By the second week of January, the calendar may say “new”, but most leaders feel something far less pristine. Strategy announcements have been made, expectations declared, and the pressure to demonstrate early momentum is already thick in the air. Yet beneath the confident language of kick-off meetings and vision statements, organisations are still carrying the emotional, operational, and relational strain of the previous year. January reveals this gap faster than leaders expect.
Last week’s article confronted the illusion of a fresh start and argued that 2026 will demand reckoning at the top. The response was overwhelming, not because leaders enjoy reckoning, but because many quietly recognised themselves in the description. This week’s focus builds on that realisation. Once leaders accept that a new year does not reset unresolved issues, the critical question becomes how leadership should behave in this fragile window between recognition and execution.
“For leaders reading this, a few reflective questions are worth sitting with. Where might you be pushing for speed when readiness is still forming? What unresolved decisions from last year are quietly shaping behaviour now?”
January is not the month that defines strategy. It is the month that defines readiness. Leaders who treat it as a sprint often discover by March that they have been running on unstable ground. Those who treat it as a stabilising phase, however, create conditions where strategy can land. This distinction is subtle but consequential.
Organisational psychology consistently shows that people do not resist change itself; they resist unmanaged transition. In January, transitions are everywhere. New priorities, new structures, new expectations, and sometimes new leaders. What many executives underestimate is how cognitively and emotionally taxing this accumulation is for their teams. When leaders push aggressively for speed during this period, they often misread the resulting hesitation as a lack of commitment rather than a signal of overload.
The most effective leaders understand that January amplifies anxiety before it amplifies performance. People feel watched. They feel evaluated. They sense that early missteps will be remembered. In this environment, leadership presence matters more than leadership proclamation. How leaders listen, respond, and pace decisions in January sends a stronger signal than any strategic document.
Readiness begins with listening, but not the ceremonial kind. This is not about asking broad questions in town halls and nodding thoughtfully. It is about focused, intentional conversations that surface where people are uncertain, where decisions feel blocked, and where the previous year left unresolved strain. Leaders who listen this way early often prevent costly misalignment later. What surfaced in January can still be shaped. What is ignored tends to harden.
As listening reveals patterns, clarity becomes the next leadership responsibility. Many organisations enter the year with ambitious goals but vague decision architecture. People are unclear about who truly owns what, where authority ends, and how disagreements are resolved. This ambiguity slows execution far more than leaders realise. In January, clarifying decision rights is an act of respect. It reduces second-guessing and restores momentum without pressure.
Equally important is the discipline of closure. Unfinished commitments from the previous year create psychological debt. Teams remember what was promised, postponed, or quietly abandoned. When leaders fail to address these loose ends, trust erodes, even if performance appears stable. Mature leaders use January to either close these commitments decisively or renegotiate them explicitly. Silence is not benign. It is experienced as avoidance.
As the month progresses, leaders must then translate intent into rhythm. This is where stability is either established or lost. Clear cadence around priorities, check-ins, and standards allows people to focus their energy. Without it, teams remain vigilant rather than productive, constantly scanning for shifting expectations. Predictability, especially early in the year, is a powerful antidote to anxiety.
Underlying all of this is psychological safety, not as a slogan but as a leadership practice. January is when people test whether it is truly safe to speak up. A leader’s reaction to bad news in this period travels fast and wide. Dismissiveness shuts down candour. Curiosity invites truth. Leaders who welcome reality early gain foresight. Those who dismiss it inherit surprise.
For leaders reading this, a few reflective questions are worth sitting with. Where might you be pushing for speed when readiness is still forming? What unresolved decisions from last year are quietly shaping behaviour now? How safe is it, truly, for your team to tell you what is not working yet? These are not abstract questions. They are operational ones.
The feedback from last week’s article revealed something important. Many leaders feel relieved when they are given permission to slow down in January, not out of complacency, but out of wisdom. They recognise that leadership is not about proving momentum but about creating conditions for it. This is especially true for those leading complex transformations, system upgrades, or cultural shifts across geographies.
As the month continues, the temptation will be to accelerate prematurely. Resist it. Use January to listen deeply, clarify ownership, close what remains unresolved, and establish a rhythm your people can trust. This is not a retreat from excellence. It is how excellence is made sustainable.
Lead January as a stabilising force. Choose readiness over resolution. Choose clarity over speed. If you do this well, the rest of the year will not require constant correction. Performance will follow because the system, and the people within it, are finally prepared to carry it.
Leadership that gets January right does not just reduce anxiety. It earns credibility. And credibility, more than pressure, is what sustains excellence over time.
Dr Toye Sobande is a strategic leadership expert, executive coach, lawyer, public speaker, and award-winning author. He is the CEO of Stephens Leadership Consultancy LLC, a strategy and management consulting firm offering creative insights and solutions to businesses and leaders. Email: contactme@toyesobande.com
