Forget the gym membership. If you want to transform your year, focus on being a better leader.

January gives you a brief window and a little space. The pressure lifts just enough for you to see what’s really working and what’s not. But most leadership resolutions don’t survive beyond the first quarter. You start strong, then fall back into reactive patterns: inbox firefighting, canceled one-on-ones and eroding team energy.

That failure in leadership is because the resolution didn’t account for why things are the way they are. Leaders set aspirational goals for how they want to behave without interrogating what’s stopping them from doing it already.

I’ve coached senior executives for over 20 years, and I see the same cycle every January: ambition, erosion, inertia. If you want to break that loop in 2026, start with this.

Step one: Figure out what’s getting in the way

Every persistent behavior is doing something for you. It’s protecting you from discomfort, helping you avoid something hard or reinforcing a belief you haven’t challenged yet.

If you keep skipping one-on-ones, there’s a reason. Maybe you hate having to coach, you don’t trust your team enough to delegate or you think they don’t value your time. Whatever the reason – that’s the work.

Before you set the goal, do a simple root cause analysis. On the left, write the current state, for example, “Slack messages all weekend.” On the right, the ideal state: “No comms after 6pm.” In the middle, list every friction point – and be honest. What are you afraid will happen if you stop being always-on? Then resolve those.

Step two: Delete more than you add

Most people look to improve their leadership by layering on new habits. That’s a mistake. Start by clearing space.

Unsubscribe from content that doesn’t actively make you better. Archive the updates, the “just checking in” emails and the strategy PDFs no one reads.

Most executive calendars are bloated with meetings no-one owns and rituals no one values. Cut them. Ask your team what you can stop doing. The fastest way to lead better is to do less of the stuff that’s getting in your way.

Step three: Stop waiting to feel ready

You’re not going to feel like having a hard conversation. You’re not going to be in the perfect headspace to get feedback. Waiting for that version of yourself to arrive is a trap.

The reality is that leadership is a skill. Not a personality trait. Not a title. Not something you earn and then hold forever.

Just like any skill, it takes repetition. And most of that repetition will feel clumsy and uncomfortable at first. That’s not failure, that’s what building capability looks like.

Step four: Don’t confuse ego with expertise

Confident leaders are clear, direct and willing to be wrong. Ego-driven ones defend old ways of working, because they feel like an attack on their identity.

If you want your team to grow, you need to show them how to take feedback. And that means modeling it yourself. Ask your team what behaviors they want you to keep, stop and start. Don’t justify, explain or talk over them. Just listen.

Then, do something with what you hear. Most teams don’t burn out because their leader gets it wrong. They burn out because their leader hears it’s not working and keeps doing it anyway.

Step five: Protect your team from your bad days

Leadership isn’t neutral. Your presence (or absence) ripples. If you walk in tight-jawed and irritable, your whole team tenses. If you’re distracted in the Monday meeting, they notice. If your standards slip, so will theirs.

That doesn’t mean being emotionless. It means being responsible for your state. Your team shouldn’t have to read the room to figure out if you’re safe to talk to today. They shouldn’t have to tiptoe around your moods or do damage control when you lose it.

Your leadership shapes performance, culture and retention. This is especially true in the post-pandemic era. If you want 2026 to be different, build systems, not intentions.

To be a great leader, you need infrastructure. Things that nudge you back on track when old habits creep in.

• Block out time for real prep before key meetings.

• Pre-schedule check-ins so they don’t get pushed.

• Build in reflection time at the end of each week.

• Look for tools that offer practical guidance. Atomic Habits by James Clear, for example, provides valuable strategies for building sustainable change through small, incremental steps.

• Hire a coach or peer advisor who will call you on your patterns.

And finally, stop telling yourself leadership will get easier when the situation is different. It won’t. If you’re leading well, things stay dynamic. But you can get better at staying steady through it.

Use the quiet stretch of January as feedback. If you’re feeling clearer and more patient, that’s not just the holiday talking. It’s a sign your normal operating state might be costing you more than you realize.

Use that space to interrogate your defaults. What patterns do you keep falling into? What dysfunction keeps reappearing, despite all your best intentions?

Don’t set goals for the version of you that only exists at the start of the year. Reset the systems that shape how you lead under pressure, because that’s the version your team sees most. That’s the version that shapes culture, retention and performance. And that’s the one worth upgrading.

Opinions expressed by The CEO Magazine contributors are their own.