Leading by Design, Not Default: How to Build the Habits Your 2026 Goals Require
It’s December, so there’s a good chance that your company’s strategic goals are set for the year. You’re beginning to think about how those translate to annual goals for you and your team.
Where do you want to develop as a leader in 2026? What new habits would you like to establish in support of your goals?
When the leadership development topic comes up for my coaching clients, I often hear self-deprecating comments like these:
“I want to work on my development, but I just don’t have the time.”
“I try to create new leadership habits, and they just don’t seem to stick.”
“I’m not good at creating new habits.”
“I must be lazy.”
Maybe some of these sound familiar. As tempting as it can be to label yourself as too busy or too lazy, I promise this isn’t true for you or for my clients. The reality is that building new habits is a skill that can be learned. It’s not a matter of pure willpower or motivation. There is a science to how our brains form habits. Success requires starting much smaller and building them for much longer than most people think.
The key to forming a new habit is consistency. You start very small, so that it feels easy to take that new action every day.
Success in that small action forms a pattern, and boosts your confidence. Once you’ve created some consistency, you can build on that small action and add to it. New habits take an average of two months to form, and up to three months for habits that are more difficult or complex.
The reason leaders often give up and claim laziness is that they start too big or expect results too soon. To remedy this, I work with clients to identify their goal, formulate the smallest first step, and establish some consistency. Then we add to the intensity of the habit over time, until they reach the goal. I also set their expectations that it’s going to take at least two months!
Years ago, I set a personal leadership development goal to increase my visibility across the organization I was working for. This followed a promotion that broadened my reach to the entire company. I wanted employees to know me and feel comfortable approaching me. However, when I wasn’t in meetings, I tended to hunker down at my desk to get things done. I felt a bit shy about walking around and talking to new people. I started with the smallest version of my goal. I set an alarm at 10:30 every day to get up from my desk, get a coffee in the breakroom and talk to at least one person I saw along the way. This was an easy habit to do consistently because I needed to get up and stretch and I liked getting coffee. Now these actions served an additional purpose- to connect with at least one employee.
There were days that a meeting interfered, but most days I was able to make it happen. Over time, I added habits like eating lunch in the cafeteria weekly to chat with employees, walking the full office and shop floor for an hour, and attending monthly all-employee events. Through the span of a year, I made significant progress on raising my visibility and I established consistent new habits.
As you think about your goals for next year and the leadership habits you’d like to build, consider these tips to make it easier, and stay out of the too lazy/too busy mindset.
Break down the goal into the smallest habit that you can start with. You want to make it so easy that you won’t put up much resistance to doing it consistently.
Stack the habit with an already established one. For example, after you grab coffee in the breakroom, you will stop and chat with at least one employee.
Celebrate your progress. So many people skip this step, but it has a huge impact on successful habit building. When you celebrate your progress, it releases dopamine in your brain and motivates you to continue. Tell yourself ‘Good Job!’ every time you complete the action!
Set realistic expectations. Most people start out of the gate with a lot of energy and enthusiasm for building their new habit. That enthusiasm often fizzles when they don’t see results within a short time frame. Remember, habits take 2-3 months to fully form, so until you hit that mark, focus on the consistency of your actions, not the results. Those will come!
As an Executive Coach, I help leaders identify the new leadership habits that will support them in achieving their goals. Together, we craft a habit plan that is grounded in the science of habit formation and feels doable, rather than overwhelming. For more information on my coaching, reach out to schedule a conversation.
