Episode 31: 12 Leadership Reset Practice to Finish the Year Well | 12MinuteLeadership

December doesn’t need more hustle — it needs a reset.

In Episode 31 of 12MinuteLeadership, I share 12 simple leadership reset practices to help you finish the year well—without exhausting yourself or your team.

Year-end pressure doesn’t create momentum... CLARITY, CLOSURE, and CONNECTION do!

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

• Name what truly matters (and clearly say what won’t happen this year) 
• Reduce mental clutter with a “Not Now” list 
• Reflect in ways that actually change behavior
• Close lingering loops and simplify what’s grown heavy 
• Model healthy boundaries that give your team permission to do the same

These are small, intentional resets you can apply right now—so December becomes a month of focus instead of fatigue.

Listen to Episode 31: 12 Leadership Reset Practices to Finish the Year Well

If today's episode was helpful, share it with another leader who's navigating year-end pressure and be sure to subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode. 

Then, go to my website to check out ways that we can support your leadership goals.

From executive retreats to customized training and coaching, my team of experts will help you level up your leadership and accelerate your results...go to www.eliseboggs.com for more info. 

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Order my book, Lead Anyone!

Chapters

• 0:02 Welcome And Purpose Of The Show
• 1:05 The 12 Theme And Year-End Focus
• 1:48 Resets 1–3: Clarity And Reflection
• 3:15 Resets 4–6: Decide, Celebrate, Close Loops
• 4:11 Resets 7–9: Simplify, Purpose, Ask Needs
• 5:13 Resets 10–12: Not-Now, Growth, Boundaries
• 5:42 Final Reflection And Definition Of Finishing Well
• 6:07 Season Break And Resources

Transcript

Speaker: 0:02

Welcome to the 12-Minute Leadership Podcast, where in 12 minutes or less, I'll share small things that you can put into immediate practice that will make a big difference in your leadership effectiveness. I'm your host, Elise Boggs Morales, leadership professor, consultant, and coach. For the last 17 years, I have helped thousands of leaders level up their influence and achieve remarkable results. If you want to trade compliance for true commitment and create your dream team, you are in the right place. Get ready for a quick hit of practical wisdom to increase your team's engagement, inspire top performance, and retain your best talent. Ready to level up your influence and get better results? 12 minutes starts now. Hi everyone, Elise here. Welcome to episode 31. If you caught last week's episode, you know I've been leaning into a 12 theme, inspired by the season and this podcast title. Last episode, we talked about 12 leadership micro moments to make this season more meaningful and even a little magical. Today, we're continuing that theme, but with a slightly different focus. Because as the year comes to a close, leadership isn't just about planning forward. It's also about closing up things well and intentionally resetting before entering into a new year. Momentum doesn't come from rushing into January. Momentum is created through closure, clarity, and connection. So in this episode, I want to share 12 leadership reset practices. These are small but powerful ways leaders can help themselves and their teams finish the year well, prioritize what truly matters, and eliminate any unnecessary demands or distractions. So let's dive in. Reset practice number one. Name the one outcome that matters most. Ask yourself, if only one thing truly needed to be completed this year to feel proud and complete, what would it be? Clarity reduces stress. Everything else becomes optional or adjustable. Reset practice number two. Identify the top three priorities for your team to close out the year well. When everything feels urgent, nothing feels clear. When your team gets direction from you about what truly matters, they can prioritize and manage their time and PTO this month accordingly. Reset practice number three, reflect before you reset. Before you move into a goal, pause and reflect. What worked well this year? What stretched us? What did I learn about myself as a leader? If you reset without reflection, you risk repeating the same patterns, fixing the wrong problems, setting goals that don't address root issues, and carrying blind spots into the next season. Some examples of this could be a leader resetting a meeting without reflecting on why meetings felt ineffective. Or a leader changes a team's structure without reflecting on where communication broke down. Reflection turns experience into wisdom and allows for a better path going forward. Reset practice number four. Decide what will not happen this year. This is a powerful leadership move. Say the words out loud. This can wait until January. Clarity around what's off the table restores energy instantly. Reset practice number five. Celebrate progress, not just results. And this comes from what I've shared before about a growth mindset. End of your recognition shouldn't only be about outcomes. Celebrate effort, growth, and resilience. Specific gratitude creates meaning, and meaning fuels momentum. Reset practice number six, close one lingering loop. Lingering loops or open loops take up a lot of mental space. Maybe it's an unresolved conversation, a delayed decision, or an unclear expectation. Even one closed loop frees mental bandwidth for everyone involved. Reset practice number seven, simplify something that's become overcomplicated. Look for one process meeting or expectation that feels heavier than it needs to be. Simplification is leadership. Reset practice number eight, reconnect to purpose. Ask yourself or your team, why does our work matter? Who are we serving? And what impact are we proud of this year? Purpose recalibrates priorities. Reset practice number nine, ask your team what they need to finish strong. Instead of assuming, ask what would help you most in the next few weeks. This builds trust and surfaces unnecessary pressure. Reset practice number 10. Create a not now list. Write down everything important and intentionally decide what belongs in January. This relieves the mental load of trying to remember everything at once. Reset practice number 11. Plan one way you will grow as a leader next year. Choose one skill to develop, one habit to stop, or one support structure to add. Leaders who grow intentionally, lead with more ease and confidence. And reset practice number 12, model healthy boundaries. Leave work at a reasonable time. Take your time off over the holidays. Unplug mentally when you're away. Your behavior sets permission for the rest of your team. As we close, I want to leave you with this question. What does finishing the year well look like for you? Not just professionally, but personally and relationally. Because how you close the year shapes how you enter the next one. And as a leader, you don't just manage the work, you help people prioritize what truly matters and eliminate the unnecessary demands and distractions that weigh them down. That's leadership, that's stewardship, and that's how you finish the year strong. If today's episode was helpful, share it with another leader who's navigating year-end pressure. This is our last episode of the year. I like to practice what I preach and take some time off to enjoy the season with friends and family. I'll be back with a fresh episode after the first of the year. I'll see you then. Like what you heard on today's episode and want to go deeper? Subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode. You can also pick up my book, Lead Anyone, on Amazon. Then, go to my website to check out ways that we can support your leadership goals. From executive retreats to customized training and coaching, my team of experts will help you level up your leadership and accelerate your results. Go to www.eliseboggs.com for more info.