New Year, One Vision: Why Now Is the Moment to Align Your Team for 2026 - a guest post by Mark Topley

When you start planning in January, you’ve already lost the first six weeks of the year.

Every December, practice owners and managers tell me the same thing: “I’ll sort the plan in January.”

I understand the instinct. December is full. Patients want everything done before the break, the team is juggling life and work, and you’re trying to hold the whole thing together.

But there’s a truth that most practices don’t discover until mid-February:

When you start planning in January, you’ve already lost the first six weeks of the year.

The pace of dentistry doesn’t slow down just because the calendar resets. If anything, it accelerates. And without a clear, shared focus, the year can drift before it’s even begun.

That’s why I encourage leaders to take an hour before Christmas to get ahead.

Not to create a perfect plan – but to step back, set direction, and prepare the team for a strong start.

Because when the team walks into January knowing exactly what matters and why, everything becomes easier. The energy lifts, conversations become sharper, decisions become quicker. And the pressure on you reduces, because everyone is pulling in the same direction.

Why Vision Matters More Than Ever in 2026

2026 won’t be a “steady as she goes” year.

The younger workforce is stepping into more prominent roles. Expectations around growth, culture, and communication are shifting. Pay pressures are rising. And the practices that thrive will be the ones with a clear sense of who they are, where they’re going, and what the team are there to achieve.

That starts with vision.

Not a laminated poster or a list of buzzwords, but a simple, lived sense of direction that helps everyone understand the bigger picture.

When your team knows the purpose behind the numbers – why patient experience matters, why your revenue target exists, why consistency is so important – you move from compliance to commitment.

People stop doing tasks. They start owning outcomes.

This is where alignment becomes a competitive edge.

Purpose Creates Engagement – and Engagement Creates Performance

Purpose is often spoken about as a vague, motivational concept. In reality, it’s far more practical.

A clear purpose helps your receptionist understand why their wording and tone make a clinical difference.

It helps your nurses see their impact on the day’s performance.

It helps associates connect their clinical choices to the practice’s wider goals.

And it gives the whole team a reason to care about what you’re asking them to do.

When a team understands the purpose, you don’t have to push them. They move with you.

And in a landscape where retaining good people is harder and more expensive than ever, that is worth its weight in gold.

Turning Vision into Action: Thematic Goals

One of the clearest ways to bring vision and purpose to life is to create a single, unifying focus for the first quarter of the year.

Patrick Lencioni calls this the Thematic Goal – the number one thing the whole team should rally around for the next 9-12 months.

It cuts through noise, it brings clarity, and it ensures every member of the team knows how to contribute to something that genuinely matters.

When a practice has a bold, well-chosen Thematic Goal, you can feel the shift almost immediately. Huddles become focused, people volunteer ideas, you see momentum where there was drift.

This is where planning stops being a management task and becomes a leadership act.

Why December Is the Perfect Time

This isn’t about adding more work to your plate.It’s about getting ahead so January feels like a launch, not a scramble.

December gives you the space to breathe, step back, and think clearly. It gives you the chance to define the year before the year defines you.

A short burst of intention now sets the tone for everything that follows.

Want Help Getting Started?

On Wednesday 17th December at 7pm, I’m running a live, practical webinar:

New Year, One Vision – A Goal-Setting Masterclass for Dental Leaders.

In one focused hour, you’ll walk away with a clear direction for 2026, a Thematic Goal, and everything you need to bring your team with you.

If you want to start the year with energy, alignment, and a plan your team can believe in, you can join us here:

Register for the webinar – £47 inc VAT