Leadership Tea
On Leadership Tea, we talk about what it takes to reach the executive level, and how to thrive when you get there. Powerful leaders share their journeys, insights, and triumphs in conversations with hosts Shelby Smith-Wilson and Belinda Jackson Farrier.
Join us every other Wednesday to be inspired by the unvarnished stories of amazing executives who know what it's like to be "the only" at the table and who have succeeded regardless. They have proven leadership experience in their respective fields, from international affairs to the private sector to academia, and want to help others create their own success stories.
Leadership Tea
How Senior Leaders Win Q1: 4 Strategic Moves for a Productive First Quarter (2026)
Ready to start 2026 with clarity instead of chaos? Belinda & Shelby lay out a four-move blueprint to make your first quarter productive and sane: choose a small number of strategic bets, audit and activate your influence architecture, fix friction in your systems, and lead at the pace of judgment. Rather than sprinting into January, we unpack how deliberate choices, cleaner processes, and thoughtful outreach create momentum that compounds into Q2 and Q3.
Our four tips shape a practical, leader-ready playbook for Q1. If this episode resonated, follow us, share it with a colleague who’s planning their quarter, and leave a review with your top Q1 move—what will you prioritize first?
Join us on February 28th, 2026 at the DC Wharf for the Recommit: Winter Retreat. Get your tickets here: https://www.stirringsuccess.com/recommit-a-halfday-retreat
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Welcome to the Leadership Tea Podcast, where senior leaders and executives come to lead clearly and with intention. My name is Shelby, and I'm joined by my dynamic co-host, Belinda. And today we thought we would kick off this series of 2026 Leadership Tea Podcast episodes by talking about four steps for a productive first quarter. So listen up, Belinda and I are each going to share two tips that we have for all of you on how to make this first quarter as productive as possible. So, Belinda, I'll kick it over to you to get us started.
SPEAKER_01:No, thank you, Shelby. I appreciate that. So I was thinking about how in 2025 I would have framed the idea of being courageous and thinking strategically as kind of taking reasonable risks. But as we come into 2026, where it's clear that there are a lot of changes happening in the market. There's a lot that's just very dynamic right now around the world. I think it's more about placing strategic bets. And it's it's really about identifying one or two things that you can take on during this quarter. And those two things should be things that, if they were to change, would really materially change the circumstances of your organization or your team or the project that you're working on. And thinking about what do you have to do in terms of talent or structure or processes in order to have an impact on the trajectory of the situation? So you're asking yourself, if this works, what exactly am I going to unlock? Like if it's that significant of a decision. And you know, it's it's not simply can I rally the team or can I be brave and courageous, but can I really identify what is going to change the circumstances here and really focus on what elements of the things I need to work on? Do I need to hire differently? Do I need to train differently? Um, do I need to align myself with a different team and really focus on that for the quarters. So as you enter quarter two, you've really taken some risks, but they're going to pay off, and they're going to pay off in a big way.
SPEAKER_00:I like the way that you frame that because I think it reinforces this idea of intentionality. Because I think sometimes when people hear the word risk, it's like, ooh, that sounds scary. That sounds like like it's going to be dangerous or like it's going to have an unintended effect. But if you approach it in the way that you just described, it's like, no, let's let's sit down and be methodical and strategic about the risks that we think we need to take in order to make the first quarter as productive as possible. Again, I think the undercurrent is intentionality. 100%. Yeah. Yeah. What about you? So my tip is to audit your influence architecture. What do I mean by that? Yeah. In other words, activate your network. Think about who are the people that you haven't reached out to in a while who could be not even just allies, but who can help you reach some of those first quarter goals. And I think when people hear the word network, which is why I used a different word of influence architecture, I think people think network is a bad thing. It's a bad word. It's like, am I using someone to my advantage? And it's it's not that. I think as as executives and as entrepreneurs, you need to really look at who are the people within your circles who can help you and who can you in turn help? And one of the ways that you can do that, a lot of us are on LinkedIn. You know, when was the last time you actually audited your LinkedIn network to see are there leads that I could be reaching out to to help me get that contract, to help me have that key conversation with someone else who can help me get that contract or who can help me land that business deal? And I think if you use the first weeks of the of the new year in the first quarter to really take stock of who's within your network, who are the people that you need to reach out to that you said you were going to follow up with and you just haven't done it yet. You know, take stock of the people that you need to connect with, if it's, you know, someone that you that you know can help you get to that next goal. Or again, if it's someone that you owe a response to on something, I think it's just a good business practice. And as it as and as executives, you know, the the art of follow-up and making it personal as opposed to like, yeah, thanks for that message, I'll get back to you. No, really get back to that person and make sure that you're cultivating those relationships so that you can continue to maintain your strategic influence on others.
SPEAKER_01:100%. And I think that pairs really nicely with the point that I just gave as well, that if you've got these strategic goals and you're taking these risks, there are people along the way that you need to help you. 100% right. Yeah. Like I love that idea. So I would offer, similarly, building on that, that in the first quarter, it's really important to think about aligning your systems, that there are points of friction within your organization, within your sphere of influence. And this is a good time to be really real about what is and isn't working and get stuff to work right. Right. And it can't, obviously, you can't take on everything. But if there are, if there's a process that's making your team inefficient, and nobody has wanted to rethink the SOP or sit down or or rethinking the SOP is going to require difficult conversations with other teams, or it's gonna require more resources. Like we got to deal with it. At some point, we have to deal with it. And people have a mindset at the start of the year, they're more open to change, I think. It's a better time to introduce change to your teams.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:And um, it's a better time to get people to read to think about things differently. I I used to really use that opportunity to talk about resets, right? We know this wasn't working in quarter four. We know that, you know, in another couple of quarters we're gonna have to deal with XYZ issue, guys. What's a different way to approach it? Yeah. So I think really just taking stock about where are the points of friction that are bringing those inefficiencies and doing what you can to really um, you know, align things quickly.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I would say the most successful organizations and teams that I've been on have had solid processes in place. And the time to develop those processes, as you say, is now in the first quarter and not in the second quarter or the third quarter because you realize that the old way that you were doing things was not working. Well, guess what? Like half the year is already over, and now you're building the systems that you need to be productive. That's counterproductive. That doesn't work. Um, and I think that's a good segue to my final point, the fourth point that we wanted to raise, and that is to lead at the pace of judgment. Lead at the pace of judgment. In other words, slow and steady wins the race. Yeah. Now is the time to think strategically about the goals that you have set for yourself, for your team, and not rush. Like, I think sometimes when we think about new year's resolutions and goal setting and establishing priorities for the new year, there can be this tendency to like, oh, I gotta like hurry up and put something down on paper and I gotta, you know, have 10 things to do. And it's like, well, okay, how is that going to help you in the long run? If you haven't taken the time, again, to be intentional, to sit down and be deliberate in how you come up with those goals and objectives for yourself and your team without feeling this urgency to just write something down for the sake of writing something down, that that isn't going to help you in the long run. Slow and steady wins the race. Now is the time to sit down and really take stock of, okay, what did I say I wanted to accomplish last year? What didn't get accomplished? What do I need to toss aside? And what are the things that really will help me move the ball forward in 2026? This first quarter is a time to really slow down and to take stock of where you are and to be intentional again on how you want to achieve whatever it is that you have set out for yourself for 2026. With again, without feeling this pressure of, I gotta do it now. I gotta, you know, compete with so-and-so, you know, to get these goals down on paper. Well, if you haven't actually given yourself the space and time to really think about what those goals should be, you know, that paper is not worth its weight.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. No, I agree with that. Nothing good comes from making hasty, you know, emotional decisions. Right. Right. Um, you know, decisions out of anger, decisions out of frustration, um, decisions out of fatigue.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Especially decisions out of fatigue. We don't want 2026 to feel like that, right? No, no. I don't want to leave that in 2025. This quarter is an opportunity to take a deep breath, be honest with yourself about what is and is it working and who can help you.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:And begin to model for your team, for your organization, what that very strategic and deliberate and intentional leadership looks like. And you begin to see the fruits of it in quarter two and quarter three.
SPEAKER_00:100%. And I would just add if there are three words, three takeaways to remember from this episode strategic alignment, intentional. And those are words to live by. I appreciate it. 100%, professionally and personally.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. So look, we'd love to know what are your ideas on how to start your quarter one strong so that your team benefits throughout the year. If uh you have those ideas, please put them in the comments. I think we would benefit from hearing about it, as well as our audience. And so we look forward to seeing that. Please don't hesitate to like, subscribe to our channel so that you can get more insights like this in the future. If you want to learn more about the different programs and events that we have going on, please head to our website, which is at www.sturringsuccess.com. And as always, we thank you for joining us here at the Leadership Tea Podcast, where we are sipping wisdom and stirring success.
