Wintering well at work: Could January be a ramp up, and not a sprint?

Written by Amy Billings from &Evolve 

January can feel like opening a brand new notebook or starting a brand-new spreadsheet: fresh, full of possibilities… and a little intimidating.

In many older traditions, this time of year was never meant to be a flat out sprint, where we are immediately ready to take on the whole world. Instead, it was a quieter season of restoring, reflecting and preparing the ground for what comes next.

Everywhere we look, there is pressure to launch into the year with big resolutions, bold goals and instant transformation.

Yet winter, historically, was a planning season, not a harvest season: a time to repair tools, think ahead and tend the soil rather than demand results on frozen ground.

Treating January as a “ramp up” rather than a race allows you and your team to step back, make sense of last year and choose direction with more intention and a little more kindness.

There is a lot of usable wisdom in that for modern leaders and managers, particularly if we can see January as a strategic warm up, instead of a fast and furious let’s ‘hit the ground running’. We are here, we have hit the ground, we are doing it, But can we be a bit gentler with it?

Gentleness as smart leadership

Gentleness is often misunderstood as softness, but in a leadership context it is deeply practical. Lasting change rarely comes from pushing harder and criticising more; it comes from clear focus, realistic steps and enough space for people to do their best thinking.

A gardener doesn’t shout at seeds to make them grow faster. They create the right conditions and trust the process. Our teams are no different.

January naturally offers slower mornings, longer evenings and a little more quiet than December. Instead of fighting nature, we can use the energy of winter to ask questions that will help shape the year to come:

• What are we carrying into this year that still deserves our energy?

• What can we consciously put down – old projects, outdated expectations, recurring meetings that no longer serve anyone?

• What truly matters over the next quarter, not just what looks impressive on a slide?

Human sized ambition

Gentleness applies to our ambition too. Bold goals and big visions still matter, but the first steps work best when they are human sized and achievable. Want to shift culture? Start with one consistent new behaviour. Want better collaboration? Start with redesigning one meeting so it genuinely helps people work better together.

Small, repeatable actions compound into real change. When we frame this as design rather than “not doing enough”, people are more likely to stay engaged and less likely to burn out.

This is also applicable to how we relate to our own performance.

Throughout January (and the year!), motivation will rise and fall. Old habits will resurface. Plans will slip. That is not failure; it is a normal part of any growth curve and part of what it is to be human. Can we please extend gentleness to ourselves and our goals, and allow ourselves some time, space, and grace in the plight towards achieving more in 2026?

Rest as a performance strategy

Part of being able to give ourselves and our teams time, space, and grace, is to prioritise rest, which is not the opposite of productivity; it is a pre condition for it.

When we protect recovery, for ourselves and for our teams we get clearer in our thinking, wiser in our decisions and more creative around problem solving, all key skills we need when it really counts as the year progresses.

Honouring the “season” we are in means focusing on roots now, so growth is stronger when the pace inevitably picks up.

Practical ways to lead “In Season”

To make all this tangible in your team, you might:

• Treat January as a warm up, not a flat out sprint.

• Focus on sense making: what did you learn last year, and what truly matters now?

• Let go of one thing that no longer serves the team (a project, a metric, a meeting).

• Set a few clear priorities instead of a long list of resolutions.

• Design small, realistic first steps toward bigger goals.

• Use conversations, not just targets: ask what people need to do their best work by March.

• Protect focused time and rest – they fuel better thinking and performance.

• Respond to early stumbles with curiosity, not criticism. What learnings can we carry into the year ahead with us as we go?

You do not need to have the whole year figured out. You only need to choose the next kind, clear step for your team and for you, honouring what it is to be a human who is still wintering!