August is ending. September is the moment to reset your intent.
It’s the end of August already. You can feel the gear shift everywhere. Inboxes are filling, schools are preparing to go back, holidays are slipping into memory, and leadership teams are turning their attention to the remainder of the year.
As one of my clients, an executive in a global pharmaceutical, said yesterday, “the team’s eyes are already on what needs to be done by the end of the year.”
In a way, that’s natural – this is the last trimester. There’s newly restored energy, a sense of urgency, and the envisaged satisfaction of pulling everything together.
But there’s also a risk that we dive in head down, and only come up for air once the year is done.
The leaders who stand out in this period don’t simply prepare to drive harder. They pause to set their intent. They decide how they want to show up, what they want to role-model for their teams, and what really matters; not only in results, but in how they lead, manage their energy, and end the year with clarity rather than depletion.
This is where I return to the corporate athlete model from Jim Loehr’s work. His point was simple but powerful: sustained high performance comes not from pushing relentlessly, but from managing energy deliberately.
He spoke about four dimensions: physical (rest, nutrition, movement), emotional (the quality of your state and relationships), mental (focus and attention), and spiritual (clarity of purpose and values).
Elite athletes build rituals across all four, creating rhythms of exertion and recovery that allow them to perform at their peak when it matters most. Leaders are no different.
Treat the last part of the year as a four month sprint, and you risk draining yourself and your team.
Approach it with balance, intent, and smart energy choices, and you’ll cross the line in December with more than results – you’ll carry momentum into the year ahead.
So before you throw yourself into the autumn pace, take a moment.
Pause to consider not just the tasks ahead, but the way you want to approach them – and the example you’ll set along the way.
Reflect: How you carry yourself through the next few months will shape how you finish the year – not just your outcomes, but your energy, reputation, and confidence going into 2026.
What do you most want to achieve for yourself by year-end?
What kind of leader do you want to be seen as being more of (or less of) during the next four months?
What’s the one thing you need to protect at all costs – for example your energy, your time, or your focus – to finish well?
Lead: Your people will take their cue from you. The way you lead in these next months will set the tone for how they handle pressure and pace.
What do you want your team to experience from you in this period, different to what they may have felt so far this year?
What behaviours do you want to role-model that will help them perform at the top of their game?
What’s the single most important thing you must achieve together before the year is out?
Scale: Leadership isn’t only about your own unit. It’s about the signals you send, as a senior team across the system when the pressure is on.
What message do you want the leadership team to send across the business about what is most important in the way you work, when under pressure?
What conversations or decisions can’t be left until next year?
When you look back in December, what will you be proud you achieved – not only in results, but in how you showed up as a leadership team?
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