January 22, 2026
Are things really changing for you in your leadership and for those you lead? Are you bringing your best self as a leader?
Here we are, past “Quitter’s Day,” the point in January (the second Friday in January) when most resolutions fade into the background. Yet for leaders, it’s still the perfect time to ask: Are things really changing for you in your leadership and for those you lead? Are you bringing your best self as a leader?
Ron Carucci and Tomas Chamorro, in their January 2 article in Harvard Business Review, “remind us that despite extensive research on leadership development and countless tools to assess potential, nearly half of senior executives still fail to meet performance expectations. The baseline for competent leadership, they note, remains frustratingly low.”
Two Gallup reports released this week underscore the concern. In one, only 10% of those polled viewed business executives as ethical, a sobering measure of trust. Even across political lines, the percentages remained discouragingly small. Interestingly, both parties are rated in the single digits by Congress. The second report highlights that managers today are leading more people with fewer resources and less preparation, while facing higher expectations and unpredictability.
So, what explains this ongoing disconnect between the leaders we need to be and the leaders we actually are?
So, what explains this ongoing disconnect between the leaders we need to be and the leaders we actually are? It may be time for us, as leaders, to pause, reflect, and recalibrate, to go back to the basics and ask what truly anchors outstanding leadership.
Recent insights from McKinsey, the Maxwell Leadership Foundation, the Ken Blanchard Companies, and DDI all point in the same direction: to lead well, leaders must first grow themselves. Human-centric leadership isn’t just a McKinsey buzzword; it’s a recognition that an organization’s health mirrors that of its leaders.
This week, our Thursday Leadership Insights starts with the first article of a series entitled “Bringing Your Best Self in Your Leadership Practice.” This article explores what it really means to bring your best self in leadership, not an idealized, polished version, but an authentic, grounded one.
So, what does bringing your “Best Self” look like in practice? It isn’t about perfection, constant positivity, or being Mr. or Ms. Wonderful. Instead, it’s anchored in four essential dimensions of the leadership core ;
1. Clarity of values – knowing what you stand for and living it consistently.
2. Understanding your purpose – connecting your daily actions to a deeper “why.”
3. An aligned mindset – seeing challenges through a lens of growth and resilience.
4. A motivation of service and responsibility – lifting others through trust and care.
When leaders operate from these four dimensions, they show up differently, bringing their best to their Leadership Practice. Their presence cultivates stability in the face of uncertainty, empathy amid stress, and vision amid doubt.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll also look at how some common myths about what it means to be your “best self” can undermine both confidence and credibility.
Next, we will take a “deeper dive ” into each of these four dimensions. Beyond that, we will share how these dimensions show up in real leadership stories of leaders who recalibrated and brought their best selves to those they lead and serve, and how their organizations transformed as a result.
This year, let’s make it our goal not just to bring our best selves as leaders, but to be better to bring our best selves to those we lead and serve, for those who count on us most.
The Leadership Questions for you are
1. Do you bring your best self as a leader?
2. Would those who work with you and are concerned for you agree?
3. Are you clear and aligned on the four core dimensions noted above?
4. Which of the four dimensions needs attention in your leadership practice?