31 December 2025

The world is preparing to say goodbye to 2025.

Here in Dubai, you can feel the momentum in the air. The city is buzzing. Fireworks are being planned. Resolutions are being drafted. But before we rush into what’s next, this moment deserves a pause. Because for me, 2026 comes down to one word: CLARITY.

Not ambition. Not speed. Not more.
And I’m convinced clarity will beat a lot of things we’ve been celebrating for far too long.

1. Clarity beats hustle

Hustle looks productive: Busy calendars, long hours, constant motion.

But without direction, hustle is just movement, not progress.

I see too many organisations exhausting their people while convincing themselves they are “moving fast”. Clarity forces a more uncomfortable question: are we moving in the right direction?

In 2026, the organisations that win won’t be the ones doing the most. They’ll be the ones doing what actually matters.

2. Clarity beats high engagement scores

Engagement dashboards can look impressive. Green bars. Upward trends. Industry benchmarks.

But numbers don’t tell you everything. They don’t tell you:

• if people truly trust leadership
• if they feel safe enough to speak up
• if they dare to say what isn’t working

Clarity means looking beyond the score and asking what people actually experience, not just what they report.

3. Clarity beats blind AI adoption

Artificial intelligence is advancing at lightning speed. And yes, it offers enormous potential.

But not every problem needs automation. Some problems need human judgment. Others need ethical choice.

Technology only adds value when intent is clear. Without clarity, AI doesn’t accelerate excellence; it accelerates confusion.

4. Clarity will beat employer branding

This one may be uncomfortable.: If the internal story isn’t true, external storytelling only speeds up disappointment. Or worse: backlash!

In 2026, glossy employer branding without internal alignment will no longer be forgiven. People see through it. Candidates feel it. Employees call it out.

Clarity starts inside, and only then deserves a stage outside.

5. Clarity will beat wellbeing theatre

And then there’s my personal favourite.

Please don’t tell me your people are engaged because you planted trees, introduced yoga classes or handed out free smoothies. Wellbeing is not a checklist and engagement is not built through perks.

It’s built when strategy, purpose and leadership behaviour actually align. And I can guarantee you: people feel that alignment every day.

So, to be perfectly clear

People, leadership and engagement are not the “soft topics” of 2026. They are the hard ones.

Get those right, and the rest will follow.

📽 In this video, I share this reflection as we close 2025 and step into 2026.

If this perspective resonates, and you’d like to explore what clarity could look like for your organisation in 2026, feel free to reach out (**@***************ce.ae“>in**@***************ce.ae). A single conversation can already bring surprising focus.