As South Africa’s business leaders close out a year marked by volatility, the instinct is to charge into 2026 with urgency, resolutions, and a long list of things to fix. But urgency without personal clarity is just noise. What leaders need most right now is intention.
Economic slowdown remains the top risk for organisations, with 78 percent reporting losses linked to weak growth and uncertainty. SMEs, which make up 90 percent of businesses and contribute roughly 34 to 40 percent of GDP, face failure rates of 70 to 80 percent within five years, often due to leadership misalignment and burnout.
There is also a human cost. Unaddressed mental health conditions drain an estimated R161 billion from the economy each year through absenteeism, presenteeism, and burnout. A recent report found that 56 percent of employees diagnosed with anxiety, depression, or burnout cite leadership behaviour as a contributing factor. And here is the part many leaders overlook.
The emotional state they arrive with each morning becomes the emotional temperature of the entire team. A leader who walks in frustrated about load shedding, anxious about targets, or overwhelmed by the pace unknowingly sets that tone for everyone. Without personal clarity, external pressures seep straight into the culture. In this climate, personal clarity is not a luxury. It is a performance advantage. And it begins with a question most leaders never ask: What do I actually want this next chapter to feel like?
Why the January playbook is broken
The “New Year, New You” narrative is appealing, but deeply misleading. January does not reset your life. You do. Yet most leaders walk into the new year with a list of tasks such as grow revenue, hire faster, work smarter, and be more balanced. These tasks are not a strategy, and they are not identity. A personal strategy works the same way a business strategy does.
You start with a clear vision and then build backwards. Without that vision, leaders simply carry last year’s emotional and strategic baggage into the new year and repackage the same goals without understanding why they matter. The patterns stay the same because the person stays the same. Resolutions fail because they are disconnected from intention and from the person you want to become. They focus on achievement instead of alignment.
The leadership advantage no one talks about
In my work with founders, executives, and business owners, I see a recurring pattern. Leaders will prioritise the business at the expense of themselves every time. Business strategy feels easier because it is external and measurable. Personal growth is internal, and that requires self-awareness, something many leaders avoid.
Self-reflection is not a pause. It is a performance system. It is what allows leaders to make decisions from personal clarity rather than fear, to set boundaries that protect energy, and to lead teams with steadiness in a volatile environment.
Boundaries are not emotional walls. They are strategic levers. They tell you what fuels you, what compromises you, and what you need to lead well. Without them, leadership becomes reactive and costly, especially in South Africa’s high-pressure business climate.
Five questions to design your next chapter
Forget the resolution list. Build a personal strategy instead. These five questions shift you from noise to personal clarity:
How do I want to feel going into the next chapter of my life?
Feeling drives behaviour. If you want calm, confidence, or creativity, your goals should reflect that.
What do I want my days to actually look like?
Strategy becomes real only when it becomes a daily rhythm. If your calendar does not reflect your vision, the vision will not materialise.
What can I start doing differently today to move toward the life I want?
Transformation comes from small, consistent shifts. Momentum begins with micro actions.
What am I holding onto that I need to release before I move forward?
Old expectations, disappointments, exhaustion, or habits that drain energy all create emotional weight that slows growth.
Who do I want to become through the goals I set?
Goals without identity are hollow. This question ensures your ambitions shape the leader you want to be, not just the metrics you want to hit.
The real question for 2026
The most powerful question for the year ahead is not “What is next?” It is “What matters now?” Leaders who build personal strategy into their business rhythms stop leading from noise and start leading from personal clarity. They make decisions that are grounded rather than reactive.
They create teams that feel anchored, even when the world around them is not. Before you plan, pause. Before you set goals, reflect. Before you sprint into January, get intentional. Your most strategic move this year will not be found in a spreadsheet. It will be found in the mirror.
Article by: Dori Moreno, Growth Strategist
