What Leadership Taught Us This Year
Written by Tyler Head
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
As the year winds down, I’ve found myself thinking back on the many conversations this year held. From one-on-one coaching sessions with leaders to live collaboration alongside client teams — from boardrooms to plant floors — one truth keeps resurfacing: leadership is less about any one person getting ahead and more about moving forward together.
It’s less about how sharp our ideas are and more about how well we work with others to achieve something meaningful. When we learn to move together, our capacity multiplies. From that vantage point, looking back, I see three lessons worth carrying forward — reminders about clarity, pacing, and what we at DRYVE call shared purpose: the sense that everyone is united around a “compelling why.”
1. The Pace of Progress
In my early twenties, a coach introduced me to a phrase from Olympic weightlifting:
“Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”
The best leaders we worked with didn’t rush clarity. They went slow enough to align, and because of that, they—and their teams—moved farther, faster, and with far less friction.
One organization entered the year with several significant priorities. Together with the leadership team, we chose to slow the pace and establish a steady rhythm: annual strategic and operational planning, quarterly reviews, and weekly check-ins. But what made the difference wasn’t just the leaders’ commitment — it was the participation of the entire organization.
As the rhythm took root, psychological ownership grew. People at every level knew why their work mattered and how they contributed to the whole. By the time we reached the start of the fourth quarter, the shift was undeniable: more confidence, more clarity, more momentum, and a shared purpose guiding the organization into 2026.
By intentionally setting aside time to think strategically, the organization’s actions became focused. The rhythm became smooth. And smooth made them fast.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
2. The Power of Conversation
Progress is almost always born in dialogue — the meaningful conversations that are easy to postpone, avoid, or convince ourselves we’ll “get to later.” But leaders who learn to pause and talk in the moment often discover that clarity comes not from speed, but from slowing down enough to listen.
I remember sitting with a mid-level leader who was frustrated by recurring team challenges. As he talked through a recent situation, he paused mid-story — and something in his face shifted. I couldn’t help but smile. “That’s excellent leadership,” I said. “Your team brought you a problem, and instead of solving it for them, you asked questions until they found clarity — and then you asked what they planned to do next.”
In that moment, he stepped into a new kind of leadership: one marked by emotional maturity and growing confidence. He realized his role wasn’t about getting ahead or having the answers, but about empowering his team to take the next step.
By choosing curiosity over control — and presence over hurry — this team is entering their fourth quarter with greater clarity, confidence, and a growing shared purpose.
3. The Strength of Shared Purpose
Teams that reconnected to their why this year found an energy and direction they’d been missing. Shared purpose didn’t just align work — it revived commitment to their vision and mission.
At one company, we observed a subtle but meaningful shift during their quarterly meetings. They began each session by briefly revisiting their core values and naming team members who had embodied them that quarter. At first, only a handful of people spoke up. But as the weeks passed, stories started emerging from every facet of the organization. Heads lifted. Smiles exchanged. The tone of the room softened. The impact was immediate: connection slowed the room down long enough for clarity to rise, and clarity led to deeper commitment.
This is the power of shared purpose. It’s not vague inspiration or another motivational phrase — it’s the felt sense that we are in on the same why. When everyone knows what matters and why it matters, vision and mission stop feeling imposed and start feeling owned.
Shared purpose creates pace.
It slows a team long enough to remember why the work matters —
and that clarity accelerates everything that follows.
A Moment for Reflection
These are only a few of the lessons we witnessed this year — and if I asked the rest of the DRYVE Team, they could name dozens more. But this is the moment to pause. To look honestly at your own leadership practices and the ripple effect they create.
Your organization doesn’t thrive because of your abilities alone; it flourishes through your interdependence with others. You know that. I know that. We know that.
Before you turn the page on this year, take a moment to ask:
What lessons from this year deserve to travel with me?
What might I need to set down?
And how can I invite my team into that same reflection?
Consistency slows us long enough to see clearly — and that clarity is what accelerates everything that follows.
Looking Ahead with Hope
Leadership will always be a tension between moving fast and moving together. But when we slow down long enough to listen, align, and recalibrate around what matters most, we discover that progress isn’t a sprint — it becomes a shared rhythm.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
When people unite around a compelling why, extraordinary things happen.
Here’s to carrying forward what matters most.
