Planning Your Team’s Recovery Time After the New Year Rush

By Jay Jacobson, LUTCF, CPC, CFSP,  Author – “Lead by Legendary Example”

Before you plan where you are going, honor the people who brought you here.

I remember a particular December evening at the funeral home. It was the thirtieth of the month, and most of the world seemed to be winding down. Our team was still moving. Slowly, quietly, but moving. The kind of movement that comes not from energy but from commitment.

I walked through the prep room hallway, past the arrangement office, and into the staff lounge where three of our team members sat around a table covered with cold coffee, paperwork, and the remnants of a long week. They were talking, not loudly, but with that tone people use when they are both tired and proud—tired from all that had been asked of them. Proud of the way they had shown up for families who needed them.

No one mentioned the goals we did or did not meet that year. No one talked about performance or productivity. They talked about people. They spoke of moments that mattered. They talked about each other.

I stood in the doorway long enough to realize I was witnessing something important. The year was ending, but this was not an ending. This was a team taking stock of what they had carried. This was resilience being named out loud. This was leadership being lived, not taught.

It struck me that leaders often rush into January so quickly that they miss this moment entirely. We hurry toward the next plan, the next objective, the next quarter. We push forward because that feels like progress. Yet the real work of leadership is sometimes to pause and acknowledge the people who carried the weight of the year.

Every team has a story like that December evening. A story of steady effort that deserves to be named. A story of individuals who did not quit even when the year did not go as planned. A story of character showing up when outcomes fell short or when success exceeded expectations.

That story is where planning must begin.

Teams do not arrive at December thirty-first by accident. They arrive through long days and long nights. They arrive through unexpected changes and quiet resilience. They come through kindness, perseverance, and the kind of small daily decisions that never make headlines but build cultures worth belonging to.

And even if it was not a goal-exceeding year, it was not a wasted one. There were moments of courage. There were moments of creativity. There were moments of people carrying each other. There were moments of trying again when trying felt hard.

These moments belong to individuals, which is why this matters.

Find one thing to celebrate about each team member. Name the good you saw in them. Tell them why their presence mattered this year. Give them that gift before you ask them to give anything more.

And remember this. Your team is watching. They watch more closely at the end of the year than at the beginning. They watch when goals are missed and when goals are exceeded. They watch how you carry the weight of the year and how you imagine the year ahead. They learn from the tone you set in moments like this.

Leadership is not found in the January kickoff meeting. Leadership is seen in how you close the year you just lived.

The Quiet Power of the Week No One Notices

Most years, I watch leaders approach the final week of December as if nothing meaningful can happen. They call it downtime. They call it the slow week. Some even call it the week that does not count. Yet in my experience, this is the week that can change the entire rhythm of the year ahead.

The phones ring less. Families gather more. Staff schedules settle into something gentler. The world pauses just long enough for people to breathe.

This is the moment when you can begin to restore what the year has taken. Not with a retreat. Not with a speech. With space.

Give your team a chance to exhale. Give them permission to step back for a moment. Give them time to reflect without pressure or evaluation.

Leaders often think recovery has to be structured or choreographed. In reality, recovery happens when the pace slows enough for people to hear themselves think again. It happens when they are not bracing for the next task. It occurs when someone acknowledges their effort and invites them to rest.

The team that rests well will work well. The team that reflects will plan with more honesty. The team that feels seen will step into the new year with more confidence and less fatigue.

Using the Quiet Week for Reflection

A simple practice has guided me for years. I gather the team, not for a meeting, but for a conversation. Nothing formal. No agenda. No charts. Just a circle of people who carried the weight of the year and deserve to name what it took.

I ask three questions. What went well? What was harder than expected? What did you learn about yourself this year?

Every time, the answers surprise me. Someone finds their voice for the first time. Someone admits they almost burned out, but kept going. Someone celebrates a small win that no one noticed. Someone thanks a coworker for stepping in at the right moment.

Leaders do not need perfect answers. They need honest ones. And this quiet week is the safest space most teams will have all year to speak truthfully.

As you reflect together, remember that this moment is also teaching time. Your team is learning what it looks like for a leader to create space instead of control. They are learning how to listen. They are learning how you value them. They are learning how a year is closed before a new one begins.

They are watching, and what they see will shape how they step into January.

Planning the Rest That Allows January to Work

Too many leaders expect people to return on January 2nd with full energy, fresh enthusiasm, and a clear head. That rarely happens on its own. You cannot run people at full speed until the final hour of the year and then expect them to begin again with strength.

A wise leader plans recovery as intentionally as they plan strategy.

This may mean adjusting the workload in early January. It may mean limiting meetings. It may mean giving your team time to recalibrate priorities before new ones arrive. It may mean scheduling one-on-one conversations that focus on appreciation, not correction. It may mean using the first week of January to set the tone instead of setting targets.

Recovery is not about slowing productivity. Recovery is about strengthening capacity. A tired team will crumble under pressure. A rested team will rise.

Finding One Thing to Celebrate in Each Person

As you prepare for the next year, take time to notice the individual contributions that may have slipped by during the rush.

The employee who never asked for recognition but kept the team steady. The new hire who grew more than anyone expected.The veteran who led quietly and faithfully. The teammate who offered kindness made a hard day easier. The person who stayed late when it mattered.The one who showed courage even when the result was not perfect.

Find something to celebrate in each person. Say it out loud. Say it privately if that means more. Say it before you talk about next year.

Leadership is built in moments of gratitude. Your team will remember how you close the year, long after they forget the goals you set for the next one.

Mentoring Through Your Presence

There is no greater teaching tool than the way a leader carries themselves. The end of the year magnifies this truth. Your team pays attention when the results are strong. They pay even closer attention when the results are not.

They look for steadiness. They look for honesty. They look for humility. They look for perspective. They look for an example of how to handle the weight of a year that did not unfold perfectly.

This is your chance to mentor without speaking a single word. Carry the end of the year with grace. Carry it with gratitude for what was accomplished. Carry it with courage to face what was not. Carry it in a way that teaches your team not just how to work, but how to lead.

The Beginning Starts With How You End

The new year does not begin on January 1st. It starts with how you choose to close the year that came before it.

Honor the people who carried you. Give them space to rest. Help them reflect honestly. Celebrate their effort. Let your presence teach them the kind of leader you hope they will become.

Do this, and you will not simply start the next year. You will start it with a team that is restored, grounded, and ready to grow.

A Leader’s Call to Action

As you step into the final days of the year, choose to lead with intention. Do not rush past the people who carried the work. Do not overlook the quiet victories or the unseen sacrifices. Use this time to rebuild the foundation your team will need in the months ahead.

Invite them into reflection. Give them space for rest. Celebrate the good you saw in each person. Model the steadiness you hope they will one day offer others. Let the final week of the year become a gift rather than a gap.

If you do this, your planning for the new year will not feel forced. It will grow naturally from a team that feels valued, restored, and ready to take on what comes next.

Leadership begins again in these moments. Not with urgency but with gratitude. Not with pressure but with presence. Not with demands but with the simple act of honoring the people who made the year possible.

Hold this space well, and the year ahead will have a stronger beginning than any strategy session could ever provide.

Happy and prosperous new year.