Improving leadership practice is a priority for committed leaders. So, which New Year’s resolutions could top your list in 2025?
1. Question your “should”
“Liberate yourself from inherited expectations that may be limiting your impact,” advises Katia Vlachos, a reinvention coach, speaker and author of Uncaged. “When we lead from inherited ‘shoulds’ – the need to always appear certain, uphold hierarchies or follow conventional procedures – we risk stifling innovation, creativity and connection. True leadership requires a willingness to step outside these constraints and embrace authenticity.”
Start by examining your relationship with expectations, Vlachos recommends. “Which decisions are driven by convention –“that’s how it’s done” – rather than conviction about what serves your team and organization? Notice the choices that drain your energy. They may signal misalignment with your true priorities or values. Leadership that energizes both you and your team is driven by purpose, not obligation.”
2. Invite criticism
“Going into 2025, the world, more than ever, needs great leadership,” says Dr Helmut Schuster, career futurist and co-author of A Groundhog Career. “Leaders need to be prepared to make the difficult, but necessary, decisions.”
Schuster believes that self-awareness is critical to effective leadership and a useful way to develop self-awareness is to invite criticism from others. “It’s important to have someone in your life who you are 100% honest with,” he says. “No gloss, no exaggeration, no spin and independent of vested interest. You need to give them permission to call you out.”
Engaging with people outside your normal circles, and outside your age and cultural cohort, is key according to Schuster. “Also consider how much of what you do is about personal preference, rather than necessity,” he says. “To stay self-aware, in all the choices you make and decisions you take, consider who is better and worse off. Where you have the choice, make the decision that moves humanity in the right direction.”
3. Regulate your nervous system
“The pace of modern leadership often pushes us into a chronic state of fight-or-flight, where high cortisol levels and mental fog can sabotage productivity and clarity,” says Jen Mann, co-author of The Secret Language of the Body and co-founder of healing platform Somia International. “But leaders can make nervous system regulation a cornerstone of their long-term stress management and decision-making.”
A simple, yet transformative, practice to reset your nervous system is box breathing: inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds and hold again for four seconds. Mann says: “Practicing this for two to three minutes during moments of tension, meetings, difficult conversations or imminent deadlines helps shift your body into a parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ state, promoting calm and focus.”
4. Be a wellbeing role model
“If you want your teams to care about their wellbeing, you need to role model that behavior yourself,” says Dr Audrey Tang, psychologist, performance coach and author of The Leader’s Guide to Wellbeing. “Wellbeing at work is not just about availability or accessibility of tools, but knowing and seeing that something worked for someone can encourage us to make those choices for ourselves.”
The World Health Organization defines mental wellness as “a state of wellbeing in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” Tang says: “If you are role modeling that, and you’ve had help along the way, encourage your teams to do the same by sharing your support system.”
5. Think differently about thinking differently
“Cognitive difference is becoming more openly accepted at work,” says Leanne Maskell, founder and director of ADHD coaching company ADHD Works and author of ADHD an A-Z and ADHD Works at Work. She argues that leaders who go beyond inclusion to create a safe and welcoming environment for neurodivergent people are helping the entire workforce, not just those who are neurodivergent. This is because they are creating the flexibility for “everybody to thrive at work as they are.”
6. Embrace artificial intelligence to improve human performance
“While much of the focus on AI is around operational improvements, the technology can make a big difference to human performance too,” says Jeremy Campbell, CEO of performance improvement company Black Isle Group and creator of interactive AI coach Nudge.ai. “Leaders should recognize that AI is no longer just a support tool. It’s a strategic asset that can transform workforce development, making it more efficient, tailored and impactful.”
Campbell believes that by harnessing AI, leaders can create personalized growth journeys for employees – analyzing performance metrics, identifying skills gaps and recommending learning on a scale that they could never do on their own. “It means AI can handle the routine coaching needs of teams, freeing up leaders to dedicate more time to strategic mentorship and more complex challenges where they add more value,” he says.
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