Every year, organisations repeat the same early-year pattern in Q1:
• January begins with energy, optimism, and ambition
• February exposes friction, confusion, and decision drag
• March becomes the month of “resetting what should have been clear from the start”
The cost of this cycle is rarely labelled as failure. It is normalised. But normal does not mean optimal and in 2026, normal will be expensive.There is the dangerous comfort of “We’ll Adjust as We Go” that will become more expensive in 2026.
One of the most common leadership phrases at the start of the year sounds reasonable, even prudent:“Let’s see how Q1 goes.”On the surface, this appears data-driven. In reality, it is often a delay disguised as discipline.The uncomfortable truth is Q1 performance data is a lagging indicator of January decisions.
By the time numbers reveal issues, priorities have already been set, leadership habits reinforced, and execution patterns embedded. What leaders then call “adjustment” is usually correction and correction always costs more than clarity.Waiting does not preserve optionality.It quietly compounds risk.
More that the previous years, 2026 will punish drift and thhere are three structural shifts that will make early misalignment far more costly in 2026 than it was even two or three years ago:
1. Compressed Decision Cycles
Markets, customers, and teams now expect faster decisions and clearer direction. Indecision is no longer invisible; it shows up quickly in stalled execution and missed opportunities.
2. Reduced Margin for Error
Tighter budgets, leaner teams, and higher scrutiny mean organisations have less room to “learn slowly.” Mistakes surface earlier and are harder to absorb.
3. Increased Leadership Exposure
Leadership posture (i.e. clarity, confidence and decisiveness) is more visible than ever. Drift at the top cascades rapidly through the organisation.In this environment, effort without clarity doesn’t just waste time.It amplifies inefficiency.
If organisations do not intentionally reset leadership and execution early, the same set of problems almost always emerges by the end of Q1.Once you enter the rat race of misalingment, you will be fixing 5 things by March as you have always done in the past years. Here they are:
1. Conflicting Priorities at the Leadership Level
Most leadership teams begin the year aligned on high-level goals. But without structured prioritisation, those goals quickly fragment in practice.It will be a situation where one leader optimises for growth, another prioritises stability while another leaders focuses on cost containment.
2. Execution Slippage Disguised as Busyness
Activity is not the same as progress.In organisations without early execution clarity, teams work hard but lack traction; projects move, but outcomes lag and effort increases while impact plateaus.
3. Early Leadership Fatigue
When direction is unclear, leaders compensate with presence. So you will have more meetings, more oversight and more interventions.This creates a silent tax on leadership energy.
4. Team Hesitation Mistaken for Resistance
This hesitation is often misdiagnosed as low engagement or lack of initiative. In reality, it is a clarity deficit.
5. Rework Becomes the Hidden Cost Centre
Rework rarely appears on financial statements, but it drains time, morale, and momentum.Strategies are revised.Messages are clarified again.
Most leaders have lived through this pattern of fixing these five things by March. So why does it repeat? Why does this cycle persists despite experience?
It is because early-year reset is still treated as optional.Many organisations have three erroneous assumptions – that alignment will emerge organically; that teams will “figure it out” as the year unfolds and that motivation will compensate for ambiguity
But clarity does not emerge under pressure.It must be designed deliberately, before pressure escalates.January is not just the start of work.It is a strategic leverage point. When you miss it, the year becomes corrective. But when you use January well, the year compounds ith outstanding results.
Organisations that consistently outperform treat January as an intervention window, not a warm-up period.They understand that alignment is easiest before habits harden. They undertsand that leadership posture is easiest to shape before stress peaks. They understand that execution discipline is easiest to establish before drift sets in.
They do not wait for symptoms to appear.They address root causes early.This is why structured early-year resets exist not as motivational events, but as performance infrastructure.
The New Year Kickoff Summit was designed for this exact gap.Not to motivate leaders who are already committed.But to align leaders and teams before misalignment becomes expensive.
The 2026 New Year Kickoff Summit functions as a structured reset by:
• Clarifying organisational and leadership priorities
• Strengthening leadership posture under early-year pressure
• Creating shared language for execution and accountability
• Aligning teams around direction, expectations, and performance standards
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About Dr. Abiola Salami
Dr. Abiola Salami is the Convener of Dr Abiola Salami International Leadership Bootcamp ; The Peak PerformerTM FestivalMade4More Accelerator Program and The New Year Kickoff Summit. He is the Principal Performance Strategist at CHAMP – a full scale professional services firm trusted by high performing business leaders for providing Executive Coaching, Workforce Development & Advisory Services to improve performance. You can reach his team on [email protected] and connect with him @abiolachamp on all social media platforms.
