#459 End-of-Year Business: A Thank You, a Reflection, and Why Leadership Does Not End with the Calendar - Article by Niels Brabandt
End-of-Year Business: A Thank You, a Reflection, and Why Leadership Does Not End with the Calendar
By Niels Brabandt
It is the end of the year. Which, of course, means we have to talk about end-of-year business.
And yes, some people will inevitably ask: Really? On 24 December?
The short answer is: absolutely.
The longer answer is that leadership does not disappear simply because the calendar changes.
End-of-year business is not about frantic last-minute activity, nor is it purely about numbers, targets, or closing spreadsheets. It is about reflection, perspective, and, perhaps most importantly, gratitude.
End-of-Year Business Is Not (Just) About Numbers
When people talk about end-of-year business, they often mean pressure. Deadlines. “One last push.” But leadership at the end of the year deserves a broader view.
Not everyone operates on the same calendar. Fiscal years differ. Cultures differ. Countries differ. Yet across systems and calendars, one thing remains constant: the need to pause and acknowledge what has been achieved.
Leadership is not only about moving forward. It is also about looking back consciously, critically, and appreciatively.
A Personal Thank You to Those Who Made This Possible
This year, I want to say thank you. Explicitly and without any corporate platitudes.
When I started The Leadership Podcast during the pandemic, quite literally at my kitchen table, I never expected it to grow beyond a small circle. I certainly never expected to see consistent top-100 rankings, a steadily growing international audience, or messages from professors at institutions such as Columbia Business School asking whether they could be guests on the show.
None of this happened overnight. Growth was slow, steady, and driven by persistence rather than hype. No motivational buzzwords. No empty slogans. Just content grounded in science, leadership research, and real-world applicability.
And that is entirely thanks to you, the listeners, viewers, commentators, and critics who invested something far more valuable than attention: your time.
Leadership Is a Conversation, Not a Broadcast
What has mattered most this year were not metrics, but conversations.
Discussions sparked after episodes. Messages suggesting future topics. Exchanges during live sessions. Leadership only works when it remains a dialogue, not a monologue.
That became particularly clear when one of our live sessions recently exceeded capacity for the first time. The virtual room filled up. People could not get in. A problem I had never encountered before, and one I am deeply grateful for.
It was a powerful reminder: leadership content resonates when it respects its audience.
A Word of Thanks to Those Working While Others Pause
While many people slow down at this time of year, others keep everything running.
Emergency services. Retail staff. Hospitality workers. People in logistics, healthcare, and countless other roles.
Leadership means recognising that work does not stop just because festivities begin. If you are working during this period, thank you. You enable others to pause.
Celebrate What You Achieved, Even the Small Aspects
Before the next year accelerates faster than expected, as it always does, take a moment to celebrate what you achieved. Even if it feels small. Especially if it feels small.
Progress is rarely dramatic. Leadership success often appears quietly, in persistence, consistency, and integrity.
Celebrate it.
Looking Ahead, Together
The podcast and videocast will continue next year exactly as they are: accessible, research-based, and free. Leadership knowledge should not be hidden behind unnecessary barriers.
If there are topics you would like to see discussed, I invite you to reach out. Leadership thrives on relevance, and relevance comes from listening.
Until then, I wish you a calm, reflective end of the year, whether or not it is officially your year-end.
Thank you for your support, your trust, and your time.
See you almost next year.
Niels Brabandt
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More on this topic in this week's videocast and podcast with Niels Brabandt: Videocast / Apple Podcasts / Spotify
For the videocast’s and podcast’s transcript, read below this article.
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Contact: Niels Brabandt on LinkedIn
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Niels Brabandt is an expert in sustainable leadership with more than 20 years of experience in practice and science.
Niels Brabandt: Professional Training, Speaking, Coaching, Consulting, Mentoring, Project & Interim Management. Event host, MC, Moderator.
Podcast & Videocast Transcript
Niels Brabandt
It's the end of the year. So we have to talk about end of year business, of course. And of course, some people might now think, really, really on the 24th of December, you publish an episode. Yes, I do. So let's get straight into it. What is most important about end of year business? Any business year comes to an end.
And of course, I'm not speaking about the fiscal year because, for example, in the UK, that ends in March and starts again with the next one in April, same in other countries. But we're now talking about the calendar year. Of course, when you now say, hey, I live with a different calendar, then of course, it's not the end of the year for you. I mean, now for the people who, for example, live in Europe, where the end of the year is approaching. And of course, now we have to talk about what is important about end of year business. Very important is when we talk about end of year business, what I found most crucial, most important, the most striking fact we all have to know is that, that I find it absolutely hilarious that you really think I'm publishing an episode about end of year business on December 24th of this year. Of course, I am not doing that.
When you Now watch on YouTube, you can already see the picture. I'm wishing you a Merry Christmas. And of course, first of course, I have to thank a lot of people. I have to thank all the people who supported this endeavor. When I started the podcast on my kitchen table during the pandemic, I never expect that we ever hit more than a thousand listeners, that we rank very high in the top 100 very frequently. And I also never, absolutely never expected that we get anywhere near where we are right now. We had amazing guests this year.
We even had professors from Columbia Business School who texted me and said, Would you have a spot free for me? I could have never imagined anywhere near that. So thank you very much for following this podcast.
It's growing slowly but steadily. We see again that persistence probably is still one of the most important traits here. And of course, I really appreciate that you love the content that we produce. It's not about Chaka, it's not about Chumba Wamba, it's not about motivational inspirational nonsense. It's all about content, scientific backing, and real world benefits for what you can put in place in your business, in your everyday life that you see what is making your day. Better. And of course, I thank you.
I thank you for the time you spent with me. I spend you for the discussion. And when you now say, hey, I have topics I'd like to have discussed in 2026, feel free to just drop me an email. Drop me an email and say, hey, this is the topic I like to have. And of course, when you now say, hey, how is this all proceeding?
Do you have a vision? I'm not going to go into the whole vision thing right now. But of course, we will keep going with the podcast as it is in the next year. Of course, when you now say, hey, how can I support? First, of course, when you watch on YouTube, leave a like here and subscribe to to my channel, leave a comment here. Maybe that's also very kind of you. When you listen on Apple podcast or Spotify, leave a review five stars.
Thank you very much for doing so. Recommend this podcast, this video cast to anyone you know, friends, colleagues, absolutely anyone shared on social media. Thank you very much for doing so. And when you like more about this, we have leadership tips on the YouTube shorts, which you also, of course, only see on YouTube. Feel free to follow me there as well. Putting in the little bell really pays off so you get this bit of notification that you never miss a new video. And of course, follow me on Apple podcast, Spotify, or go to my website and be hyphen networKs. com sorry.
biz and then you can see anything I do there. And of course, when you now like to discuss anything, drop me an email nb@nb-networks.com looking forward especially regarding content suggestions. So when you say, hey, this topic is important, that really moves my business in 2024, 2026, sorry. Or this is something I'd like to have to discuss on your podcast. Just forward anything you have to me. And by the way, we still keep going with the live sessions expert. nb-networks. com you can put your email address there and receive only one email Every Wednesday morning, it's 100% content ad-free guarantee as usual.
We, for the very first time last week, had a live session where we had to lock down the room. Well, not we had to lock down the room, Zoom locked down the room, which meant we had so many people logging in that it simply meant we were full. Up to 100 people fit into this room. And what happened then was that I am one person, more than 99 joined, and some people said, Sorry, I couldn't get in. We never had that. We were Live sessions happened with anything from a one to one to up to 30 people and suddenly we hit more than 100.
Absolutely unbelievable to me. So thank you very much for all the overwhelming support I received and I'm looking forward to then of course seeing you and listening with you again in 2026. Of course, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, like me on Facebook, follow me on Instagram and of course subscribe to my channel on YouTube because when we now keep going with this, I think this can become even even way bigger. And as you see, this is all still for free. I will keep because many people are ask me, am I going to have something paid? Am I going to lock down the channel from a certain growth? No, I won't.
I definitely will never do that. I always said this content is all about being accessible to absolutely anyone. You know that I publish articles weekly. You know that I am deep into science. You know that I do this podcast for free, this video cast for free. Of course, I don't do it super professional like a TV station because that's a bit too expensive for doing it for free. But no worries, this is going to stay for free.
What is really important right now is celebrate your year. Celebrate what you have achieved, even if it is the tiniest achievement, celebrate everything you can with you, with your family, your friends, your people. I hope you have a great end of the year. It's not the end of the year for you. I hope you have a nice, calm time when everyone else is probably winding down a bit. And of course, if you work during these days, thank you very much for doing so. You keep everything running while we probably now relax a bit more.
As a self-employed person, I will keep working during these days. But hey, I am, first I chose this second, I'm single and this is way easier for me. And it's also quiet time where I can do amazing things such as bookkeeping. But I don't want to talk about that right now. So quite amazing that you really thought I'm going to do an end of business, end of year business show on December 24th, which, by the way, in many countries, for example, in Germany, is the main day where everyone gets the gifts. While in the UK, they get the gifts on December the 25th. One of my British friends said, maybe it should be on the 24th, but anyone in the English-speaking world is just late.
As a German-speaking person, I have to appreciate that, but I can't laugh about it because I don't have humor. So as we talked about that as well, I'm wishing you an amazing end of the year. I hope that you celebrate everything you achieved. Have a relaxing time. The new year is coming sooner than you think and then everyone is very much back on track very much quicker than you could have thought. Have relaxing time. Thank you very much for your support.
And then, as I always tend to say at the end of this podcast and the end of this video, CARS, see you next year. This time I have to say two things.
First, see you almost next year. And as I always tend to close these episodes, I have to say.