'You have a choice about how you put content out into the world in 2026, and that choice isn't just a business choice, it's about who you are and what's important to you.'

It's the time of year when we traditionally think about the changes we want to make in our lives to help us become the people we want to be. In 2026, I think we also need to think about what we want to KEEP doing for ourselves, even though AI tools might be able to do those things more quickly and easily.

Writing is a great example. From exploratory writing - early-stage, messy, private thinking-onto-the-page - to social media posts to writing a book, embracing the messiness and the hard yards is what will set you apart, personally and professionally.

Get out of your comfort zone and lean into writing that sparks genuine connection, builds trust and results in words worth reading. Because if you delegate your writing now, you're delegating you might just find you're delegating your thinking in the future.

'Christmas is so many things, but it is also quite simply a moment of pause between the year that's ending and the year ahead. And as every writer knows, pauses can be extraordinarily powerful.'

It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but Christmas is also very often a hot mess of busy-ness, stress and tricky relationships. So in these few days as the excitement/expectations build, here's an invitation to press pause, just for a few minutes, and try something a little different.

Because Christmas - together with the odd days of Twixmas that follow ahead of the new year - is a great opportunity to press pause just for a few minutes. And sometimes, that the gift we REALLY needed.

'Almost every experience that I have is a story that I'm going to tell.'

We often think of great leadership as 'magic,' but the truth is that's a convenient excuse. Great leaders aren't born that way - they become great by leaning in to what John Amaechi describes as ' a very boring set of skills and a huge amount of personal effort'.

John's own background in the NBA showed him that the most extraordinary athletic achievements are the result of dull, consistent, mundane practice. That makes greatness accessible - though not necessarily easy - for anyone who chooses it.

One of the most fundamental skills of leadership is storytelling, and John is a master at turning the raw material of daily experience into stories that connect, challenge and inspire. He has a model of storytelling that I guarantee you'll never forget. And why turn stories into books? Because books force the 'so what?' question. And that changes everything.