3 career shifts you need for 2026

This is the transcript of The Refreshing Leadership Podcast episode: 3 career shifts you need for 2026, published on 19th January 2026.

January is the month where I do more vision work, more career planning and long-term strategy with my clients than at any other point in the year.

This is very much career vision season. Over the Christmas break people have epiphanies and realise that they need more support when it comes to their careers. This is also when I do my masterclasses on unlocking your career vision. People genuinely have that energy to get clear, and there's nothing like the blank slate of an entire year to make people feel expansive and ready to strategise.

So it's very much career time, and I'm getting to hear a lot about what is most important for people right now.

I want to give you three strategies for 2026 - the ones that are coming up most frequently in my live coaching conversations. We'll also specifically talk about the uncertainty that AI creates when you're doing your career planning, and what you can do to look after yourself in that process.

Strategy one: more glimmers

Glimmers are basically the opposite of triggers. We spend a lot of time talking about the things that disproportionately upset us - those are our triggers. Glimmers are the reverse. They're the things we absolutely love, the things that light us up, make us feel warm inside, and give us more joy than they might for others.

Knowing what our glimmers are in the workplace is absolute gold dust. It means we can play to our strengths and really enjoy what we're doing. When we do that, we also exude really positive energy.

Let me give you an example of a glimmer for me. I love it when people bring me their workplace challenges. I'm excited to work with them, move them forward, and make them feel good. That has been the case for a long time, and it's something I'm rewarded for doing. Another glimmer for me is editing - I love editing content, I love editing my podcast, and people often ask me to edit their posts because it's something I really enjoy.

The strategy here is simple: start noticing which parts of your current role make you feel energised, make you feel like you're in your zone of genius, make you feel confident, and give you glimmers.

The fun part is that you already enjoy it, so it's easy. And the beauty of this goal is that you start to open yourself up to more opportunities to do this type of work inside your existing job - so it fits with your life.

We don't need to overhaul our entire careers just to get more of what lights us up. We just need to discover what it is, position ourselves for it, and be patient with the opportunities that come our way. This is not an overnight thing. When I first realised that coaching was what really lit me up, it was a long time before it became my full-time work.

Strategy two: protect your strategic time

You'll have heard me talk about this in different ways - this podcast used to be called The Golden Hour because those strategic hours were so important.

When I talk about strategic work, I mean the relationship building, the visibility with your sponsors, the strategic thinking, the vision work, the financial planning and financial housekeeping. These are the strategic pillars that, when they're in place, enable everything else.

This cannot be left to a Friday afternoon when you're tired. It cannot be done in the last 30 minutes of your week. It needs to happen early in the week and early in the day. Because as the day progresses, to-do lists accumulate and more things come our way. We need some proactive time before we have to be reactive.

So what's the EFF (Easy, Fun, Fits) strategy for this? Find one slot early in the week, get yourself a coffee, make a ritual of it, and have that strategic time. The other thing that makes this work is knowing the week before how you're going to spend that time - because not knowing is one of the biggest derailers.

I go into a lot of detail on this in my Vision Unblocked programme. It's a three-day audio programme with its own custom GPT, so when you sit down and aren't sure how to use your strategic time, it has prompts to help you do exactly that. The link is below and you can start at any time - this is probably one of the best times to do it.

Strategy three: vision matters more when the future is uncertain

AI has really shaken people's sense of what their careers might look like, what will last, and what skills will matter. I'm seeing a lot more short-term thinking as a result, because the future feels uncertain - and that's completely valid. I've worked with leaders, C-suite executives, and CEOs who are talking to me about the headcount reductions they're hoping to achieve through AI. This is not imaginary. There will be a fallout and a shakeout, and it's already happening.

But as important as it is to stay afloat today, when we lose any ability to do our own visioning, we give up our intention and direction and we just get swept up in a wave. Worst case, we get pulled under. I want us to ride these waves.

When I first created my ten-year vision in my twenties, there was no video conferencing, no podcasting, and coaching didn't exist as an industry. I basically invented a vision with no idea how it was going to be possible. I wanted to work a very small number of hours per week but make the same amount I would have made in a corporate job. I wanted full flexibility and credibility, and I knew I wanted to impact a lot of people, but also be really present at home in the evenings with my family. I put all of those things together into one vision.

Fast forward to today, and we live in a world that enables all of those things.

If I had carried on in the trajectory I was already on, with no particular vision, I might be feeling incredibly insecure right now - having put all my eggs in one basket, not followed my heart, and ended up in an area that feels very uncertain.

If you don't chart your own intentions, it's very easy to feel bitter later on, and to miss opportunities when they do arise. Because the beauty of writing your own vision is that when the right things come your way, you have a radar out for them. You've already envisioned that this kind of work or this kind of life is going to matter, and so it naturally finds you.

I knew what kind of work I was being pulled towards. I knew what kind of life I wanted alongside it, and I knew the kind of platform I wanted to build. Having the vision enabled me to take the right risks at the right time.

Just because the future feels uncertain, especially in the world of knowledge work, that doesn't mean you lose the right to dream properly. Your personal north star becomes more important now than ever. It enables you to take opportunities as they arise, rather than being fearful and missing the important stuff that's coming.

A final thought

I want to leave you with something my old headmistress said at her retirement party. When everyone was thanking her for the work she'd put in, she said: "I've just had a blast the whole way." That always stayed with me. Yes, I want to achieve certain things and have certain impact - but ultimately I want it to be an enjoyable journey.

When you have strategies and approaches that feel easy, fun, and fit with your life, you're going to stick with them. They're going to build and compound and support you over time.

So what have we covered in January so far? We've oriented towards the year ahead, tapped into some of our deeper desires, looked at money and its importance, and now we've thought strategically about our careers in 2026. That includes three things: starting to notice what gives us glimmers, prioritising strategic time, and visioning during uncertainty.

The next episode is a natural progression from this - what are the routines and habits that set us up for a great 2026?

If you've got questions, let me know - I may do a Q&A series. And don't forget to check out Vision Unblocked, linked below.

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Check out Vision Unblocked here - https://www.mayagudka.com/vision-unblocked

About Maya

Maya Gudka is an executive coach specialising in C-suite career progression and leadership development. She works with senior leaders in major organisations on strategic career planning, executive presence, and building sustainable influence. Maya hosts The Refreshing Leadership Podcast, which ranks in the top 2% of podcasts globally and has nearly 300 episodes exploring the challenges faced by ambitious professionals.