If Leadership Had a Wrapped, Most Leaders Wouldn’t Share It

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Your Leadership Wrapped

What actually defined your year, no filters

If leadership had a Wrapped, most leaders wouldn’t share it.

Because even strong years leave fingerprints.
I’ve learned that the hard way.

Spotify Wrapped is everywhere right now.

Songs played.
Minutes listened.
Moods. Patterns. Repeats.

It’s fun.
It’s addictive.
And most people post it without thinking twice.

But leadership doesn’t work like that.

What feels like momentum often isn’t.
It’s just familiar.

The year isn’t shaped by what you measure.
It’s shaped by what you repeat.

Most Played Pattern

The behaviour you defaulted to under pressure.

Avoiding a hard conversation.
Over-controlling when trust wobbled.
Carrying too much because it felt faster than explaining it properly.

Pressure doesn’t create habits.
It exposes the ones already there.

Peak Energy Month

The month you were at your best.

Clear thinking.
Decisive action.
Your team moved faster and needed you less.

The real question isn’t:
Why can’t every month feel like that?

It’s:
What were you doing differently then?

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Worth Reading

A few newsletters I return to when I want to think more clearly about leadership, work, and decision-making:

On Repeat

The problem that kept showing up because it was never fully addressed.

The same tension in meetings.
The same misalignment across teams.
The same frustration you promised yourself you’d circle back to.

Most leaders recognise patterns.
Very few slow down long enough to dismantle them.

It feels productive to move on.
It rarely is.

Breakout Moment

One moment where you led at your best.

You slowed down instead of reacting.
You chose clarity over comfort.
You said the thing that needed to be said.

Those moments matter more than you think.
They quietly reset the standard others follow.

Reflection for the Week

Here’s the part most leaders miss.

The year doesn’t reward what you intend.
It rewards what you tolerate.

The best leaders don’t wait until January to reflect.
They review in real time.

Awareness is leverage.
Patterns, once seen, can be changed.

Most leadership plateaus aren’t skill problems.
They’re unexamined habits.

And the leaders who scale into bigger roles aren’t busier.
They’re clearer.

They know what drains them.
Where they avoid.
When fear, not clarity, is driving.

That clarity compounds.

Before the year ends, don’t ask:
What did I achieve?

Ask this instead:

What did I practise?

Because that’s what you’re taking into next year, whether you mean to or not.

If You Want Support

If you’re curious what your own Leadership Wrapped would reveal, I’m opening space for two leaders to work closely with me in Q1.

Reply with “Wrapped” if you’d like to explore whether that makes sense.

Thanks for being here. I’m looking forward to continuing the work in 2026.

With appreciation,
Chris