2025: From Awareness to Influence — A Year That Changed How I Operate

 

2025: From Awareness to Influence — A Year That Changed How I Operate

As 2025 draws to a close, I find myself pausing, first, to measure the year by milestones, and second to measure it by movement. Inner movement, Relational movement, and finally, Systemic movement.

If I were to describe 2025 in two halves, the first half was about awareness and connection, and the second half was about stakeholder management and collective momentum. What’s interesting is that the second half could only exist because of the first.

It Started With Awareness - Early 2025 gently but firmly nudged me inward. Awareness of self, patterns, what energizes me and what drains me. That awareness naturally led to a deeper connection with self, my intent, my values, my way of being in the world. And once that connection with self strengthened, my connection with others became more authentic, more grounded, and more meaningful. Conversations felt less transactional and more intentional. Listening became deeper. Trust followed. I want to continue Being like this in 2026.

From Connection to Collaboration - As the year progressed, these connections began to multiply. What started as individual coaching conversations expanded into learning journeys. One-on-one interactions evolved into working with learning teams, cross-functional groups, and diverse participants. I wasn’t just connecting anymore, I was rallying, people around shared learning goals, stakeholders around meaningful outcomes, energy, intent, and effort.

Success, when it came, wasn’t individual. It was joint. And that made it more powerful, and more tested. Success had to hold up across teams, expectations, and outcomes. It demanded something new from me.

The Shift to Stakeholder Management - The second half of 2025 was all about stakeholder management—not as a corporate buzzword, but as a lived practice. It was about managing expectations, building credibility through consistency, balancing diverse needs without losing clarity of purpose.

I saw firsthand how meaningful work scales only when relationships are nurtured with care, clarity, and courage. The learning programs and experiences I designed were no longer touching just individuals, they have been benefiting multiple teams, functions, and stakeholders. And I felt a deep sense of pride in that. It is not just an achievement, it is IMPACT.

A Word for 2026: Game Changer - Toward the end of the year, I received a mail from one of my seniors asking for a word for 2026. The answer came to me almost instantly.

Game Changer

Because 2026, for me, is not about doing more of the same. It’s about changing the game.

• The way I operate
• The frequency at which I operate
• The manner in which I show up
• The scale and depth of impact I aim for

I want to redefine how learning and stakeholder engagement come together. I want to operate from a place where awareness fuels connection, connection fuels collaboration, and collaboration fuels sustainable results. 2026 will change how I play the game. And I’m ready.