause 100 accidents and never know it. Leaders, and teams, particularly leadership teams fall into the same trap. You assume alignment because no one objected, assume commitment because the work got done and that everyone is pulling in the same direction because you said so....

But consensus isn’t alignment.

Completion isn’t commitment.

KPIs aren’t your purpose - and they don’t provide direction…

As you head toward 2026, the real work isn’t pushing harder, it’s stopping long enough to question what you’re reinforcing by default instead of intention. Framing matters, constructing the shared set of beliefs about a problem so people aren’t running off with their assumptions is critical. It’s how we create real direction instead of throwing out a “north star” and imagining everyone understands what they need to do to get there. What matters (maybe even more) is checking in on it, reframing, reorienting where needed to ensure alignment. Leaders who get the most out of the year ahead will stop assuming and start designing for clarity, commitment, and shared direction.

That means doing the kind of work that feels slower upfront but compounds over time:

• Surfacing misalignment early by welcoming contradiction and discussing uncertainty as an everyday part of business.

• Naming trade-offs instead of hiding them so that people can understand decisions better, have their eyes open for early warning signs of things going off couse.

• Making it clear what won’t be prioritized, inviting people to not come to meetings that are going to waste their time, inviting people to manage their schedule while focusing on outcomes and high quality collaboration where it’s needed.

Questions to sit with:

• What isn’t helping you achieve your goals anymore?

• If you keep leading the same way for the next 1, 2, or 5 years, what does that future look like? Do you like it?

• What about the plan doesn’t feel entirely worth people’s effort right now?

If you strip away the BS you leave space for growth.

2. The Real Risk Isn’t Failure - It’s Mediocrity

Mediocrity isn’t about being average. It’s about being unchallenged.

The only thing worse than being unchallenged is being challenged by things that don’t help you grow.

Teams don’t become listless because they fail too often. They become listless because nothing is pulling them forward. When growth stalls, accountability often gets misdiagnosed. Leaders double down on consequences after the fact instead of investing before the work begins. This is the same at an individual level - if we invest even a small amount of “why” before we get going everything feels harder. If we don’t have a sense of what good would look like we struggle to be grateful -and the result is that we feel bored, average and like we aren’t getting the most from our lives. 

Clarifying why it matters, what “good” actually looks like, and what’s possible at your best. Do the same for your team. 

This is the part of accountability that people get all wrong - part of accountability is about taking ownership of outcomes - but rarely do people talk about the first part of accountability -the commitment to behaviours and actions. It’s the part of accountability that comes first and everyone seems to forget it.

But, it’s the most important part!

In 2026, accountability needs a narrative upgrade. It’s not about consequences, it's about possibility. It’s about creating the conditions where people feel like they know what to expect and what is expected - in a way that doesn’t fee like threat but in a way that feel like it will help everyone succeed. 

This applies at all levels of work and our personal lives.

Those who avoid mediocrity are the ones that build character skills like courage, curiosity, and empathy then connect practical ways to apply those skills: strategic thinking, decision-making, coaching conversations, and real-time trade-offs.

Mediocrity doesn’t usually announce itself. It shows up as compliance, nihilism and if 2025 was any indication - listlessness....

Questions to reflect on:

• What could your team achieve at their best? and how close are they to that right now?

• Ask your team: “Where are we not as aligned as we could be? What would be different if we were even 5% more aligned?”

• Where are you actively growing as a leader, rather than relying on what’s worked before?

3. AI Will Expose Weak Leadership Faster Than It Replaces Anyone

AI is an amplifier not a remedy. It doesn't make you wise when you are foolish or an expert when you’re an amateur. It reveals the gaps wherever they might be.

What this means is that leaders who are bad at maximizing the potential of their people will see their work and their teams replaced or their incompetence identified more quickly. Leaders who depend on Ai to help them make decisions won’t develop the skills for career growth. Teams of individuals who trade AI generated ideas and emails back and forth will become mediocre, uninteresting and laden with problems they don’t understand - repeating the same cycle over, and over again as the AI echo chamber moves into full effect.

The research is clear: teams that use AI as a thinking partner are more creative, more adaptive, and better at solving complex problems. But that’s not how most organizations are using it. Adoption is happening quietly, individually, and often defensively, to avoid work, reduce effort, or stay afloat.

That’s a leadership issue, not a technology one.

Most people treat AI like the new Google, a therapist, or an amazingly affable assistant 

When you’re leading teams AI needs to be treated like high-priced consultant you talk to when you have a plan for how to maximize their contribution.

This requires leaders to develop their skills as facilitators

Facilitation is a skill that has long been under-valued as a leadership competence but it is rapidly becoming one of the most critical. When leaders focus on facilitation, AI becomes a shared asset. The shift you need to make in 2026 is toward being the designer of better conversations - ones that accommodate uncertainty, multiple perspectives, and imperfect information.

The quality of your interactions will determine the quality of your outcomes - and AI is no different.

This requires skill-building, not just tool adoption: communication, systems thinking, curiosity. And it requires modeling. If you don’t talk openly about how you use AI - where it helps, where it fails, where it misleads, etc. Your team will use it anyway, just without alignment or learning.

Treat AI the wrong way and your team will eventually fall victim to a cascade of deference, learned helplessness and lost potential.

Treat AI the right way - you amplify the potential of people and make your life easier. 

Just remember - 96% of people think they drive above average. You can always be better…

Questions to ask yourself:

• Where is AI amplifying confusion rather than clarity on your team?

• How are you using AI as a thought partner and where are people turning to it for individual decisions?

• What would change if you made your own use of AI more transparent and more discussable?

A Closing Thought

Getting ready for 2026 isn’t about predicting what’s coming next. It’s about deciding who you’re going to be and what assumptions you’re willing to let go of.

• Stop assuming alignment.

• Stop assuming effort equals commitment.

• Stop assuming people are apathetic when they may just be unconvinced.

• Stop assuming just because you believe something, that you’re also right.

The leaders who make 2026 count won’t be louder, faster, or more certain. They’ll be clearer. More intentional. More willing to design the conditions for success instead of demanding success in-spite of the conditions.

The question isn’t whether 2026 will be different.

It’s whether you will be.