'Gently thriving': is this the missing link in sustainable leadership?
Whether or not you were lucky enough to take a break over the past few weeks, I hope you got to experience even just a day or two off routine - not having to jump out of bed the minute the alarm went off, time to just ‘be’ - alone or with people you love, and a little more time outdoors rather than stuck in an office or in front of a computer screen.
That’s the beauty of this time of year - even if you’re the one that’s been ‘holding the fort’. Things slow down a little (mostly…I know this isn’t the reality for everyone or all organisations) and it’s a perfect time to get perspective on what we do and don’t want to take into the year ahead.
But as I’ve been catching up with clients and other people over the past week or so, I’ve noticed a familiar pattern. Even if things did slow down momentarily, they’re ramping up fast and if we’re not careful, we miss a huge opportunity to set ourselves up to lead sustainably in the year ahead.
January’s always a weird kind of month, with people coming and going from holidays, unexpected curve balls landing and an expectation (sometimes of ourselves, sometimes by others and often simply due to workload demands) that we go from zero to 100 in the blink of an eye, even though the reality is that we’re not all firing on all cylinders just yet.
The pressure to keep things moving forward are real, whether it be BAU or delivering strategic outcomes, but rushing back into ‘doing’ mode without intentional thought about what really matters is a recipe for misdirected time and energy. We run the risk of falling straight back into old habits that don’t serve us, let alone our teams, our organisations, or the impact we want and need to make.
This isn’t about making new year’s resolutions. I don’t do them - but I do set intentions.
To set intentions we need to slow down enough to be conscious of what’s happening within and around us. Which is why at this time of year, as much as ever, we need to lead deliberately.
When we get deliberate about what matters and how we’re going to lead ourselves to align with those things, we have a much better chance of leading the impact and outcomes we want and need (better at least than if we set unrealistic goals that fall flat before the calendar flips to February).
So with that, my intention this year is to Gently Thrive.
This isn’t a set of buzz words. I’ve given these two words a lot of thought and reflection and made some deliberate changes to how I’m leading myself and the way I work to align with my intentions. These words are the filter for how I will lead this year.
And going by some of the conversations I’ve been having with leaders over the past week or so, I’m going to hazard a guess that there could be a lot of benefit in these words for others too.
Before I explain more, let’s take a moment to notice some things you might have felt whenever it was your turn to switch into ‘work mode’ again…
Did you have a shocker of a sleep on that night before the first day back (or just on any given Sunday)?
Do you feel tension in your body, notice you’re holding your breath, or your heart racing because you’re back to being in a hurry?
Do you keep forcing yourself to ‘keep pushing through’ even when you’re physically or mentally spent and if you’re honest with yourself, not really being productive?
Do you feel guilty if you even think about stopping for a break now that you’re back into the swing of ‘work mode’?
I’ve seen these patterns in myself time and time again and with the benefit of some reflection, I realised enough is enough.
I’ve trained my body to ‘armour up’ in this way. What probably started as a high-performance mindset for efficiency and productivity has turned into an unhealthy way of living and leading that gets the cortisol sky-rocketing before I’ve even had a chance to think about me, let alone my work for the day. The reality: it’s not helping me be or bring my best, now or for the long term.
Which is why I’ve been thinking long and hard about what leading with purpose for sustainable impact really takes. And this is where ‘gently thriving’ comes into play.
We might have told ourselves we need to feel wired (or as I like to call it, ‘have my internal engine revving’) if we’re going to lead well and achieve outcomes. But really we’re just undermining our potential and hurting our wellbeing in the process.
Thriving is about doing well, growing, learning, developing and flourishing. If we thrive as leaders we are showing up as our best selves, we’re bringing out the best in others, and we’re achieving outcomes that align with our vision and mission. But who decided that it needs to come at the cost of our health and wellbeing?
We’re humans, not robots.
So being gentle is about kindness and moderation, it’s about moving away from force and removing resistance. It’s not ‘soft’ but being deliberately conscious of exercising strength without doing harm. Because when we lead ourselves in a way that supports wellbeing, we thrive.
This isn’t about taking the foot off the pedal. It’s about leading myself to create the optimal conditions to consistently show up and make the impact I want to make - sustainably.
I’d love to see and support more leaders to ‘gently thrive’ in 2026 and beyond. To do that, I’m going to lean on my trusty and well proven Deliberate Leadership™ model. And I thought I’d use it to share a few pointers on how you can get started yourself today.
Depth
This is about knowing yourself and being self-aware.
Ask yourself: What state is my body (nervous system) operating from most days?
What helps me feel grounded and clear, even in the chaos?
What are my wellbeing non-negotiables - not just for survival but to thrive?
Direction
Gently thriving leaders get clear on what matters most and have the courage to let go of the rest.
How will you intentionally align your energy with your highest-impact work?
What will you stop doing so you can focus on the things that only you can do?
Dialogue
Connection is the antidote to burnout - for leaders and their teams.
What conversations will you start to build trust, signal care and provide clarity under pressure?
How can you model the vulnerability and presence you want to see?
Discipline
Gentle doesn’t mean lazy. It means working smarter not harder.
What rhythms and routines will support you to protect your energy and focus on what matters most?
What boundaries need to be reinforced or reimagined?
Distinguish
In a world of AI, automation and overwhelm, your humanity is your advantage.
What do you bring to your leadership that’s unique and how can you ensure it shines through?
What strengths, stories and lessons can you share to role model gently thriving in a way no one else can?
My vision is that more leaders experience the benefits of ‘gently thriving’ and that this will show up as things like:
Less guilt - in giving your body and mind what it needs to thrive.
Less mental friction - overthinking and second-guessing.
Less force in gaining clarity - decisions come with less internal debate.
Less reactivity - pausing between trigger and response.
and
More energy being available - for you and your leadership.
More clarity and perspective - problems feeling contextual rather than all-consuming .
More gentle self-talk - patience and pragmatism with a dash of humour.
More ease in pausing, listening and confronting challenges.
Over to you…
You don’t need to figure this all out today. But if you’ve read this far, why not take a moment now to consider how you can weave ‘gently thriving’ in your leadership?
It might start with 10 minutes a day to pause and reflect on one of the questions above. Or perhaps you could talk about it with your leadership team at your next meeting?
Because ‘gently thriving’ isn’t going to be something that happens by accident, it’s something you need to be deliberate about.
When you are, I have no doubt it will have ripple effects across your wellbeing, your leadership, your team and your organisation. And that, I believe is leading with purpose for sustainable impact.
