Looking back at this crazy year….

As I look back at the world of work this last year, with my themes of careers and leadership, one word keeps coming up: adjustment. Not reinvention or disruption. Just a lot of people quietly rethinking what work is supposed to mean for them.

Career-wise, (based on industry research and talking with my clients), the big shift was away from the traditional, upward ladder approach we have long been told was the way to go. More people experimented with lateral moves, skill-stacking, and “stepping back” roles that actually moved them forward in a different and better way. There was less focus on titles and more honest reflection about energy, learning, and fit – what you really wanted instead of what you should want. It felt like progress—even if it was sometimes uncomfortable or scary.

AI also started to become part of everyday work life (with some initial kicking and screaming). But after this initial panic (and hype), the people who benefited most weren’t the techies, they were the ones willing to experiment and learn and grow through trial and error. It wasn’t easy and still isn’t. Curiosity though, is beating expertise more often than not and you are being rewarded for that.

And in leadership, this was the year control finally started to lose its shine. Is it totally gone? Not by a long shot. But the leaders who did well focused on clarity, context, and trust. They communicated more, managed less, and remembered they were leading humans, not productivity dashboards. And that wasn’t easy to do in the year we’ve just had.

Burnout didn’t magically disappear, but boundaries became more acceptable. Rest stopped being framed as a reward and started being treated as maintenance.

If there’s a theme for this last year, it’s this: work grew up a little. Are we done yet? Never done, but it might be a little easier to build on in 2026.