Somehow, we’ve arrived at the end of 2025.

The inbox is overflowing.

The group texts are chaotic.

Half of you are in transit or hiding from a relative in a guest bedroom.

So this is a soft landing issue, not a homework assignment.

Before we log off, I want to say thank you, share three big lessons we practiced together, and leave you with a few gentle questions for your own reflection.

And yes, the title is a nod to Mariah Carey.

Don’t worry—I’m not about to sing.

You’re safe.

Three Big Lessons

This was the year we stopped treating kindness as “being nice” and started treating it as a leadership operating system.

Radical Kindness isn’t about avoiding hard conversations or keeping everyone comfortable. It’s kindness with a core:

We talked about leaders who set the bar high and stay deeply human. Cultures where people feel safe enough to tell the truth, ask for help, and admit:

That’s the kind of kindness I’m asking Santa for.

If 2024 was the year of hot takes, 2025 felt like the year of exhaustion.

Everyone was supposed to have a stance, a strategy, a solution—instantly.

We pushed back on that.

Ask for An Answer is my antidote to performative certainty:

We explored what happens when leaders stop playing “heroic fixer” and start playing “curious guide” instead:

Respect, trust, and growth thrive when we trade ego for honest questions. That’s the work.

This year, across campuses, boardrooms, and your stories, one truth kept echoing:

Belonging doesn’t happen because we print a value on a wall.
It happens because leaders make daily decisions that say:

We talked about:

Belonging is not a “nice to have” in times like these.
It’s a business imperative, a moral imperative, and a leadership test we’re all retaking—every single day.

On a personal level, 2025 has been one of the fullest years of my life.

I stood Up North with the man I love and said “yes” to a new chapter.
I recorded a podcast in a studio that teenage-me would never have believed he’d sit in.
My work deepened—from All Pride, No Ego to Ask for An Answer, from 1:1 coaching to bigger conversations about culture, kindness, and power.

I also had moments of doubt, grief, anger, and sheer overwhelm—just like you.

What I know now is this:

Every version of me that showed up this year—executive coach, author, podcaster, chairman, groom, jet-lagged traveler—felt held by this community.

When you read, reply, share, or carry an idea from Field Notes into your own leadership, you’re not just “supporting my work.”

You’re co-creating it with me.

Thank you for that. Truly.

No worksheet. Just three questions you can tuck into your carry-on or your quiet moment on the couch:

If any of these land, hit reply and share.
I read your notes—often with coffee, sometimes with tears, always with gratitude.

In 2026, I’m doubling down on practical tools for leaders who want:

You’ll see more on Ask for An Answer, more voices on the podcast, and more ways to engage with the League of Radical Kindness as a living, breathing leadership community.

Same heart. Evolving containers.

If there’s something you’d love to see from me in 2026—workshops, retreats, deeper dives on certain topics—let me know. This community is at its best when it’s a conversation, not a broadcast.

However this season finds you…

In a full house, a quiet apartment, an airport, a hospital, a boardroom that refuses to slow down, or somewhere in between—

I hope you give yourself permission to be human.
To rest when you’re tired.
To cry if you need to.
To laugh loudly when joy sneaks in.
To remember you are not behind. You are not broken. You are not alone.

Thank you for walking this year with me.
Thank you for leading—with all your imperfections, all your courage, and all your heart.

I hope Santa brings your everything you wish for………

With Radical Kindness and so much gratitude,
Jim