December often arrives with a deep sense of fatigue. By this point in the year, you've likely navigated shifting priorities, persistent demands, and constant decisions. Many of us are craving rest, though wrapping things up can still feel out of reach.
How we end the year shapes how clearly we begin the next. As Oliver Burkeman writes, “The real measure of any time management technique is whether or not it helps you neglect the right things.” What we choose to pause or stop often matters as much as what we protect and preserve.
Capacity is cumulative. It builds gradually. Small rituals. Deliberate reflection. Practices that create space, not just speed. Rhythm, rest, and recovery matter. They shape the structure of how we lead and live, especially when the pace picks up.
Some of the leaders I've worked with this year created small pauses in their days. The five minutes before a meeting. A short walk at lunch. A standing check-in on a Thursday. Others protected time to think or close their week with a single written reflection. These habits may seem simple and modest, but their power is in the compounding over time.
The Swedish word lagom means "just enough". Not too much, not too little. Just the right amount. Goldilocks.
Many of the rituals that build leadership capacity feel this way. Modest, repeatable, steady. These small rituals are rarely celebrated, yet they shape something real.
Rituals help hold the weight of a leadership year. Reflection helps us make meaning from it. Without reflection, the lessons of the year often fade in the rush to plan for what's next. Without rituals, our capacity gets drained in service of the urgent.
As the year draws to a close, it can help to pause. To rest and to reflect on what mattered, and what worked. Which small practices supported your leadership when things were stretched? Which habits added clarity, steadiness, or focus?
This is the kind of conversation I often have in Executive Mentoring. A few places are opening in February for leaders who are ready to work more deliberately on capacity, clarity, and influence. If that sounds like something you'd like to explore, I’d love to hear from you.
Before the year closes fully, a simple invitation: Which rituals helped you lead well this year? What might you carry forward or strengthen in the next? The rituals you choose now won’t just help you recover. They shape your readiness for what comes next.
Culture and leadership shape capacity. Capacity shapes what is possible.
Thanks for exploring with me,
I hope you enjoy a wonderful break and I look forward to shifting culture and leadership in 2026 with you.
The team and I wish you and yours a wonderful festive season. Please note we will be taking a holiday break from 15 December and be back on deck from 12 January.
Meredith
PS The Recharge Masterclass recording is now available to purchase, offering practical insights and rituals to help you close your year and begin the next with energy.
PPS If a career shift is on the horizon, you might find my Careershift program a helpful companion. You can take it at your own pace, online.
Culture can take you further than Strategy can imagine.
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