Manila, 18 December 2024 — What leadership role will you initiate and step into in January?

Story

Come January, what story will you start for your leadership—what do you want to see happen in your work? No, this isn’t about making new-year resolutions: those will probably soon fall by the wayside. The question is about you choosing to initiate an exciting and challenging new leadership role, driven by your passion, supported by a structured process, and sustained by working together with others. 

What leadership role will you choose to step into and inhabit, starting from January after your refreshing break? Our world goodly needs more leaders who are able to drive positive changes in their workplaces—and in themselves—and who grow leaders to join them on the leadership journey. 

As you reflect on the question, I invite you to stretch your mind beyond the formal and informal role(s) you already have and explore a new role to initiate—a voluntary leadership action on your part. Leadership is about driving positive change with others. What leadership role will help you and your colleagues, clients, and partners to create a significant change together?

Challenge 

Based on our coaching experience and the body of leadership research we build on, we recommend that you give yourself a time frame of 3 months, one quarter of the new year, to flourish in your new self-chosen leadership role. Three months gives enough time for behavior changes to take hold, in you and the colleagues you collaborate with. 

So what kind of roles can you think about? Regardless of the level of your formal position, whether you are an executive, a senior professional, or an emerging leader, there are plenty of roles you can volunteer to initiate. Mindful of leadership being about driving positive changes, think of new initiatives that will improve communication and boost collaboration among the silos in your organization.

Breaking silos can be about working together better across different departments and geographies. Another example, that we hear is lacking in many organizations, is about building cross-generational (Crossgen) collaboration in the workplace by bringing colleagues from Gen Z, Y, X, and Boomers together in small teams to develop innovative solutions. 

Question 

Leadership development is a continuous journey. Like going to the gym for exercise, we want to keep exercising our leadership muscles with new challenges every year. Now is a good time to choose what you want your next leadership role to look and feel like, starting in January. Then you can take the initiative to create it.

Back, then, to the question for this week. What leadership role will you choose to step into and inhabit starting from January after your refreshing break?

Let us know what you have in mind. You can set up a free strategy call to share your plan for taking a new leadership role starting in January. We love to hear from you.