From Hard Work to Heart Work - January edition -

New year, new chapter, and a new URL. As we step into 2026, you’ll now find my work at ericfingerhut.ch, a clearer home for my coaching, workshops, and insights for professionals stepping into people manager roles. Same focus, same commitment, just a new address.

Introduction

January has brought one idea to the surface again and again in my coaching sessions, workshops, and conversations with leaders: in times of uncertainty, clarity is not a nice-to-have, it is leadership. As organisations navigate transformation, AI, reorganisation, and shifting priorities, I see teams struggling less with workload and more with silence, ambiguity, and unanswered questions.

In this edition, I am sharing reflections, lessons, and practical tools drawn from my January posts, all centered around one essential leadership skill for 2026: creating clarity when certainty is not available.

Expert Advice

One of the strongest patterns I observed this month is how often leaders wait for certainty before communicating. The intention is usually positive, to avoid creating anxiety or sharing incomplete information. Yet silence almost always has the opposite effect.

Clarity does not require a final decision or a perfect plan. It requires presence and the courage to articulate what you know, what you do not know yet, and how you intend to navigate the next steps.

When leaders speak early, even imperfectly, teams stop guessing. They regain focus, energy, and trust.

👉Read the original post here

Client Success Story

Earlier this month, I worked with a leader whose team was going through a reorganisation. Wanting to protect his people, he chose to stay quiet until everything was clear.

What he did not realise was that, in the absence of communication, his team was already creating its own narrative. Each delay and unanswered question increased stress and disengagement.

When he shifted his approach and started sharing what he knew, how decisions would be made, and what the next visible step was, the atmosphere changed quickly. The uncertainty did not disappear, but the fear did.

Clarity did not solve the situation, it stabilised the team.

👉 Read the original post here

Practical Tips

If you want to bring more clarity to your team during change, here are a few practices that surfaced repeatedly in January:

1. First, communicate what you know, even if it feels incomplete. Small anchors reduce anxiety.

2. Second, name what you do not know yet. Transparency builds trust more effectively than false certainty.

3. Third, explain how decisions will be made. People accept difficult outcomes more easily when the process is clear.

4. Fourth, illuminate the next step rather than the full journey. Teams do not need the full picture, they need the first frame.

5. Finally, repeat your message. If your team asks the same question again and again, it is not resistance, it is a need for reassurance.

   
   

👉 Read the original post here

Industry Insights

Across organisations, expectations of leadership are shifting. Vision is no longer experienced as a yearly strategy presentation. It is felt in daily micro-moments of clarity.

In environments shaped by constant change, leaders are becoming emotional stabilisers. Their role is not to eliminate uncertainty, but to guide people through it. When leaders do not fill the space with direction, uncertainty fills it instead.

This is why vision in 2026 is less about predicting the future and more about reducing anxiety in the present.

👉 Read the original post here

Personal Reflections

January reminded me how deeply leadership is experienced on a human level. In workshops and coaching sessions, I saw energy shift almost instantly when clarity was introduced, even in small doses.

The most impactful moments were rarely big announcements. They were leaders naming what was difficult, acknowledging what was still unclear, and staying visible during the unknown.

It reinforced a belief I hold strongly: leadership is not about having answers, it is about being present while answers are still forming.

👉 Read the original post here

Book and Resource Recommendations

This month, I recommend The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni. The book makes a compelling case that organisational health, clarity, and alignment are the greatest competitive advantages leaders can create.

What resonated strongly with this month’s theme is Lencioni’s emphasis on clarity around purpose, values, priorities, and roles. When leaders are clear, teams move faster, conflict becomes productive, and uncertainty loses its grip. For anyone stepping into a people-manager role in 2026, this book offers a practical framework for turning clarity into consistent leadership behaviour.

Q&A

Q: My team keeps asking the same questions. Does it mean they are not listening?

A: No. It usually means they do not feel safe yet. Repetition is not a leadership failure, it is a leadership responsibility.

In moments of uncertainty, people need to hear direction several times before it settles. When teams ask again, they are not challenging you, they are trying to stabilise themselves.

👉 Read the original post here

Conclusion

If there is one idea I am carrying forward from January, it is this: clarity is care.

Leadership today is less about certainty and more about direction, less about answers and more about presence. When you offer clarity, even imperfect clarity, you give your team energy, focus, and psychological safety. And that is what allows people to perform and adapt through change.

Call to Action

If these topics resonate with you, I invite you to stay connected. I regularly run workshops for professionals stepping into people-manager roles, focused on leadership clarity, influence, and team alignment.

You can also subscribe to receive this newsletter directly in your inbox each month, with insights, tools, and reflections to support your leadership journey.

👉 Check my upcoming events here.