Why It’s Been So Hard to Lead Since 2020 — & What to Do About It for 2026

What purpose-driven leaders have felt or needed help with since 2020, expressed in emojis:

2020: 😱 😫 😡
2021: 😪 🥱 😥
2022: 🤲 👯 🌐
2023: ♟️ 📄 🚀
2024: 💭 🧠 🔗
2025, Q1-Q3: 😭 😤 🫣
2025, Q4: 🫥 😑 💬

Can you guess what I mean by them all?

And the shift I've been seeing over the past 1-2 months?

And WHY I've been seeing that shift?

It's all outlined below. 

The Past Few Years

2020: 😱 😫 😡

Pandemic, obviously. Leaders are shocked, upset, and mad. All previous plans are thrown out the window. Leaders are just trying to stop the bleeding at their orgs.

2021: 😪 🥱 😥

Pandemic dragging on, though we're navigating a new normal. Many leaders don't even want to be leaders anymore, because exhaustion, fatigue, and burnout reign supreme. The focus of my work this year is on supporting burned out leaders.

2022: 🤲 👯 🌐

"Oh, my goodness! We need to get our teams together. NOW!"

Many organizations have gone permanently remote, had some team members leave, hired new people, had a major culture shift, or about a million other reasons why there is urgent and critical need to bring the team together for intentional, collaborative work together. Especially in-person.

You know how when someone is nutrient deficient, they feel less and less great over time, but they may not be aware of it until it's suddenly an emergency? It was like that, only about team health.

I run more retreats and team-building sessions this year than I will probably ever run again in one year in my life.

2023: ♟️ 📄 🚀

Leaders: "Oh, boy. The very detailed strategic plans we had at one point were thrown out the window in early 2020. We've been just surviving the past few years, but we need strategy now! Though a more agile strategy."

Me: "Yes, yes you do. OK, let's do this!"

A big focus for me this year is helping teams become more cohesive through strategic planning.

2024: 💭 🧠 🔗

There's a tension building globally and a desire to be more creative and innovative. 

This year I run more Ideation Sessions, train more teams on Creative Problem Solving, and help teams learn how to collaborate more powerfully and thoughtfully through insights gained with the FourSight assessment. ("What You Need to Know About FourSight" article here.)

This Year

2025, Q1-Q3: 😭 😤 🫣

Yes, the pandemic was bad, but everyone was experiencing the same thing.

The havoc that the Trump administration wreaks on purpose-driven leaders in early 2025 leaves them feeling alone, even though they're not.

• Cuts to federal grants mean that some nonprofits' revenue is in cut in half, literally overnight, in many cases leaving them on the hook for work that's already been done.
• Higher education institutions are afraid to spend anything as research dollars are slashed, university presidents are witch hunted, the international students who unknowingly subsidize many U.S. students' education (not to mention who add incredible cultural richness!) are driven away, and the government is propagandizing an entire generation to believe that higher education is a bad thing.
• Companies in general tighten their belts and hold on for dear life as the economy gives them whiplash. 

Time for strengthening team cohesion and productivity? Ha, no.

Time for moving forward on strategic goals? Yeah, right!

Leaders are just holding their breath.

2025, Q4: 🫥 😑 💬

Interesting: what a sudden shift.

The leaders who earlier this year were white-knuckling it through the storm have now let out a collective breath -- though not because they feel relief.

It's because they can't hold it in any longer.  

Many leaders are reaching out to me in need of a strategic thought partner.

Someone they can trust who will give them feedback, validation, and accountability in a moment of loneliness, uncertainty, and leadership fatigue.

Someone who will recognize that this is an incredibly hard moment to be an organizational leader, but who will also say, "I've got you. Let's do this."

They may not have the budget, time, or energy to work on their team (which is totally understandable!), but they recognize that they can't keep going at this alone.

They need support to at least sustain their team.

My Prediction for 2026

Based on the trends that I've seen since 2020, I predict that 2026 will be another Year of the Team, like 2022.

Teams can only keep succeeding for so long without some intentional TLC. 

However, there will be some big differences in what teams are feeling in that moment. 

Whereas in 2022, when teams felt like they were emerging from a cold, dark cave, there was some optimism. As they blinked in the unaccustomed light, they were learning how to connect with new people and new ways of working.

But in 2026, I think that teams won't be so different than they were in 2025.

• With the state of the economy, many people are staying in jobs even if they don't like them, because they need a paycheck and insurance.
• The impact of what the federal government is doing will be just as tragic, though slightly less surprising.

So, basically, in 2026 you'll have teams who know each other and how to do their jobs, but who, without intentional intervention, will just lose a slow drip of energy and motivation until it's entirely gone.

How to protect your team for 2026

Below are three big steps to help protect your team for 2026:

1. Get the support you need right now as an organizational leader. Your role is vital. Put your oxygen mask on first.
2. Plan for a team retreat / offsite to re-set. That needs to be budgeted for now. It is not a "nice to have." Your team has been hobbling along for long enough and needs some PT now to avoid surgery later.
3. Plan for continued engagement with your team, investing in their cohesion and growth. It's an ongoing journey that pays dividends long into the future.

While I can help you with any or all of the above, the key is that you find some support to do it. 

Getting started

Feeling like you're running on fumes? You're not alone. Let’s talk about how to make 2026 less reactive and more resilient — for you and your team.

To get started with me, your first step would be to book a Discovery Call here.

(If the process of doing that seems intimidating, I'd encourage you to take a peek at my article "Hiring a Consultant Shouldn’t Be Hard — Here’s How I Make It Easy.")

If you're not quite ready for that, feel free to get to know me better from a distance by joining my e-newsletter or following me on LinkedIn.

Looking forward to it!

--Megan

About Megan E. Mozina (she/her)

As Owner and Principal of Cresta Solutions, I serve as a strategic partner to purpose-driven leaders when they need their teams to innovate and collaborate in order to deliver on strategic change initiatives. To get there, I serve as a facilitator, consultant, and executive coach who leverages expertise in Creative Problem Solving, Team Building, Organizational Change Management, and Strategic Initiatives to ensure my clients get innovation-focused results. I bring over fifteen years of diverse experiences with purpose-driven organizations across four continents. To ensure that changes work and goals are achieved, I use my facilitation superpower to supercharge team collaboration and output. 

I hold a Masters from The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education & Human Development and a Bachelors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I am certified in Change Management, Strategic Planning, and Creative Problem Solving (FourSight®), with additional formal training in Lean Process Improvement, Project Management, and People Management. I regularly present at regional and international conferences on topics such as facilitation, change management, and project leadership. I’m proud to have been a teacher in South Korea and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras.

I’ve lived in five countries, so while I bring my Midwestern friendliness, work ethic, and accent everywhere I go, I see the world through a global perspective. I consume dark chocolate daily, can talk about books all day, and think that Lake Michigan might be my soul mate.

Learn more about my story here: https://www.crestasolutions.com/about.