As 2025 comes to a close, I’ve spent time reflecting. Not on wins or metrics, but on patterns.
Across the leaders and companies I worked with this year, different industries, different stages, different challenges, the same core issues kept showing up. When that happens, it’s worth paying attention.
Here are the five biggest problems we helped leaders solve in 2025, followed by the one problem I believe must be addressed in 2026 if real momentum is going to happen.
1. Leadership Teams That Looked Aligned but Weren’t
Most leadership teams weren’t broken. They were unclear.
On the surface, things looked fine. Underneath, decisions slowed down, accountability felt fuzzy, and tension went unspoken. The work wasn’t about forcing agreement. It was about creating clarity.
Once ownership, roles, and decision rights were clearly defined, momentum returned. Alignment isn’t about everyone agreeing. It’s about everyone knowing what they own and actually owning it.
2. Strong Strategy With No Structure to Support It
This showed up everywhere.
Leaders had good ideas, solid instincts, and real vision. What they didn’t have was structure capable of carrying the weight of that strategy. So the strategy stayed stuck in meetings instead of turning into results.
We rebuilt operating rhythms, clarified expectations, and installed scorecards that mattered. Over and over again, the same truth surfaced. Strategy without structure doesn’t inspire. It exhausts.
3. High Performers Quietly Burning Out
Some of the most capable leaders I know were also the most depleted.
They were filling gaps, carrying too much, and operating in hero mode because the business depended on them to do so. When we slowed down and redesigned roles and responsibilities, something shifted.
Burnout isn’t a personal flaw. It’s a systems problem. Fix the structure, and the pressure changes.
4. Businesses That Had Outgrown Their Founder
This one is hard and common.
Many companies had scaled beyond the leadership style that built them. Founders were still operating like doers when the business needed architects.
The work became about letting go without losing vision, building leaders instead of bottlenecks, and shifting from hustle to intentional design. Growth always requires evolution. There’s no shortcut around that.
5. Leaders Who Knew Something Was Off but Couldn’t Name It
This might be the most dangerous problem of all.
Not chaos. Not failure. Just a quiet sense that things shouldn’t feel this hard.
Once we slowed down enough to name the real issue, clarity followed. Momentum didn’t come from certainty. It came from deciding to stop guessing and start designing.
The One Problem We’re Committed to Solving in 2026
All five of these issues point to something deeper.
Too many leaders are trying to fix execution without addressing identity.
They’re chasing tactics, borrowing systems that don’t fit, and building success that looks good on paper but feels heavy in practice.
In 2026, the focus is clear. We’re helping leaders align who they are with how they lead, then building structure and strategy from that place.
When identity is clear, decisions get easier. Teams move faster. Execution becomes more natural instead of forced.
This isn’t about doing more next year. It’s about building something that actually fits.
If 2025 revealed cracks, 2026 is the year to rebuild on purpose. Not louder. Not faster. But truer.
Happy New Year!
If you’d like to kick of 2026 in a powerful way, please book some time with me and lets discuss strategies and coaching that actually delivers.
Book a Curiosity Call with Michael King to pressure test your current plan, identify the gaps, and design a people-first blueprint that accelerates outcomes. In twenty minutes we can map the next three moves that will keep your organization healthy at speed and position your team to break records without breaking.
When technology accelerates, leadership must mature. AI will not replace your people. Poor leadership will. Let’s build the system that makes sure your people win with the machines, not against them.
Ready to explore what this looks like for your team? Book your Curiosity Call with Michael King at Teams.Coach and let’s design your next ninety days.
https://calendly.com/teamscoach/30min
About Michael King
Michael King is an award-winning executive coach and the founder of Teams.Coach, Gawker Traffic, and CatalystCo. With two master’s degrees in Leadership and Executive Coaching from Bellevue University, he helps high-performing executives simplify complexity, optimize their leadership, and build teams that actually work.
A certified executive coach, Michael has spent years guiding Fortune 500 leaders, entrepreneurs, and teams through the real work of leadership—creating clarity, building systems, and driving results without the burnout.
When he’s not coaching, Michael is an accomplished singer/songwriter and music producer with over 100 published songs to his credit. He’s also a Ducati aficionado, a die-hard Apple fan, and probably has a Starbucks in his hand right now.
