Can you believe 2025 is already winding down?

This season is a good time to pause. This is a time for rest and reflection. It's not a time for hustle. Prioritize friends and family. Prioritize making memories over making dollars. Presence over productivity.

And here's where Cohesive Leaders quietly stand out. Cohesive Leaders are thermostats, not thermometers. They don’t react to the emotional climate. They set the social climate and emotional temperature of the group. So as you move through gatherings, conversations, and crowded calendars, be the thermostat. Set a tone of peace. Encourage contemplation. Make room for joy throughout the holiday season.

Sometimes leadership looks less like driving results and more like slowing the room down.

A Gentle Reminder from The Cohesive Leader

One of the most powerful tools you have, especially during reflective seasons, is future thinking.

Future thinking is putting out into the universe what you see for yourself, the goals, dreams, and aspirations you are striving to attain. It is what you think of yourself. Growth is future thinking, and it is about choosing the thoughts that move you forward, not spending time talking about the past or looking backward.

Your past matters. It taught you. It shaped you. It reminds you of what you’ve already survived and accomplished.

But it was never meant to be your destination.

"You cannot be a victor of your future if you are held captive by your past."

Growth happens in the present. Right here. Right now. The present is the bridge between who you’ve been and who you’re becoming. And growth requires openness: trying new things, listening to new perspectives, staying teachable.

That willingness to learn is where momentum lives.

Mindset Shift for the Holidays

The holidays can bring out all kinds of emotions and sometimes all kinds of people.

Another simple but powerful practice from Becoming a Cohesive Leader is called Mirror.

Mirror is the discipline of reflecting your words and thoughts back to yourself on purpose. It’s noticing what you’re telling yourself and deciding whether those thoughts are helping you move forward or holding you hostage.

This practice isn’t about pretending everything is great. You are replacing negative thoughts with constructive ones.

You don’t grow by piling positivity on top of negativity. You grow by removing the thoughts that pull you backward and choosing ones that move you forward.

During the holidays, you may find yourself around people or situations that trigger frustration, guilt, or old patterns. Mirror reminds you that you are in control of your mindset. Not every comment deserves space in your head. Not every emotion deserves a seat at the table.

Look. See. Choose better thoughts.

What you reflect inward shapes what you project outward, and Cohesive Leaders are intentional about both.

One Last Thing…

Before you close this Cohesion Corner™ with Dr. Troy newsletter, I want you to do just one thing: LAUGH.

Here’s a simple Laughing Therapy exercise that takes one minute and can be repeated as often as you’d like. Follow the instructions, set your timer, and have fun.

1. Put your hand over your face then smile. Make it a big smile for 10 seconds.
2. Drop your hand and chuckle. This time for 20 seconds.
3. Put both hands on your belly and laugh for 30 seconds. You can even tell a dad joke to help pass the time.

While you’re laughing, say this out loud:

Why is Santa such a good gardener? 🎅

Because he likes to ho, ho, ho. 😂

It’s silly. That’s the point.

Laughter resets your nervous system. It lightens the moment. And it reminds us not to take ourselves or leadership quite so seriously.

As this year comes to a close, my hope for you is simple:

Rest well. Laugh often. Lead gently.

🎄 Merry Christmas and 🎊 Happy New Year!

Click here to try out our AI-powered book bot and Ask C.A.R.L. your most pressing leadership questions. He’s ready to stimulate your thinking and provide insights that help you lead with confidence.

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To learn more, click here to purchase your very own copy of my book Becoming a Cohesive Leader: The POWERup Guide to Grow, Develop, and Advance Your Career.

For more insight on this topic, please refer to these blog posts:

• The Silent Habit That Derails Leaders
• You can’t AI your way out of a toxic culture.
• The New Rules of Team Cohesion and Innovation

Interested in reading more from Dr. Troy Hall? Check out my books available for purchase on Amazon.