Did you make any New Year’s resolutions for 2026? Now that we are 10 days into January, how are those resolutions going? Are you still on track or have they already fallen by the wayside?

For many of us, the early days of January bring a familiar pattern; a burst of enthusiasm, quickly followed by work pressures and the reality of another challenging year ahead. With a gloomy economic forecast for the year ahead, this is precisely the context in which self-leadership becomes a core leadership capability rather than a “nice to have”.

When making New Year’s resolutions, we should apply exactly the same discipline that we teach in our goal and objective-setting modules built into our Leadership and Management training programmes. In other words, our personal objectives, like our workplace objectives, should be SMART:

• Specific: Clear and unambiguous about what will be achieved.
  
  
• Measurable: Defined in a way that progress can be tracked.
  
  
• Achievable: Stretching, but realistic given current capacity and constraints.
  
  
• Relevant: Aligned to what truly matters professionally and personally.
  
  
• Time-bound: Anchored to clear deadlines or milestones.

If we expect our teams to work to SMART objectives, and we absolutely should, then surely we owe it to ourselves to apply the same framework when we set our own goals, even when we’re calling them “resolutions”. Doing so not only makes them more meaningful, it dramatically increases the likelihood that we will follow through. This in turn, strengthens morale, motivation and professional credibility.

Consider the difference between vague intention and structured commitment.

Instead of saying, “I am going to start running in 2026,” a SMART objective would be:

“I shall run three times a week, increasing from 2 kilometres in week one to 5 kilometres in week ten, and be ready to enter a competitive 10k race by July.”

Or from a work perspective, instead of saying “I am going to get more productivity from my team this year,” a manager applying the SMART framework might set the following objective:

“In 2026, I shall increase my team’s productive output in increments of 2% per month to achieve a 10% improvement by June, through the introduction of weekly priority-setting meetings and agreeing clear individual objectives with each team member”.

By breaking objectives into smaller, manageable milestones, the goal becomes psychologically achievable as well as practically measurable. Progress becomes visible, motivation is reinforced, and a minor setback in one week or month does not derail the entire process. We can use the same logic when applying objective setting to ourselves that we apply when managing performance in the workplace; and it is just as powerful.

This process of consciously setting, monitoring and adjusting our own objectives is a fundamental element of self-leadership. Before we can effectively lead others, we must demonstrate that we can lead ourselves. We cannot credibly hold others to account, manage their performance, or expect commitment to standards when we are not in control of our own performance or consistently meeting the standards we advocate.

True leadership starts from within. It is rooted in self-belief, personal discipline and clarity of purpose. When we prove to ourselves that we are capable of setting and achieving meaningful goals, we naturally project the confidence, consistency and authenticity that others look for in a leader; particularly in uncertain or demanding times.

This is why objective-setting, and specifically SMART objective-setting, runs as a core thread through the ILM Leadership and Management programmes. It is also why we deliver the Ken Blanchard Self Leadership programme, which provides managers and senior leaders with a robust framework for taking responsibility for their own mindset, motivation and performance, as the foundation for leading others effectively.

If 2026 is going to be as challenging as is being predicted, then strong self-leadership is not optional. It is the stabilising force that allows leaders to remain focused, resilient and credible when their organisations need them most.

Whether you are looking to strengthen your core leadership capability, equip your managers with practical tools, or develop senior leaders at a deeper level, now is the time to invest. Enrol on one of our open ILM courses, book an in-house ILM programme for your management team, or explore the Ken Blanchard Self Leadership course for senior leaders, and meet your leadership potential in 2026. Call us on 01452 331331, or complete the contact form.