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Five leadership moves to hit your goals in this year
The point is not to do more. It is to do fewer things with higher standards, faster decisions, and cleaner follow-through. If you want 2026 to look different, start with the next 90 days
- PUBLISHED: Mon 2 Feb 2026, 10:59 PM
- By:
- David Ribott
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In 2026, goals will be achieved less by intensity and more by design. Strategy cycles are compressing, stakeholder expectations are rising, and execution is now the differentiator. Intent is not the problem. The operating discipline underneath intent is.
The point is not to do more. It is to do fewer things with higher standards, faster decisions, and cleaner follow-through. If you want 2026 to look different, start with the next 90 days. Q1 is where momentum is built or quietly lost.
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Here are five leadership moves to help you deliver your 2026 goals in the UAE’s fast-moving business environment.
1) Use AI to remove friction from execution
AI pays off when it cuts cycle time, reduces errors, and improves service outcomes. Treat it like operating improvement tied to a measurable result, not a side experiment. One owner. One metric. One weekly review.
Do this in Q1: Pick two workflows linked to your 2026 goals, such as customer response, forecasting, approvals, or risk sensing. Define the outcome shift in one sentence, appoint a business owner, and review impact weekly.
2) Build cadence, not chaos
In uncertainty, the best leaders rely on rhythm. Without it, priorities compete, meetings multiply, and decisions slow down.
Do this in Q1: Run a 90-day cadence for your top three goals: a weekly priority reset, a midweek unblock to clear bottlenecks, and a monthly decision session that resolves trade-offs and stops low-value work.
3) Measure culture like performance
Culture is what people can safely do when it matters: challenge weak thinking, surface risks early, and act without politics. Culture rarely collapses. It drifts, and drift becomes a tax on every goal.
Do this in Q1: Track three leading indicators: decision cycle time, speak-up to resolution time, and regretted-loss attrition in critical roles. Review them like business metrics and intervene early.
4) Design retention, do not outsource it
People stay when expectations are clear, growth is visible, and managers address friction early, especially as roles evolve with new tools and standards.
Do this in Q1: Identify the five roles most critical to your 2026 goals. Define the capability shift required, create stretch opportunities, and make “excellent” visible in behaviors and outcomes.
5) Clarify decisions before you demand results
Execution breaks when decision rights are unclear. Everything escalates upward, leaders become bottlenecks, and teams wait for permission. Clear decision rights reduce delay and politics.
Do this in Q1: Put three things in writing and keep them visible: the few enterprise priorities that matter most, who decides what and by what criteria, and what stops when trade-offs appear.
A 2026 scorecard
Ask five questions. Are your top goals measurable in outcomes, not activity. Do you have a weekly rhythm that protects focus. Are you tracking indicators that predict drift early. Have you built growth paths for the roles that matter most. Are decision rights clear enough to keep momentum without escalation.
Build clarity. Build cadence. Make execution repeatable under pressure.
The writer is Founder of Ribott Partners, a Board & Leadership Advisor and CEO Coach.