End-of-Year Leadership Reset: Choosing the Right Priorities for 2026—and Designing Work That Actually Delivers Results

December is when leaders pause, reflect, and plan.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth I see every year in my work as a Growth Coach:

Most leaders plan next year using the same leadership assumptions that limited results last year.

As we head toward 2026, that approach won’t hold.

According to Signium’s Leadership Predictions for 2026, the next era of leadership is not about driving harder—it’s about designing work environments where people can consistently do their best work. At the same time, Forbes warns that the leadership skills that built your career may actively hold you back in 2026.

This means December planning can’t just be about what you prioritize. It must also address how you lead, decide, and focus.

This article brings together proven execution frameworks and emerging leadership thinking to help you plan 2026 differently—and more effectively.

1. Why Traditional Annual Planning Is Breaking Down

In December, leadership teams often create ambitious plans:

• Growth initiatives

• Transformation projects

• Culture improvements

• New systems and tools

But as Annie Corriveau points out in 4 Leadership Shifts to Make Before You Set New Goals,  leaders often set new goals without first evolving how they lead—which guarantees friction by Q2.

The result?

• Too many priorities

• Teams stretched thin

• Leaders pulled back into firefighting

• Strategic work crowded out by operational noise

Verne Harnish said it best:

“If you have more than five priorities, you don’t have any.”

Going into 2026, focus is not a productivity issue—it’s a leadership issue.

2. 2026 Leadership Reality: Priority Setting Without Redesigning Work Will Fail

Signium’s research highlights a critical shift:

Leaders must move from managing work to designing conditions for great work.

That means asking different questions during December planning:

• Are our priorities achievable within current workloads?

• Does our structure support focus—or constant interruption?

• Are leaders creating clarity—or unintentionally creating noise?

Execution fails when leaders set priorities without redesigning how work gets done.

This is where the Rock/Sand principle becomes more relevant than ever.

3. The Rock & Sand Problem—Revisited for 2026

🪨 Rocks = The 3–5 outcomes that truly matter in the next 90 days

⏳ Sand = Meetings, emails, approvals, status updates

💧 Water = Everything else filling the gaps

In 2026, sand is accelerating:

• More tools

• More messages

• More cross-functional complexity

• More urgency

Mike Goldman’s Rock Rules become non-negotiable leadership disciplines:

• Few priorities

• Clear ownership

• Public visibility

• Weekly review

Annual plans don’t fail because leaders lack vision. They fail because leaders don’t protect focus. It’s easy to be distracted by daily “burning fires”. Getting re-focused quickly with a regular cadence of guiding practices drives leaders back onto the path to success. 

4. Leadership Shifts to Make Before You Lock in 2026 Priorities

Drawing from my experience and that of others, here are four leadership shifts that must come before goal-setting:

Shift 1: From Control → to Capacity Awareness

Old model: “Push harder.”2026 reality: Leaders must understand organizational capacity—emotional, cognitive, and operational.

Shift 2: From Hero Leadership → to System Leadership

The leader who saves the day creates dependency. The leader who builds systems creates results.

Shift 3: From More Goals → to Fewer, Better Ones

Focus is now a strategic advantage, not a constraint.

Shift 4: From Activity → to Outcome Ownership

If no one owns the outcome, the priority isn’t real.

Only after these shifts should priorities be set.

5. December Reflection Questions for 2026 Readiness

Before locking in goals, ask:

1. What leadership habits helped me succeed in the past—but may limit me in 2026?

2. Where does our organization lack the conditions for people to do their best work?

3. What must we stop doing to protect focus next year?

4. If we could only deliver three outcomes in Q1, which would truly matter?

5. What leadership behaviors must change for these priorities to succeed?

6. December Exercises to Build Focused Execution in 2026

🪨 Exercise 1: Q1 Rocks with Capacity Check

Before approving each rock, ask:

• Do we have the time, skills, and energy to execute this?

• What must be removed to make this achievable?

📅 Exercise 2: Calendar Redesign (Not Just Review)

Redesign leadership calendars to:

• Reduce standing meetings

• Protect deep-work blocks

• Limit context switching

Designing work is leadership.

🛑 Exercise 3: Strategic “Stop Doing” List

For each new 2026 priority, identify:

• One activity to eliminate

• One process to simplify

• One meeting to remove

This aligns directly with Signium’s emphasis on work design.

🔁 Exercise 4: Weekly Outcome Review

Move beyond task updates:

• Are we moving the needle on our rocks?

• What friction is blocking progress?

• What leadership action is required this week?

7. A December Planning Truth for 2026

The leadership skills that built your career won’t carry you forward.

2026 will reward leaders who:

• Design focus

• Simplify relentlessly

• Align people to outcomes

• Lead with clarity, not control

In conclusion, 🎯 your 2026 results won’t be determined by how ambitious your goals are. They’ll be determined by how well you design focus, capacity, and execution.

December isn’t just planning season. It’s leadership reset season.

If you want support aligning priorities, redesigning work, and building execution systems that actually stick in 2026, let’s talk. This is exactly the work I help SME leaders do—before January chaos sets in.

Jerome Dickey