How to Plan Your 2026 Leadership Presence Now (Before January Steals Your Momentum)

Plan your 2026 leadership presence in one hour using two diagnostic exercises. Stop drifting into January and start the year already positioned.

It is the first week of December.

You are thinking about Christmas parties, gifts, travel, end-of-school chaos, and how little you will get done in the next few weeks.

You have probably already mapped Q1 for your team. You know the projects, the priorities, the budgets.

But here is the real question:

When are you planning for you?

Not your team's Q1. Not your organisation's 2026 strategy. Not your family's holiday timetable.

You.

Your leadership presence. Your executive presence. Your brand, style, and identity as the woman who will walk into 2026.

If you care about end of year planning, leadership presence, executive presence, this is your hour to take back.

In this post I am going to walk you through the two diagnostic exercises I use with my private clients and inside my programs so you can:

See exactly where your brand and style are out of sync with who you are becoming
Decide your 2 or 3 focus areas for 2026
Take one simple, strategic action in the next 7 days

All in about an hour, before the holiday chaos wipes your calendar clean of anything that is for you.

Planning for yourself is strategic, not selfish. You plan for everyone else. Your own evolution gets leftover time.

Presence that is not intentional will always default to an older version of you. Your wardrobe, your LinkedIn, your energy — they all drift when they are not updated deliberately.

You do not need an overhaul. You need smart refinement in the few areas that actually shift how you are experienced.

If you do not take action in the first seven days, you will not take action in January. One small shift now builds the muscle of change.

Why Your 2026 Leadership Presence Starts In December, Not January

Most people wait for January to think about goals. You already know how that plays out.

"January 1st becomes January 15th, then February, and before you know it, quarter 1 is over."

You go back to work and you are pulled straight into:

Kick-off meetings
Performance reviews
New projects
School routines and life admin

By the time you look up, you are reacting, not leading your next chapter.

End of year planning is different when it is about you. It is quieter, more honest, and far easier to push to "when I have time".

Except that time does not show up unless you make it.

You plan for everyone else. Your own evolution gets leftover time.

If you are like most of the women I work with, you can:

Build a 12-month roadmap for your business in your sleep
Plan the offsite, the strategy day, the board pack
Think through succession and team development

Yet, as one of my clients said to me:

"I spent hours planning the company offsite and could not remember the last time I thought about my own strategic evolution."

So your executive presence starts to drift. Not because you are not capable, but because it is not in the calendar.

And presence that is not intentional will always default to an older version of you.

The Cost Of Showing Up As The "Old You"

Here is what happens when you do not update your identity, brand, and style at the same rate as your career:

Your wardrobe reflects who you were 5 years ago
Your LinkedIn still reads like your last role
You enter new rooms looking and feeling like the junior version of yourself

You might hear yourself think:

"My role has changed, but my presence has not."
"I feel like my look is dated, but I do not know where to start."
"I have done the inner work, but nothing on the outside reflects that."

"You are operating in an old system like you have not upgraded it. And it is not that people notice — it is you feel it."

That subtle misalignment matters. You would not run your business on outdated tech, so you cannot lead at your next level with a presence that belongs to yesterday.

Planning for yourself is not selfish. It is strategic.

And the best time to do it is right now, before January, while everyone else is still in "I will deal with it next year" mode.

Let us get practical.

Exercise 1: The Brand And Style Life Wheel

This first tool is what I call the Brand and Style Life Wheel. It takes the classic life wheel idea and applies it directly to your leadership presence.

Instead of four broad life areas, we look at eight specific presence categories that link straight to your leadership evolution.

For each one, rate yourself from 1 to 10:

1 means neglected or completely misaligned
10 means "this is exactly where it needs to be"

If you are below a 7 in any area, that is a potential 2026 focus area.

The 8 Presence Categories To Rate

Category	Key Question To Ask Yourself
Career	Does my brand and leadership identity actively support my current and next-level goals?
Growth	Am I evolving with my role, or still showing up like I did 3 years ago?
Visibility	Am I visible in the rooms, platforms, and spaces that matter for my next level?
Alignment	Does my external presence match my internal identity and the work I have done on myself?
Presence	In high-stakes moments, do I feel like I belong and lead the room, or do I shrink?
Confidence	Does my style give me energy and power, or does it drain me and leave me stuck at the wardrobe?
Credibility	Am I seen and treated as the expert and decision-maker I really am?
Longevity	Do I have a simple system to evolve my brand and style, or am I still on autopilot with outdated choices and tools?

Be honest. No one else will see these numbers.

Do not get stuck in the safe "6 or 7" zone to feel okay. If it is not where you want it, call it what it is.

Choosing Your 2 To 3 Focus Areas For 2026

Once you have your scores:

Circle every area below a 7
From those, pick your two or three lowest scores
These become your personal 2026 focus areas

That is it. Not all eight, not five, not "everything".

Trying to overhaul every part of your life and leadership in January is why most people burn out by February.

I saw this in my own health. I recently hit 50 consecutive Pilates Reformer sessions. That did not happen because I decided to go three times a week out of nowhere.

I started with once a week. Then twice. Then three times, once it felt natural.

Your presence works the same way. You do not need an overhaul. You need smart refinement in the few areas that actually shift how you are experienced.

If you scored low in five areas, and you are thinking, "Sonya, it is not just two or three", ask yourself:

Which two areas would give me the biggest shift if I improved them?
Which shifts would most change how I am seen in the rooms that matter?

Start there. You can always revisit the others later.

Write those two or three focus areas down. Keep them where you can see them.

These are your 2026 presence priorities.

Exercise 2: The "Who You Are Becoming" Vision For 2026

Now that you know your gaps, we move from assessment into direction.

If you only know what is not working, you will spin in self-critique. You need a simple picture of who you are becoming.

I call this the "Who You Are Becoming" vision exercise.

Step 1: Choose Your 3 To 5 Presence Words For 2026

Ask yourself:

"How do I want to be experienced when I walk into a room in 2026?"

Not what you think you should be. Not vague "LinkedIn bio" words.

Real words that feel like you, at your next level.

Some examples my clients often use:

Strategic
Grounded
Warm
Authoritative
Effortless
Bold
Refined
Credible

Pick three to five words and write them down.

These are your North Star words. They describe your future leadership presence and executive presence, not your current comfort zone.

Step 2: Audit Your Last High-Stakes Moment

Now think about the last time you were in a high-stakes room:

A board meeting
A pitch or big client presentation
A panel or industry event
A promotion conversation

Then ask, one by one:

Did my outfit match these three to five words?
Did my energy match them?
Did my positioning match them? (how I spoke, where I sat, what I owned)

If the answer is no, identify the gap.

For example:

Your vision word is bold, but your wardrobe is safe and invisible
Your vision word is authoritative, but your brand photos are soft and casual
Your vision word is strategic leader, but your LinkedIn reads like a doer

You do not need to judge yourself here. This is just clear data.

Step 3: Choose One Key Shift

From that gap, choose one key shift that would move you closer to those words.

Some examples:

Refresh your LinkedIn headline and About section to reflect your current scope, not your last role
Retire the pieces in your wardrobe that feel like "old you" and keep you playing small
Update your brand photos so they match the authority and energy you now hold
Decide one type of room or table where you want to be more visible in 2026

Write that shift down.

Step 4: Decide One Action In The Next 7 Days

This part matters.

"If you do not take action in the first seven days of sitting down to do this, you are not going to take action in January."

Pick one action you can complete in the next seven days. Not next month, not when you "have time".

For instance:

Book a photographer or start shortlisting one
Block 90 minutes to rewrite your LinkedIn and calendar it
Do a quick wardrobe audit and create a donate/sell pile
Buy one elevation piece that actually matches your presence words
Set up a 30-minute meeting with your mentor to talk about visibility in 2026

Keep it small enough that you cannot talk yourself out of it.

This is about building the muscle of change, not ticking a massive project off in a weekend.

Turning End Of Year Planning Into A Leadership Advantage

Let us come back to where we started.

It is early December. The kids will be off school soon. Parties and end-of-year events are loading up your diary. Your energy is going to drop.

Most people will lose December to everyone else's priorities.

You do not have to.

Here is the simple plan:

Take one hour before things get too noisy
Complete the Brand and Style Life Wheel
Pick your 2 to 3 focus areas for 2026
Do the "Who You Are Becoming" vision exercise
Decide one action for the next 7 days

When January comes and everyone else is starting from zero with "new year, new me" energy and no plan, you will:

Already know your focus areas
Already have started one meaningful shift
Already feel more grounded in who you are becoming

You give your business, your team, and your organisation that level of intentionality.

You deserve to give it to yourself first.

Key Takeaways

Planning for yourself is strategic, not selfish
End of year planning is the secret edge for your 2026 leadership presence
Use the Brand and Style Life Wheel to see where your current presence is out of sync
Anything below a 7 is a possible focus area, but pick only two or three to work on
Create a clear 2026 presence vision with three to five words that describe how you want to be experienced
Identify one key shift to bring your style and brand in line with that vision
Take one concrete action within 7 days, so change moves from idea to reality
Your brand, style, and leadership identity are not set and forget — they should keep up with your growth

You do not need a whole new you. You need your presence to match the you that is already here, ready for the next level.

Watch The Full Episode

Prefer to listen? This blog was developed from a recent podcast episode where I walk through both diagnostic exercises — the Brand and Style Life Wheel and the "Who You Are Becoming" vision — step by step:

Resources To Support Your 2026 Presence

Own The Room (Private Podcast)

A 4-part private podcast to help you reconnect with how you want to be seen, so your leadership presence reflects who you are, not just what you do.

Listen to Own The Room

Wardrobe Checklist for Professional Career Women

A curated list of must-have wardrobe staples that blend versatility, style, and impact.

Download the Wardrobe Checklist

Programs and Services

Learn more about the 3D Impact Framework™, my group program Activate, and bespoke 1:1 work.

View Services

Book Your Strategy Call

If you are in a season where you can feel that something needs to shift in how you show up, do not wait for 1 January to work it out in a rush.

Your brand, your style, and your leadership identity are living parts of your career. They should move with you as you grow.

This is the work I do through the 3D Impact Framework™ with women in leadership who are ready to:

Close the gap between who they are on the inside and how they are seen on the outside
Align their style, identity, and executive presence with the roles they are stepping into
Walk into 2026 already positioned as the woman they know they are

If you want support to make that shift with structure and accountability, let us talk before the year ends.

Book a Leadership Presence Strategy Call

Stay Connected

If this gave you the nudge you needed, share it with a colleague or friend and hold each other accountable to that one-hour planning session.

The more of us who plan strategically for ourselves, the more women will walk into 2026 leading from that next version of themselves — not waiting to be "ready" for it.