The turn of the year is a paradoxical time for many professionals and executives: daily operations pause, yet the mind keeps working. Between holiday dinners and New Year's Eve celebrations, questions surface that get buried in everyday life: Am I still on the right track? Am I realizing my potential? Am I leading my team in a way that ensures long-term success?

This reflection is not a sign of uncertainty – it is the first step toward effective leadership development. For while Kodak, Nokia, and Pan Am demonstrated that even industry leaders can fail when they miss the wave of change, companies like Apple, Siemens, and IBM prove that systematic renewal makes the difference between decline and global excellence.

The decisive question for 2026 is therefore not: What do I want to change? But rather: How do I develop the capabilities to shape change sustainably?

Classic New Year's resolutions – more exercise, less stress, better work-life balance – often fail because they are considered in isolation. The same logic applies to professional development: those who work on individual skills without understanding the overall system rarely achieve lasting results.

The Performance Core model from current management research shows that performance in organizations emerges from the interplay of three levels: individual capabilities, team-specific capacity, and organizational competencies. Leaders are the architects of this system – they connect the potential of individual employees with the dynamics of high-performing teams and the strategic alignment of the organization.

Four performance dimensions are critical:

1. Enforcement – reliably securing results
2. Execution – effectively designing structures and processes
3. Engagement – fostering inclusion and psychological safety
4. Enhancement – driving change and innovation

Those who focus on only one dimension – for instance, purely on efficiency (Execution) or exclusively on innovation (Enhancement) – risk an imbalance that ultimately threatens competitiveness.

Perhaps the most important insight from organizational development in recent decades is the concept of ambidexterity – the ability to efficiently leverage existing strengths (Exploitation) while simultaneously developing new capabilities (Exploration).

The challenge: both approaches compete for the same resources – time, attention, budget. Organizations tend to rely on proven success patterns. What provides short-term security becomes a long-term success trap: Kodak missed the market despite having invented digital photography, Smith Corona held onto the typewriter for too long, Blockbuster slept through the streaming trend.

For leaders, this means concretely: the turn of the year is the ideal moment to critically examine:

• Am I investing enough time in developing my team – or only in processing daily operations?
• Do I encourage experiments and new approaches – or do I only reward the optimization of existing processes?
• Do I have the ability to consciously switch between stability and change?

Leaders who master this balance create what research calls "Dynamic Capabilities" for their organization: the competence not merely to react to changes, but to actively shape them.

70 percent of all change processes fail to achieve their objectives. This sobering finding shows that good intentions alone are not enough. Effective change requires a systematic architecture.

The Triple Loop of Change Framework offers leaders a structured approach comprising three interlocking loops:

• Loop 1 – Planning: Reflection within the leadership circle, definition of change objectives, identification of resistance and supporters.
• Loop 2 – Activation: Work in project teams, translation of strategic goals into operational measures, initial implementation steps.
• Loop 3 – Anchoring: Organization-wide implementation, integration into structures, processes, and culture.

Each loop addresses all four performance dimensions: developing new approaches (Enhancement), involving those affected (Engagement), adapting structures (Execution), and securing results (Enforcement).

The difference from classic New Year's resolutions is obvious: instead of a vague "I want to lead better," there is a concrete, scientifically grounded development plan.

Leadership effectiveness depends on two levels: skills and mindset. Development programs that address only one level remain ineffective.

At the skills level, research distinguishes four competency fields:

• Technical skills – understanding the operational business and making informed decisions
• Methodological skills – effectively designing planning, organization, and control
• Social skills – managing group dynamics, communicating situationally, resolving conflicts
• Strategic-conceptual skills – systematically planning changes and driving innovations

At the mindset level, research shows that leaders construct their identity differently. The model of four mindset types illustrates this:

• Fact Mindset – fact-oriented, analytical thinking
• Relation Mindset – focus on relationships and team dynamics
• Accountability Mindset – systematic assumption of responsibility
• Growth Mindset – orientation toward development and innovation

Effective leaders can situationally switch between these perspectives. A one-sided mindset – for example, purely fact-oriented without relationship focus – significantly limits leadership effectiveness.

Before formulating specific development goals for 2026, ask yourself one fundamental question:

Do I see myself primarily as a technical expert with a leadership function – or as a shaping leader who actively develops the Performance Core?

The answer determines whether you will primarily process operational tasks in 2026 or become strategically effective. Both roles have their place – what matters is the conscious choice.

TU Wien Academy offers leaders with a background in natural sciences, technology, or engineering the opportunity to systematically develop their leadership effectiveness. Our programs are based on the Scientific Leadership Development approach – combining current management research with practice-oriented training.

The programs address all dimensions of effective leadership:

• Performance Management – analyzing and purposefully developing the Performance Core
• Change Management – systematically steering transformation processes
• Ambidexterity – mastering the balance between efficiency and innovation
• Leadership Development – sustainably strengthening skills and mindset

The turn of the year is the ideal moment to set the course for your own development. Not with vague resolutions, but with a well-founded plan.

Use the time for reflection. The first step toward effective leadership is the conscious decision to develop yourself.

>> Learn more about TU Wien Academy's programs

This article is based on current research findings in leadership development and organizational development, as taught in TU Wien Academy programs.