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Small changes in routines can create significant improvements in how much gets accomplished in a day. Here, experts share 15 practical habits that can boost productivity and lead to better results in your work and personal life. Plan Your Week Every Friday Afternoon One small habit that’s made the biggest long-term difference in my productivity is making a plan every Friday for the coming week. Most people start their Mondays feeling behind before they’ve even begun. Their inbox dictates their day, and they spend valuable energy reacting instead of leading. I used to do the same thinguntil I started ending each week with a simple Friday planning ritual. Before I wrap up on Friday, I take less than 30 minutes to look ahead at the next week. I review upcoming meetings, identify priorities, and map out where key tasks will fit. When I close my laptop, I know exactly what next week looks like and I can actually enjoy my weekend because my brain isn’t spinning about what’s waiting for me. When Monday morning comes, I’m energized from actually resting over the weekend, and I hit the ground running with clarity and confidence. I’m not reacting; I’m executing a strategic plan. Over time, this habit has helped me stay focused on meaningful work, protect my time, and feel genuinely presentboth at work and at home. It’s a small commitment that delivers massive peace of mind and productivity all week long. Samantha Lane, TEDx Speaker | Time Management Coach & Executive Trainer, Present and Productive | Origami Day Commit to an Earlier Bedtime There’s one habit that changed how I work, and it didn’t come from any kind of glamorous productivity tool. Funny enough, I figured it out by noticing a damaging pattern. My nights were setting me up to fail the next day. For a long time, I kept waking up tired. Not just sleepy-tired, but the kind where your brain feels heavy the moment you open your eyes. I’d load up on coffee, push through my schedule, and hope I’d somehow get more focused as the day went on. Which never happened. I run my own business, so there was always one more email, one more task, one more “quick thing” to do before bed. By the time I finally sat down to relax, the night was basically gone. And then I’d stay up way past 12 a.m. because I felt like I hadn’t had any time to myself. One night, I ended up going to bed around 10:30 p.m. without even planning it. The next morning, I felt completely different. I didn’t need to drag myself out of bed. My brain felt clear. I actually felt awake. I went to bed early the next night, too, just to see if it was a fluke. It wasn’t. The difference was massive. That’s when I realized how much my evenings were affecting everything. My nights were draining the version of me I needed in the morning. Sticking to that bedtime meant I had to stop working earlier. I picked 6 p.m. and held myself to it. At first, it was hard. I kept feeling like I should be doing something. I was antsy. But that one boundary changed how I worked during the day. I stopped wasting time on little tasks and started focusing on what actually mattered. Plus, I got my evenings back. I didn’t need to stay up late anymore because I finally had real time to wind down. It’s not exciting or trendy, but going to bed a few hours earlier (before midnight) changed everything for me. Out of all the things I’ve tried over the years and all the money I’ve spent on flashy “productivity tools,” this caused the biggest difference in how I feel and how well I work. Lisa Jeffs, CEO & Founder, Lisa Jeffs Toronto Life Coach & Toronto Executive Coach Remove Distractions and Focus on One Task The habit that’s changed everything for me is ruthless single-tasking. One task at a time, no exceptions. To make this work, I had to remove every distraction that tempted me to multitask. I used to run three monitors thinking more screen space meant more productivity. The opposite happened. Every open tab, software window, and notification pulled my attention away from the one task I needed to complete. I switched to a single screen and started wearing earplugs to block out noise. It sounds extreme, but it forces me to stay locked in on what actually matters. The results showed up fast. Projects that used to take days now get finished in hours because I’m not context switching every few minutes. Client work gets deeper attention, which means better outcomes and fewer revisions. My team noticed the difference too because I’m more present in conversations instead of half-listening while checking Slack. The hardest part isn’t the setup. It’s saying no to things that feel urgent but aren’t important. Once you get comfortable protecting that single-task focus, the productivity gains compound quickly. Xavier Tai, Founder, EasyScalers Process Action Items Immediately After Every Meeting One small habit that’s had an outsized impact on my productivity is blocking five to ten minutes after every meetingor block of meetingsto process action items immediately. In most workplaces, meetings end and we rush straight to the next task. We talk about next steps, but then they get lost in the shuffle or buried on an endless to-do list. Taking even a few minutes of transition time changes everything. Here’s how I use it: anything that takes two minutes or less, I do right awaysending a follow-up email, scheduling the next call, or updating a document. Anything that takes longer than two minutes, I don’t put on a to-do list; I schedule it directly on my calendar for a specific day and time. This simple practice prevents small tasks from falling through the cracks and eliminates the mental clutter of wondering what I forgot. Over time, it compoundsprojects move faster, communication stays tight, and I end the day with far fewer loose ends. It’s a tiny adjustment that creates exponential gains in focus, reliability, and calm. Marissa McKool MPH, Burnout Coach, The Public Health Burnout Coach Reset Your Workspace Every Evening Most people lose tomorrow because they don’t close today properly. That’s why I swear by a habit I call “The Reset.” Every evening before I close my laptop, I take 10 minutes to reset my workspace, my inbox, and my head. It sounds simple, but it has been a game changer. I clear out the clutter, finish any two-minute tasks, and write down the three most important things I’ll tackle first the next morning. Then I stop working. Because of this, I start every day on the front foot and not playing catch-up. I know what matters, my desk is clear, and I’m not wasting that first hour reacing to whatever is shouting loudest in my inbox. Before I started doing it, I would often end the day in chaos with tabs open everywhere, half-finished thoughts, and energy well and truly spent. The next morning was always about reassembling my focus. Now those 10 minutes buy me hours of clarity. Sean McPheat, Founder & CEO, MTD Training Document Recurring Processes as You Complete Them One habit that may seem small but made a huge impact not only on my productivity but also on how smoothly our operations run is creating standard operating procedures as I go. In our overall operations, there are always recurring tasks like onboarding new hires, processing orders, generating reports, approving content, and managing communications with suppliers. When I was getting started, I always found myself re-explaining the same process or digging through my emails to remember how I did something the last time. It ended up being mentally draining and very inefficient. That’s when I started to make it a rule: if I have to do something more than twice, it needs to have an SOP. So, whenever I complete a certain process, I take a couple of minutes to document it, taking note of each step, the tools I used, and the templates needed. It doesn’t have to be 100% perfect immediatelyit just has to exist, and I just refine it as I go along. Over time, that documentation evolves into a solid and scalable process. The impact of this productivity hack has been significant. New hires/team members can get up to speed faster and make fewer mistakes, and I spend less time teaching the entire process and more time focusing on making strategic decisions. Jessica Bane, Director of Business Operations, GoPromotional Take Two-Minute Pauses Between Major Tasks The habit that changed my productivity wasn’t about doing more; it was about transitioning better. For years, I moved through my day as if I were being chased. I had back-to-back meetings. I switched quickly from strategic planning to operational tasks. I jumped from tough conversations to designing training content. There was no pause or transition, just constant forward motion. I thought I was being efficient, but I was losing focus everywhere. The change came during my time at AWS. I balanced UX research, EQ-centered leadership development design, and implementing generative AI solutions, often all in the same afternoon. I noticed my best work happened when I had natural breaks between tasks, but my calendar rarely allowed for that. So, I built it in: a two-minute reset between each major task or meeting. I did not scroll social media or check emails. Instead, I took a genuine mental break. I stepped away from my screen, took three deep breaths, and asked myself: What does the next task really need from me? Sometimes the answer was creative energy; other times, it was focused analysis or empathetic listening. This habit wasn’t just about resting; it was about recalibrating so I could engage with each task using the right mindset, not just leftover energy from before. The impact was immediate and noticeable. When I led research on automating training processes, those two-minute resets helped me shift from technical research to strategic conversations with stakeholders. I could be fully present in each context rather than dragging the last conversation into the next one. My error rate dropped. I stopped rereading emails three times because I was skimming distractedly. I caught mistakes before they became problems. My team noticed I was more responsive to nuances in conversation. The productivity gain wasn’t about fitting more into my day; it was about focusing fully on what was already there. What makes this habit sustainable is that it’s small enough to feel easy but substantial enough to create a real mental reset. You don’t need a meditation app, a special space, or permission. You just need to stop treating your attention like it’s an endless resource and start treating transitions like the productive work they truly are. Your brain isn’t a machine that switches contexts instantly without cost. Respect the transition. Your focus will thank you. Alinnette Casiano, Leadership Strategist, Growing Your EQ Spend 15 Minutes on Your Critical Task I started every workday with exactly 15 minutes on my most critical task, no matter what. Just the first 15 minutes, not the complete thing. It’s simple neuroscience: when you start small and keep going, your anterior cingulate cortex, which controls switching tasks and starting them, gets ready. After two weeks, the neural connection gets stronger, and what used to seem like climbing a mountain becomes second nature. One executive I trained was overwhelmed with leadership duties and hadn’t written a strategic memo in months. We made one rule: every morning for three minutes, just write down one thought. She finished her whole strategy framework in 90 days without once feeling exhausted. She wasn’t suddenly more disciplined; her brain had only changed how it started tasks to make them seem less threatening. The underlying lesson is that you don’t get more done by working harder; you get more done by getting your brain to believe that starting is safe and easy. Sydney Ceruto, Founder, MindLAB Neuroscience Start Each Day with Exercise and Deep Work The single most impactful habit I’ve maintained for two decades is The Habit of Winning the Morning. It’s not about the alarm time; it’s about preloading your day with uninterrupted, high-leverage work. I’m at my desk by 7:00 a.m., having already exercised and cleared my personal mental clutter. This routine engineers a psychological and professional head start that lasts all day. Here is the measurable value this habit delivers: Gain a 2-Hour Head Start on Your Peak Performance: By getting to my desk early, I consistently create a daily buffer of focused, deep work that prevents me from playing reactive catch-up for the rest of the day. Build Mental Resilience Through Physical Movement: Dedicating a full hour to exercise delivers a sustained surge of chemical energy and mental clarity, ensuring I approach high-stakes problem-solving with maximum focus. Achieve Consistent Momentum and Confidence: Starting the day with intentional wins (exercise, deep work) generates a sense of control and efficacy that fuels an energetic and proactive approach throughout the entire workday. Thomas Powner, Executive Career Management Coach * Recruiter * Resume Writer * Career Keynote Speaker, Career Thinker Inc. Brain Dump Weekly Plans to Your Assistant Every Monday morning n my drive, I talk out loud to my custom GPT that acts as my personal assistant. I brain dump everything for the week: projects, errands, client follow-ups, content, even small admin. My assistant organizes it by day of the week and by category, flags blind spots, and asks clarifying questions I usually forget. When we finish, it gives me a single structured list. I move that list into Google Tasks, and Zapier syncs it to my Notion to-do database so my workspace stays current. Each morning, Google’s contextual view with Gemini gives me a quick summary of what matters today and pulls helpful context from Gmail and Drive. The result is simple. I start the week with a clear plan, my tools stay in sync, and I stop carrying the entire to-do list in my head. Fewer dropped balls, better prep for calls, and more focus time because I’m not resorting priorities all day. Gloria Espina, Recruitment Systems Strategist, Recruitment Gal Write Worries Down and Store Them Away When life or work starts to feel overwhelming, I turn to a simple practice I call “the box.” It’s a small wooden box that sits underneath my desk, not for storage, but for clarity. Whenever I’m consumed by stress or distraction, I write each worry on a piece of paper, fold it, and place it inside. Once the lid closes, that thought has been acknowledged and contained. It no longer controls my focus. Weeks or months later, I open the box and read those same notes. Almost without fail, the things that once felt so urgent never materialized, or they resolved with far less impact than I feared. That realization has fundamentally shifted how I manage my energy and productivity. I’ve learned that clutter in your mind is just as costly as clutter in your calendar. This ritual helps me quiet the noise so I can channel energy toward meaningful work, which moves the business forward. By giving my worries a place to live outside my head, I create space for clear thinking, better decisions, and focused execution. It’s a small habit, but one that’s helped me lead with more presence and produce more with intentionnot exhaustion. Felicia Gallagher, Founder | CFO | Finance Strategist, ThreeStone Solutions Replace Your Phone with a Dedicated Alarm I stopped using my phone as my alarm device. I started this practice after I realized that, while convenient to have one device next to my bedside, as soon as I woke up to turn the alarm off, I could not help but see several notifications that I had received overnight. Even if I did not look at the notifications, within seconds of waking up my brain was off to the races. The fact that I knew there were messages on my phone was enough to fill my mind with an unhealthy cocktail of curiosity, anxiety, and even fear of what might have happened overnight and needed my immediate attention. Needless to say, whatever recovery and relaxation benefits I had gained with sleep left my mind within seconds. All of this became much worse when I decided to actually read any of the notifications. Switching out my phone as an alarm has saved me from getting the instant info and data hit that would provoke nervous energy. This in turn has allowed me additional mental runway before the brain gets fired up with external data. It took some serious practice to make this transition. Now the anxiety levels are much lower getting out of bed and my ability to thoughtfully engage with business issues on my phone has gone up. It has also helped me be more present with the family and be able to support their early morning needs without me being distracted. Rohit Bassi, Founder & CEO, People Quotient Choose One High-Impact Task Each Morning “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” said Stephen R. Covey. I got inspired by that quote long ago. Because as leaders, we are always surrounded by priorities, requests, and opinions. But not everything that comes across deserves our attention. So, I adopted this one simple habit inspired by Covey. Every morning, I decide on one task that will make the biggest impact that day. This daily clarity greatly reduces the feeling of overwhelm, alongside giving me room to handle the unexpected without losing sight of what truly matters. It helps me stay intentional. And I end each day with a real sense of accomplishment. Because when the main thing stays the main thing, everything else starts falling into place. Sandeep Kashyap, CEO & Founder, ProofHub Carve Out Dedicated Calendar Blocks Time blocking. It’s not enough just to have a to-do list to be productive because different tasks require different amounts of time and energy. When you carve out time on your calendar, you ensure that there’s enough time in your day to get the right things done. You can also prioritize important tasks to be done firstand at times when you’re at your best. Time blocking pairs well with Cal Newport’s concept of deep work. Save time for yourself to get quality work done, not just a quantity of shallow work. This goes for both professional and personal tasks. I adopted time blocking into my own workflow about six years ago, and it’s been invaluable. I take time every week to set my schedule, and then I don’t have to worry about missing things. Robert Carnes, Marketing Director, GreenMellen Build Daily Rhythm Through Four Reflection Moments For much of my career, I believed productivity meant maximizing output, earlier mornings, longer hours, and tighter schedules. Over time, I learned that real productivity isn’t about doing more. It’s about aligning more often. The most effective habit I’ve built doesn’t require a new system or app. It’s a simple reflection routine that takes just three to five minutes at a time, yet it’s completely changed how I lead, think, and show up for the people who count on me. Morning ReflectionSet Intention Each morning before leaving home, I take a few quiet minutes to ask, What deserves my focus today? That one question sets the tone for the day. It helps me focus on what truly matters instead of reacting to noise. Many of my clients do this same reflection when they first get to their office before opening their email or going into meetings. Whether at home or at work, that intentional pause turns a busy day into a focused one. Pre-Meeting ResetRegain Presence Before important meetings or tough conversations, I take one to three minutes to reset. A deep breath, a quick stretch, and the reminder: Be fully present here. That short pause helps me show up calm, clear, and attentive. It helps me listen better, respond more thoughtfully, and lead ith steadiness instead of urgency. End of Day ReflectionCreate Closure At the end of the day, I take a few minutes to look back and ask, What moved forward today, and what needs my attention tomorrow? That simple check-in helps me close the loop mentally. It keeps unfinished thoughts from following me home and allows me to be more present with my family. The result is better rest, stronger relationships, and a clear head for tomorrow. Evening ReflectionEnd with Gratitude Before bed, I take a moment to ask, What am I grateful for, and what did I learn today? That question helps me reset and end the day. These four momentsmorning intention, pre-meeting reset, end of day closure, and evening gratitudehave become my daily rhythm. They’ve helped me lead with greater presence, make clearer decisions, and stay grounded when things get complex. Real productivity isn’t built in big bursts of effort. It’s built in quiet, consistent moments of reflection that reconnect what you do with who you want to be and how you want to show up for others daily. Gearl Loden, Leadership Consultant/Speaker, Loden Leadership + Consulting
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E-Commerce
Hershey’s has finally jumped on the Dubai chocolate trend, and it typifies the intentional approach the company is taking to viral candy. The Hershey’s Company announced it’s releasing a limited-edition Hershey’s Dubai-Inspired Chocolate Bar that adds green pistachio filling and kadayif pastry to a classic break-apart Hershey’s chocolate. They’re treating the release like a sneaker drop: only 10,000 bars are being released. [Photo: Hershey’s] “We don’t chase every trend, but this one was big enough, and there was an opportunity to do it in a Hershey way,” Dan Mohnshine, Hershey’s vice president of demand creation strategy and brand development, tells Fast Company. To make the bars, Hershey’s flew a small team to Italy to source pistachio and kadayif cream. The company reviewed nine formulas before deciding on the recipe they’re using, which was chosen for its balance of crunch and salt to complement the milk chocolate. “The ingredients and filling we developed are exclusive to the Hershey’s Dubai-inspired baryou won’t find this exact combination anywhere else,” Mohnshine says. The bars will be available for $8.99 at the Hershey’s Chocolate World Times Square on Thursday or online through Gopuff orders in New York City, Philadelphia, or Chicago. It was a roughly two-month process from late July to September to get the bar from concept to reality, and all 10,000 bars were produced in the company’s Hershey, Pennsylvania, research and development center. The candymaker has a “Velocity Lab” capability that Mohnshine says is “all about taking ideas to consumers quickly by embracing agility, an iterative mindset, and rapid prototyping based on trend signals.” For the Hershey’s Company, choosing when to jump on a trend depends on whether the candymaker believes it can provide a unique offering and value. Hershey’s is late to the food trend, which went viral on TikTok beginning in 2023. Shake Shack introduced a Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Shake in June, and Lindt and Ghirardelli released their takes on the trend in July and October, respectively. Demand for pistachio broke the supply chain. Still, that hasn’t hurt the company’s bottom line. As a limited-edition drop, Hershey’s Dubai-inspired bar is just a sugar rush in its overall sales. Though the company reported on its October earnings call that Halloween sales were disappointing, which CEO Kirk Tanner blamed in part on the day of week, it’s seen a 6.5% increase of consolidated net sales. Though just 10,000 bars will be released, Mohnshine says “never say never.” “We’re really excited to hear what our fans think about Hershey’s version of a Dubai-inspired chocolate bar,” he says.
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E-Commerce
Yes, its that time of year again: when we dont just wrap up one chapter but start anticipating the next, determined to begin with something that resembles a clean slate. The ritual is familiar: a little reflection, a little optimism, and a list of promises to our future selves. New Years resolutions are extremely popular, particularly relative to their low execution rate. According to a recent 2025YouGov survey, 31% of U.S. adults can be expected to set at least one resolution for the new yearwith the highest participation among younger adults (under 30), of whom 58% say they will make a resolution. Saving money emerges as the single most common New Years resolution among Americans (26%), followed closely by goals related to health and well-being: 22% plan to improve physical health, 22% want to exercise more, another 22% aim simply to be happier, and 20% intend to eat healthier. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/tcp-photo-syndey-16X9.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/tcp-photo-syndey-1x1-2.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"Get more insights from Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic","dek":"Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is a professor of organizational psychology at UCL and Columbia University, and the co-founder of DeeperSignals. He has authored 15 books and over 250 scientific articles on the psychology of talent, leadership, AI, and entrepreneurship. ","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"https:\/\/drtomas.com\/intro\/","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91424798,"imageMobileId":91424800,"shareable":false,"slug":""}} The benefits without the work New years resolutions reveal a painful truth about change, namely: everybody seems to love change, until they have to do it. Indeed, even when people say they want to change, what they actually want is to have changedin other words, to enjoy the benefits of having changed or having achieved the desired transformation, but without the painful and effortful work of undergoing the process to achieve it. We are, in essence, creatures of habits, and though every habit was once a new behavior, it is hard to unlearn behavioral patterns and dispositions that have become defining habits. In the famous words of Samuel Johnson, the chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Although New Years resolutions may seem like trivial once-a-year occasions, they paint a bleak picture about our capacity to change. Consider that these are typically borne out of a genuine desire to improve ourselves, and are motivated by intrinsic or at least personal motives, rather than people telling us to change or evolve. In theory, this should put us in an ideal position to achieve our goals, since all change is fundamentally the product of our own desire or will to changethat is, the only way to get someone to do something is to get them to want to do something. Hard to keep In practice, however, we do a dismal job holding our resolutions and are generally likely to break them and then recycle them in future years. In a longitudinal study of 200 resolvers, 77% had maintained their resolutions after one week, but this dropped to 55% after one month, 43% after three months, 40% at six months, and only 19% still held to them after two years. Another study provides more reasons for optimism: it tracked 159 people making New Years resolutions and 123 similar non-resolvers for six months. Both groups had comparable backgrounds and goals (mainly weight loss, exercise, and smoking cessation), but their outcomes diverged sharply: 46% of resolvers were still successful at six months, compared with just 4% of non-resolvers. Among resolvers, higher self-efficacy, greater readiness to change, and stronger change skills predicted success, and those who succeeded relied more on practical cognitive-behavioral strategies than on emotional or awareness-raising tactics. The authors conclude that New Years resolutions offer a valuable natural window into how real behavior change unfolds. The connection to organizational change That said, when we look at most organizational change interventions (especially the ubiquitous attempts to develop or transform leaders), there are even fewer reasons for optimism. Heres why: (1) Leadership change interventions are rarely driven by internal desire.When organizations ask leaders to change, they usually want them to change in a specific way, aligned with the business agenda. This means the change is externally imposed rather than intrinsically motivated. Unsurprisingly, meta-analytic research shows that intrinsic motivation dramatically increases the success of behavioral change interventions, while externally imposed change often produces compliance without real transformation. (2) Measurable outcomes or quantifiable metrics are often lacking.Many leadership development programs still rely on vague perceptions of improvement or on self-reported progress, rather than objective before-and-after data. Organizations often over-index on participation, sentiment surveys, or anecdotal indicators, while ignoring behavioral KPIs or longitudinal performance outcomes. Success becomes conflated with completion, and leaders often receive credit for attending a program rather than actually changing. (3) Personality often stands in the way of change.Most leadership behaviors that organizations want leaders to change, such as listening more, dominating less, delegating better, becoming less impulsive, or being more emotionally regulated, are deeply rooted in personality. And personality is highly stable. Leaders dont micromanage, interrupt, or avoid conflict because they forgot how to behave differently; they do so because these tendencies are their psychological defaults. Asking someone to act against their personality is rarely sustainable unless supported by strong motivation, environmental scaffolding, and ongoing reinforcement. (4) The environment often pushes leaders back to old habits.Even when leaders make progress, the organizational context often pulls them back. If incentives, culture, role expectations, team dynamics, and senior-leader behaviors remain unchanged,new habits cannot survive. A leader may return from a development program eager to delegate more, only to find that the culture rewards heroic overwork, rapid responsiveness, and being in control. In such contexts, reversion to old habits is almost guaranteed. What works And yet, well-designed leadership development interventions do work, typically yielding average improvements of around 30% for approximately 30% of leaders. Crucially, they tend to share certain characteristics: (1) They are enhanced and supported by a coach.Coaching meta-analyses show significant positive effects on behavioral change, goal attainment, and leadership effectiveness. Coaches help leaders translate insight into action, apply new behaviors in context, and stay accountable. (2) They rely on high-quality, evidence-based coaching and expert change professionals.The expertise of the coach matters. Effective coaches draw on validated psychological frameworks, provide accurate diagnosis, challenge constructively, and avoid the vague platitudes common in low-quality coaching. (3) They ensure the organizational context and incentives align with the change expected.If new behaviors are not reinforced (or worse, if the organization rewards the opposite behaviors) change will not stick. Structural alignment (incentives, culture, team expectations) is a critical amplifier. (4) They leverage the science of behavioral change.Small habit formation, nudges, friction reduction, implementation intentions, environment design, and regular prompts all increase the likelihood that new behaviors will persist. (5) Most importantly, they select the right leaders to invest in.Coachability, which largely boils down to openness to feedback, willingness to self-reflect, humility, and a genuine desire to improve, is one of the strongest predictors of leadership development ROI. Whatever you think of personalities like Trump or Musk, its clear they have little appetite for being coached. In contrast, leaders who are curious, self-aware, and eager to grow are far more likely to change. Viewed through this lens, New Years resolutions and leadership development are two versions of the same psychological phenomenon: most people want the outcomes of change without the discomfort of transformation. Leaders, like the rest of human beings, start the year with good intentions, but only a minority translate those intentions into new habits. Perhaps the most important New Years resolution for leaders, then, is not to change everything, but to commit to the small, unglamorous, sustained behaviors that actually make change possible. After all, lasting leadership growthlike lasting personal changeis less about setting resolutions and more about building habits that survive past January, and perhaps even until the next decade. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/tcp-photo-syndey-16X9.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/tcp-photo-syndey-1x1-2.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"Get more insights from Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic","dek":"Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is a professor of organizational psychology at UCL and Columbia University, and the co-founder of DeeperSignals. He has authored 15 books and over 250 scientific articles on the psychology of talent, leadership, AI, and entrepreneurship. ","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"https:\/\/drtomas.com\/intro\/","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91424798,"imageMobileId":91424800,"shareable":false,"slug":""}}
Category:
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