This time of year, everyone’s trying new habits for self-improvement. Why not apply the same thoughtfulness to your leadership style? Implementing high-impact habits in your work life can boost your success and strengthen your team.

Here are 5 high-impact habits for successful leaders

1. Prioritize Vision Alignment

Ensure that every decision and action is purpose-rooted and aligned with your organization’s mission. When leadership follows the team’s vision, it creates a clear direction, fosters unity, and helps everyone move toward shared goals with confidence.

2. Lead with Adaptability

In a rapidly changing world, agility is essential if you’re going to find success. Accomplished leaders embrace flexibility, adjusting strategies and approaches as new opportunities and challenges arise. Staying open to change keeps your team innovative and resilient. Lead out in taking new ideas, seeking to understand your changing audience, and finding the new gaps that arise in your system. Innovation wins.

3. Evaluate and Celebrate Progress

Regularly reflect on what’s working and allow those insights to guide your decisions. Celebrating milestones, both big and small, not only acknowledges hard work but also keeps your team motivated and focused on the purpose behind the mission. Get creative about how to celebrate these wins. Implement incentives for your team to meet concrete goals (such as remote working days), and recognize the intrinsic value when your mission succeeds.

4. Maintain Consistent Communication

Connected and authentic communication is the glue that holds successful teams together. As a leader, you set the tone for how your staff communicate and relate to each other. Keep your team informed, listen to their feedback, and initiate a culture of openness. Consistent communication builds efficiency and ensures everyone stays aligned.

5. Delegate Effectively

Being a problem-solver doesn’t mean fixing everything yourself. Delegation empowers your team members, strengthens their skills, and allows you to focus on higher-level responsibilities. Leaders who utilize their team’s specific strengths achieve more with less burnout.

All these habits correlate with the data-driven habits outlined in CEO William Vanderbloemen’s newest book, Be the Unicorn. To learn more about the traits that separate the best from the rest, add Be the Unicorn to your 2025 reading list.