January has a unique way of lulling leaders into premature optimism. It is a way to provide emotional relief to leaders without operational clarity. Calendars get reset, inboxes are briefly decluttered, strategy decks get rebranded, and language like “fresh start” and “new momentum” enter executive conversations with new confidence.
Yet, by the third or fourth week of the year, many leaders feel a familiar pull returning. The urgency dulls. Energy runs out. The same conversation comes up again. Meetings seem more burdensome than expected. Decisions stop. Teams comply, but they are not fully committed. The problem is rarely in the plan. It is an illusion that time itself produces change. It's not because January failed. This is because the leadership attempted to reset without thinking.
In my work in boardrooms, executive teams, and leadership groups globally, I have learned that most leadership resets are cosmetic. They change direction without addressing the remains. They present the vision without confronting the impact it still has on people psychologically, emotionally and structurally. The new year does not end unresolved tensions. It just exposes it faster. When leadership avoids confronting the unresolved dynamics of the previous year, new leadership simply exacerbates them. A new fiscal cycle does not resolve mistrust, misalignment or fatigue. It often lures them forward under the false promise of renewal.
The success of last week's column on leadership closure caused panic as leaders felt something uneasy: Incomplete leadership does not disappear at the end of the year. It moves quietly, affecting confidence, performance and morale. This week's focus is based on that insight. Closure is necessary, but it is not sufficient. What happens after termination should be recalibration. Without it, leaders attempt to move forward with teams that are emotionally misaligned, cognitively overloaded, and operationally unclear. That's not speed. That is friction disguised as progress. So, organizations don't need inspiration in January. They need alignment.
Organizational psychology consistently shows that performance declines in the first quarter when leaders estimate readiness rather than verify it. People may nod their heads in meetings, but inside they are sorting out unresolved questions. What actually changed? Is it the same? What is safe to say now? What is expected but unannounced? When leaders don't address these questions explicitly, employees answer them privately, often incorrectly, and often silently break alignment.
Early last year, I advised the executive committee of a financial services firm that prided itself on speed. Every New Year, he unveils ambitious priorities and demands immediate implementation. They launched in January with a bold strategic pivot, refreshed values and aggressive goals. On paper, it was compelling. However, the leaders never acknowledged the cumulative weight of last year's compromises, unfulfilled promises or unresolved tensions. Senior leaders were still angry over the previous year's unresolved conflicts, middle managers were unclear about changing priorities, and frontline teams were feeling the shock of constant change. People were being asked to run faster while recovering from a previous marathon. By March, performance lagged, not because the strategy was flawed, but because the leadership failed to realign the human system before it got up to speed.
Effective leadership reset begins not with aspiration, but with acceptance. Leaders should explain what they are still carrying before asking people to carry something new. This requires courage because it means resisting the temptation to perform optimistically while avoiding difficult truths. This means leaders often end up asking the question: What assumptions have haunted us this year? What tensions have we normalized instead of resolving? Where has silence replaced honesty?
Alignment is not agreed. This is a shared clarity. When leaders skip this step, they inadvertently create what I call organizational dissonance. However, alignment requires more than conversation. This requires behavioral stability. Leaders often underestimate how closely teams follow events in the first thirty days of the year. Who is listened to? Which decisions are reconsidered or ignored? Which behaviors are corrected and which are tolerated? These signals shape belief much more powerfully than vision statements.
In practical terms, leadership alignment in January requires intentional behavior change. The early weeks of the year must be slowed down in order for leaders to listen. This is not about extended retreats or elaborate outlines. It's about focused conversations that bring out reality. High-performing leaders clearly recalibrate expectations, clarify decision rights quickly, and revisit unresolved commitments before working on new ones. They understand that movement without alignment creates friction, not speed.
This is where many leaders struggle. There is pressure to appear decisive, energetic and visionary. Yet the most effective leaders I know enter January at the grassroots level rather than at the demonstration level. They don't rush to inspire before settling down. They believe that people cannot give their best for the future while silently coming to terms with the past.
This requires a moment of honest reflection for the leaders reading this. Are you leading a reset or planning a restart without repairs? Have you confused enthusiasm with alignment? Are you assuming clarity that was never clearly made? Are unresolved issues being avoided in the name of positivity? These questions are not an accusation. They are invitations.
The strongest leadership transitions are marked by precision, not noise. Teams respond not to lofty proclamations but to leaders who demonstrate coherence between words, actions, and unresolved realities. When leaders take responsibility for alignment, execution naturally accelerates as resistance is eliminated.
As the new year approaches, the real leadership challenge is not how boldly you begin, but how truthfully you recalibrate. The quality of your leadership this year will depend less on how attractive your strategy seems and more on how grounded your leadership seems.
This week's invitation is simple but demanding. Make sure to prepare before demanding a demonstration. Establish clarity before motivational work. Before increasing speed, recalibrate the human system you are asking to deliver results.
About the author:
Dr. Toye Sobande is a strategic leadership expert, executive coach, advocate, public speaker and award-winning author. He is the CEO of Stephens Leadership Consultancy LLC, a strategy and management consulting firm that provides creative insights and solutions to businesses and leaders. Email: [email protected]
