There were years when things looked fine from the outside, but they weren’t fine.
Professionally, I was doing the work. Personally, I was carrying more than I should have. I had a coach, a tighter inner circle, and the right intentions, but I still found myself drifting. New ideas kept pulling at me. New opportunities kept showing up. And I didn’t have a reliable way to decide what deserved my energy and what didn’t.
That’s when I started using a Word of the Year.
Not because I needed inspiration. I needed something stable. Something I could come back to when everything felt urgent and nothing felt anchored.
Over time, that one-word constraint became a way to frame my decisions, my behavior, and how I showed up as a leader. It helped me see where I was overextending, where I was hesitating, and where I was misaligned without realizing it.
In this episode, I share my word for 2026, Steadfast, and why it emerged after several years of intentionality, growth, and momentum. At this stage, staying the course, preparing deliberately, and building patiently matters more than acceleration.
I also walk through how I choose a word using a gap analysis, why most senior leaders resist the discipline this requires, and how pressure-testing the word with people who know you well makes all the difference.
This isn’t a tactic. It’s a way to lead with more consistency when the environment keeps changing.
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