By Tess Peters, Founder, Accelerator Coaching
“Self-knowing is the capacity to recognise how your feelings and emotions impact upon your personal opinions, attitudes and judgments.”- RocheMartin Emotional Capital Report
Easter eggs, daffodils and fresh starts. April is bursting with new beginnings, and not just the chocolate kind.
The clocks have changed, the new financial year is here, and if you are anything like me, you are feeling that familiar itch to reset. My twins turned eighteen, officially stepping into adulthood and I turned fifty, last year and climbed Kilimanjaro. Everywhere I look, new chapters are opening.
I will be honest. Right now, I am not entirely leading by example. We are mid-rebrand at Accelerator Coaching, building new programmes, and my to-do list has a to-do list. But here is my little ritual that keeps me grounded: every morning, I climb into an ice bath. Three minutes of pure, teeth-chattering clarity whilst listening to my ‘monk’ App. It is my reset button. When I step out, my brain is sharper, my energy lifts, and I feel ready to begin again. Think of it as a very cold, very yellow Easter awakening. Fitting, really, since yellow is not just our brand colour. It is the colour of optimism, warmth and fresh starts. It is basically Easter in a brand.
But this piece is not really about me. It is about you.
I have been coaching a senior leader for three years now. We meet monthly. He has a few thousand employees looking to him for direction, and over those three years he has found his authentic leadership style. The trust is there, the team is performing, and things are good. Really good.
So when we sat down recently, I asked him a question he was not expecting: “What if good has become too comfortable?”
We explored where things had started to feel automatic. Where he was leading on cruise control rather than with intention. I asked him to think about the areas across his business where he could draw a line in the sand, start something new, or re-energise what had gone a bit stale. It was like giving the engine an MOT. Not because anything was broken, but because even the best cars need a check under the bonnet now and then.
This is where self-knowing comes in. It is the first competency in the RocheMartin Emotional Capital Report and one I come back to constantly in my coaching. You cannot change what you cannot see. Before you set a single goal for the new quarter, you need to understand how you are showing up right now and whether that is still serving you.
One of the tools I love using with leaders is Daniel Goleman’s six leadership styles: Visionary, Coaching, Affiliative, Democratic, Pacesetting, and Commanding. Think of them as six different hats. The best leaders do not pick one and wear it forever. They swap depending on who they are with and what the moment needs.
So here is your April MOT. Two questions to sit with:
Which leadership hat are you wearing most right now, and is it the right one for the people around you? A pacesetting style might energise one team member and completely overwhelm another. An affiliative approach might build warmth but avoid the tough conversation someone actually needs.
And second: If you did a Wheel of Life on your leadership right now, where would the flat tyre be? Energy? Communication? Boundaries? The answer is usually the thing you have been avoiding.
April does not need to be dramatic. You do not need to climb a mountain or rebrand your entire business (although, yes, I am doing both). Sometimes the most powerful reset is simply pausing long enough to notice where you are, being honest about what you see, and choosing to lead the next quarter with a little more intention.
Spring is here. The window is open. Consider this your invitation to begin again.
So, what does your fresh start look like?
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