Truths & Lessons: What I Learned in 2025

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Truths & Lessons: What I Learned This Year

While I've expressed that I'm not a big fan of the typical end-of-the-year practices—mainly because they're like Hallmark Holidays, arbitrary dates on the calendar that carry no real significance—I do think it’s a great opportunity to slow down to speed up.

People are traveling, meetings slow down, and you have some more time to yourself, so use this time to do some deep thinking and reflecting on the year.

Solidify what you've experienced in 2025 and, more importantly, what you've learned as a result.

Some notable things from my 2025:

• I traveled the world advising firm leaders & challenging them to think differently to enable strategic growth and scaling. Locations included: Salt Lake City, Nashville, Atlanta, NYC, San Francisco, Saudi Arabia, London, France, and more.

• I spent hundreds of hours writing, interviewing, and editing my book BREAK THE MOLD™ and published it in December. We SOLD OUT our pre-order inventory on Amazon. What a fulfilling journey...

• I published 327 posts on LinkedIn, and those posts received 1.28 million impressions.

• I wrote 49 newsletters with over 55,000 words on leadership, growth, and scaling principles to thousands of leaders in professional services and beyond.

• I appeared on 11 new podcasts.

• I said “no” to opportunities that looked good on paper but didn’t align with my vision for what I wanted to do every day.

• Saying “yes” to one opportunity that came together so perfectly...more to come on that.

• Began intentionally lowering my device screen time in order to quiet my mind for more thinking time (this is my next ‘um’ project - more on that in a future post).

• Incorporated intentional practices to better manage my circadian rhythm in order to improve my daily performance and recovery.

As always, I filled notebooks with observations, insights, and new learnings.

Here are the lessons that stood out most...

1. BREAK THE MOLD™ has a broader application than I expected.

I know the principles I write about worked inside accounting firms because I proved them during our successful run at Baker Tilly. What surprised me was how universally applicable they are.

The same principles that enabled our growth and scaling at BT have worked in leadership development firms, manufacturing companies, technology startups, PR firms, and beyond.

All roads lead to/from strategy. Slow down to speed up. Vertical to horizontal. Building engines.

I’ve now seen those ideas resonate across firms, leaders, and platforms in ways I didn’t fully appreciate before this year. It's shown me that that's the mark of a great leadership principle—it can apply across industries and to different kinds of companies.

That's been pretty cool to see...

2. Writing a book was one of the most transformational things I've ever done.

Writing a book was hard. One of the hardest things I’ve done.

When it comes to business, I find it’s much easier for me to take calls and participate in interviews and podcasts because I can think and respond on the spot.

Sitting down to think, plan, and write each word of a book?

It requires focus, concentration, and undivided attention—not to mention a willingness to dive into the details, unlike ever before.

Sometimes it drove me mad.

It was incredibly challenging to develop the writing practices needed to create the book, and also extremely rewarding to look back on the things that we collectively accomplished and gain new perspectives.

I'll be forever changed because of the experience, and am grateful to my writing partner, Kristy Short, and all those who contributed in many ways to bringing the book to life.

On a personal note, all of this was taken to another level when our 19yr old son began reading the book and commenting that he now knows and appreciates me more than before.

3. We are all more complicit than we want to admit.

In reflecting on past experiences—the wins and the frustrations—I was reminded that while we’re rarely the sole cause of outcomes, we’re often complicit in them.

The decisions we didn’t make. The conversations we avoided. The tolerance we extended too long.

No matter how things turn out (for better or worse), we play a role in whatever happens.

Sometimes that's a hard pill to swallow...but boy is it true.

Taking ownership and learning from experiences where things don't go as planned is just as valuable (maybe more) than when things go right.

4. Fewer things, done deeply, is far more satisfying.

I’ve learned that briefly touching many things is far less fulfilling than going deep on one or two that truly matter.

That realization directly influenced why I chose to re-enter the leadership arena in a very specific way and why I passed on other “good” opportunities.

Everything worthwhile is hard. So if it’s going to be hard, it better be right.

No one has unlimited time, energy, and attention. Be intentional about where you invest your resources. There's an opportunity cost to spreading yourself too thin.

While everyone is different, I've realized that I'm at my best (and have the most fun) when I can dedicate my focus to a singular mission.

5. Opportunity is everywhere...you have to slow down enough to see it.

This may be the most important thing I learned this year...

I believe that there's an endless amount of opportunity in the marketplace. It just takes people slowing down to think about where the opportunities are, rather than just doing what everybody else does, but faster or smarter.

I didn’t sit down and design the “perfect” next move. I didn't define the exact role, title, or situation I wanted to be in.

Just like I talk about the importance of having a strategy for your organization that becomes a filter for decision-making, the same goes for your career.

Be clear on what you want to do every day. Not the title, but the activities. What would make your days most fulfilling?

When you know that, you can filter career opportunities through that lens. You may not know exactly how the right situation will present itself, but when it does, you'll see it immediately.

That's what happened to me this year, and now I'm embarking on a new journey in 2026 that I'm incredibly excited about. I found it because I was intentional about what I wanted and was willing to be patient until I found it.

More to come on that in the new year...

Final Reflections

I’m grateful for the conversations, the challenges, and the validation that this year brought.

I’m especially grateful to those of you who continue to engage, push back, and encourage me to keep saying the things that often go unsaid in our profession.

And thank you to each of you reading this.

Thank you for being here, and thank you to the hundreds of people who have commented or told me privately to keep writing and stating things that have needed to be said.

Your messages, support, and encouragement have meant the world to me and have helped me push on.

Thank you.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you and your family.

What’s one thing you learned this year that will change how you approach the next one?

See you next year. ✌️

With intention,
Alan D Whitman