10 New Year's resolutions every leader should adopt in 2023

I've been working with business leaders and organizations for more than 20 years. I've seen trends in leadership and culture come and go, as well as higher thinking and innovative ways of creating business and people results.

Most of the outcomes and results I've seen have been created to address the human stuff.

The human stuff is not known. Business, leadership, and culture are made up of intangibles. Things like intentions, energy, presence, regard, nuanced communication, intuition, and self-care are hard to touch, prioritize, or get our arms around. They are everything.

In the new year, there are a number of leadership skills that I believe will be important. I want to keep them short and sweet, so I offer you 10 to start.

1. Prioritize self-care and the wellbeing of you (and your workforce)

Leadership skills include self-care. If we're burned out, exhausted, unhappy, and not fully resourced, we can't lead at our best.

2. Be present and prioritize people

One of the best gifts we can give each other is our presence. People will give you more if they feel seen. There is nothing else to say.

Prioritize the human, be present with them, and make agreements for their performance. Allow them to do their magic.

3. Get clear on your intention and purpose, lead from love, and be 'in service of'

The root of impact creation is intention. It's easy to forget or not have one to begin with when we are moving fast.

Pausing to consider intention and to get clear on purpose - why we're doing what we're doing, who it impacts, and what it's all for - creates clean yes's and no's.

4. Tend to the 'soft stuff' — the unspoken and intangible — and the cost of negative energy in your organization

According to a Gallup study, negative energy is costing us billions of dollars a year in the US.

The energy in your organization is what makesActively disengaged. It has been easy to skip dealing with the soft stuff in leadership and culture. People who want to go further will lean into it.

5. Work your first impression

A first impression is made in a tenth of a second. Something to pay attention to.

The presence and energy you bring into a room will be felt by other people. The tone can be set or clobbered.

6. Cut the baloney. Tell the truth.

The truth works well if your intentions are clean and you are focused on the right things. You can save a lot of time, energy, and bandwidth by focusing on the right things.

All of us are doing the best we can. We are humans. It's okay to be human. Don't be arrogant. Please ask for assistance. Become vulnerable. Space for others to do the same is created.

7. Get comfortable with your discomfort

If you want to lead and create impact, you're going to have to be comfortable saying no to things that don't line up, and be comfortable saying yes to things that don't line up.

How far you go will affect your comfort with pain. Don't let it get lean in.

8. Take 100% accountability for your experience, your leadership, and your results

What you make is up to you. You can't control anyone else but you can control yourself.

You should take the time to set yourself up. Take a moment to think.

9. Prioritize and focus on the right things

If you need it, you can have it all. It's possible that you're exhausted or doing subpar.

Prioritize meaning, show up, do it well, lead well, stay well, and bring all of you to what is most important. When you are ready, move to the next thing.

10. Hold a solid container for yourself and others

Getting curious about what's possible for you in your growth is one of the things this means.

Give people feedback and commit to being in service of their growth if you want them to step up.

Next year. Let's move forward.

Anese is a thought partner to leaders and organizations around the world. She is the author of Contagious You, a book about how to influence, lead, and create the impact you want.