The Power of Acceleration

Our Theme for the New Year

In a world that feels increasingly complex and fast-moving, acceleration is often misunderstood as simply going faster: doing more, pushing harder, filling every available moment. But meaningful acceleration isn’t about frantic motion. It’s about momentum: progress that builds, compounds, and carries us forward with purpose.

This year, I invite you to reflect with me on how acceleration takes shape in your leadership, and how it can become energy rather than exhaustion. As leaders, the question isn’t whether change will happen—it will. The question is whether we’re ready to meet it with clarity, capacity, and intention. When acceleration is grounded in strong foundations, it forges confidence rather than force. It becomes energy, not exhaustion.

Looking Back to Move Forward

For those of you who follow our blog, you know that I frame each year with a guiding word or theme. Last year, my focus was intentionality—being deliberate about focus, discipline, and energy management. In years prior, I’ve explored simplicity and evolution, asking how we grow, adapt, and refine who we are as leaders.

Those themes haven’t disappeared. In fact, they’ve created the conditions for this year’s focus: Acceleration is what becomes possible after clarity. It’s what follows awareness, discipline, and alignment.

This year, I find myself asking different questions:

• Where have I built strong foundations that are ready to support momentum?
• What patterns, habits, or ways of thinking might be slowing progress unnecessarily?
• How can I help others accelerate their growth without burning out?

Words matter to me, and acceleration is a powerful one. Acceleration is defined as an increase in the rate of progress. Not a reckless leap—but a measured, intentional increase rooted in preparation.

For me, acceleration in 2025 will show up in three distinct ways:

1. Awareness
2. Evolution
3. Urgency with Finesse

Each of these has been shaped by lessons I took from an unexpected teacher: chef Thomas Keller.

What stood out to me was Keller’s emphasis on awareness.

Awareness of what was happening around him.
Awareness of standards, people, and process.
Awareness of what excellence actually looks like in practice.

Keller often says that true inspiration is rare—it may only happen a few times in a lifetime. But awareness is something we can practice every day. Without it, opportunity passes unnoticed.

Acceleration begins with awareness.

In leadership, awareness allows us to recognize when the conditions are right to move forward—and when they’re not. It helps us see patterns, anticipate challenges, and prepare ourselves and others for what’s next.

As you look ahead, where might greater awareness help you unlock momentum? What are you noticing—and what might you be overlooking?

This perspective resonates deeply with me. Acceleration doesn’t require reinvention. It requires refinement.

Keller describes learning the fundamentals first: taking the class, mastering the basics, gaining confidence and courage. Only then can you meaningfully evolve something and make it your own. His famous cornet, inspired by an ice cream cone, wasn’t about novelty. It was about interpretation, improvement, and meaning.

In leadership, acceleration happens when we stop chasing constant novelty and instead commit to improving what already works—systems, relationships, skills, and behaviors.

Side benefit: This type of evolution with refinement also fosters talent at an elite performance level and from Chef Keller’s kitchens have emerged countless great chefs. With the right culture, even in the midst of pace, highly capable leaders will emerge from contributing to highly capable teams.

Where in your leadership could evolution—not reinvention—create momentum this year? How can you cultivate an elite team of contributors?

Urgency doesn’t mean rushing. It means respecting the work and the people enough to be prepared, present, and precise. It’s about knowing what matters most and acting accordingly. At FlashPoint we’ve always stressed that doing the small things precisely and with intention drives us toward the big things. It’s about a thousand choices made by every member of the team that leads to excellence and meaningful impact.

It also can’t feel like everything is equally important. Keller also teaches the law of diminishing returns—too much of anything dulls the experience. In leadership, too much pressure, too much speed, or too much noise can erode effectiveness.

Plus, in times of change and transition, there are aspects of your Everything DiSC^Ò style that may naturally cause you to speed up or slow down and the same is true for those differences in your team. Keep an eye on where others are around you…if you are leading the race (given a strong bias toward action or pioneering nature), look around you and see if anyone is with you and if you have the right precision in your efforts. Vice versa, if your style leads you to stability and conscientiousness, keep your eye on those pushing the pack forward and see what you can learn from your early adopters.

Acceleration requires balance.

It asks us to move with purpose, choose words carefully, and treat people and processes with respect. Language, Keller reminds us, creates culture. He doesn’t use the word “rag” but rather towel. He doesn’t use “grease” (like a manufacturing lubricant) because humans don’t consume this; we consume fats and oils. It’s not a “dish pit” it’s a dishwashing station. The way we describe work—and those who do it—signals what we value.

As leaders, urgency with finesse allows us to move faster without losing quality, humanity, or trust.

Acceleration grounded in awareness.
Acceleration fueled by evolution.
Acceleration guided by urgency and finesse.

My hope for this year is that we each find ways to build momentum that feels sustainable, meaningful, and aligned with who we are and what we value.

What would acceleration look like for you this year?
Where are you ready to move forward—with intention and confidence?

I’m excited to see where this next chapter leads and to continue partnering with leaders who are committed to making progress that truly matters.