New year, new playbook: Why 2026 will be your best business year yet ~ HUMAN RIGHTS PROMOTIONS

From the Website of INQUIRER
links https://business.inquirer.net/565710/new-year-new-playbook-why-2026-will-be-your-best-business-year-yet

New year, new playbook: Why 2026 will be your best business year yet

or many CEOs and business owners, the turn of a year is little more than a symbolic reset. A few new goals. A refreshed slide deck. A town hall speech that sounds remarkably similar to last year’s. But 2026 is different. Fundamentally different. 2026 does not need another year of recycled strategies. It needs leaders willing to write a new playbook—and have the courage to live by it.

In my work advising family business owners, founders and CEOs across continents and industries, I see a clear fault line forming. On one side are leaders who treat artificial intelligence (AI), data and change as tools. On the other side are leaders who understand that we are entering a period that demands an entirely new playbook for thinking, deciding and leading.

The year 2026 will reward the second group disproportionately. This is not about technology hype. It is about mindset, courage and the willingness to rethink how leadership actually works when the speed of reality accelerates.

The end of comfortable leadership

For decades, many successful companies could afford a certain leadership complacency. Markets moved slowly. Information traveled unevenly. Experience alone often trumped experimentation. Those days are over.

In 2026, comfort is the enemy. The leaders who will thrive are those who accept one hard truth: The skills that got you here will not be sufficient to take you where you want to go next.

This doesn’t invalidate experience. It reframes it. Experience becomes valuable only when paired with adaptability, intellectual humility and the ability to unlearn. The most dangerous leaders I encounter are not the incompetent ones. They are the highly competent leaders who believe they have already figured it out.

From ‘using AI’ to thinking with AI

Many companies proudly say they are “implementing AI.” In reality, they are automating small tasks, experimenting at the edges or delegating responsibility to a tech team without changing how decisions are made at the top.

The leaders who will win in 2026 understand something deeper: AI is not just an operational tool. It is a strategic thinking amplifier. Some of the most advanced companies I work with are already treating AI almost like an additional board member. They feed it structured, confidential information about strategy discussions, constraints, past decisions and long-term goals. Not to replace judgment—but to sharpen it.

The shift is subtle but profound: From opinions to evidence-backed scenarios. From reactive decisions to pattern recognition. From intuition alone to augmented intuition.

This is where 2026 becomes a turning point. Leaders who learn to think with AI, not just deploy it, suddenly see blind spots they never knew existed.

Speed will punish ego

Another defining feature of 2026 is speed—not just market speed, but decision speed.

In slower environments, ego is survivable. In fast environments, ego becomes fatal.

I see this repeatedly in family businesses and founder-led organizations. Decisions bottleneck at the top because the leader needs to be the smartest person in the room. Information gets filtered. Reality gets softened. Bad news arrives late—if at all.

The strongest leaders in 2026 will actively design systems that challenge them: Dissent without punishment. Data without sugarcoating. External perspectives without political filters.

Paradoxically, the more power you have, the more aggressively you must work to stay connected to reality.

The courage to redesign the role of the CEO

One of the most uncomfortable conversations I have with clients is about their own role. In 2026, the CEO is no longer the heroic problem-solver-in-chief. That model doesn’t scale in a world of complexity, AI and constant disruption.

Instead, the most effective CEOs I know are redefining themselves as: Architects of decision quality. Designers of clarity. Guardians of focus. Stewards of long-term vision.

They ask fewer questions about control and more questions about leverage. Where does my attention create the highest return? What decisions truly require me—and which ones don’t? This shift alone often unlocks massive performance gains without hiring a single additional person.

Long-term vision in a short-term world

One of the great ironies of modern business is that while tools have become faster, great outcomes still require patience.

The leaders who will make 2026 their best year are not the ones chasing every trend. They are the ones with a clearly articulated long-term vision—and the discipline to filter everything through it.

I often describe this as tunnel vision of the right kind. You know exactly where you are going. Temporary setbacks don’t rattle you. Short-term noise doesn’t distract you. You remain calm while others panic. This mindset is especially powerful in uncertain environments. When others freeze or thrash, you move steadily forward.

Why family businesses have a unique advantage—if they use it

Family businesses, in particular, stand at a crossroads in 2026.

They often possess long-term capital, deep industry knowledge and strong values and identity. But they are also vulnerable to emotional decision-making, avoidance of conflict and loyalty overriding performance.

The families who will thrive are those who professionalize without losing their soul. They introduce external perspectives. They separate family roles from business roles. They use AI and data as neutral mirrors that reduce emotional distortion. Done right, 2026 can mark the moment when a family business moves from legacy-driven to future-built.

Discomfort is the entry fee

Let me be blunt: 2026 will not be comfortable. You will be challenged more than before. Long-held assumptions will be questioned. Decisions will need to be made with incomplete information. The pace will feel relentless at times.

But this discomfort is not a bug. It is the entry fee for relevance. Every major leap in performance I’ve witnessed—personally and professionally—came after a period of discomfort that could not be avoided, only embraced. The leaders who accept this grow stronger. The ones who resist it fall behind quietly, then suddenly.

Why 2026 can truly be your best year

If all of this sounds demanding, that’s because it is. But it is also deeply empowering. The year 2026 offers something rare: a reset point where leaders willing to rethink how they lead can leap ahead while others hesitate.

If you upgrade how you think, not just what you use; redesign your role instead of defending it; use AI as a strategic partner, not a gimmick; anchor yourself in long-term vision and; invite reality instead of avoiding it, then yes—2026 can be your best business year yet. Not because conditions are perfect, but because you are better prepared than ever to navigate imperfection.
Three to thrive in 2026

1. Design for truth. Build systems that show you reality early, clearly and without emotion.

2. Lead above the noise. Anchor decisions in long-term vision, not short-term pressure.

3. Upgrade the leader, not just the tools. Your mindset is the ultimate competitive advantage.

Tom Oliver, a “global management guru” (Bloomberg), is the chair of The Tom Oliver Group, the trusted advisor and counselor to many of the world’s most influential family businesses, medium-sized enterprises, market leaders and global conglomerates. For more information and inquiries: www.TomOliverGroup.com or email