At the beginning of 2025, I chose one word to guide my year: Ease.
My friend Matt warned me with a knowing smile: “If you want things to be easeful, be prepared to experience the other side of the coin.” He was right. The universe, it seems, has a sense of irony.
When Shaolin Warrior Monk Shi Heng was asked by Steve Bartlett, “Are you happy?”, he responded: “I am not searching for happiness. I am searching for peace. If you want to be happy, you must be prepared to be sad. If you want to attain something, there is something to lose. For something to rise, something must fall.” You must embrace both sides.
2025 challenged me in some of the hardest ways. Yet it is finishing in the most easeful way. Full circle. The last two months have fallen into place with grace I could never have orchestrated. Everything arrived in my lap precisely when I stopped forcing and started allowing.
This last newsletter of the year is a reflection on that journey. From ease through hardship and back to ease again. Each month taught me something essential about audacious leadership. Here are twelve lessons that shaped not just my year, but how I lead.
January: The Foundation of Beginnings – Lesson #1: Start before you’re ready
We launched our third Natixis leadership program cohort in Paris. My son Dan left for a long adventure in Africa. I went on a book tour, starting with a workshop for Level 20. Every beginning felt exciting and stretching. And I remembered that audacious leadership isn’t about being fully prepared. It’s about starting.
New beginnings rarely feel comfortable. The courage isn’t in having all the answers; it’s in taking the first step without them.
February: The Power of Your Voice – Lesson #2: Share your work generously
I delivered many book sessions, including at Allianz and GIC WING Women Network. I spent precious time with my daughter Carly in Romania. What struck me most was how generous sharing compounds, one conversation led to three more, one audience member became a collaborator, one vulnerability sparked a dozen others.
Your insights have more value when shared than when hoarded. Stop waiting for the ‘perfect platform.’ Start conversations where you are, with who’s listening. Generosity of knowledge creates ripples you cannot predict.
March: When Crisis Reshapes You – Lesson #3: Hold space for the unexpected
Dan returned home early from Africa after their young team leader died unexpectedly. While I experienced the 4PC Intensive in Pasadena, visited NASA, and connected with wolves at Wolf Connection, my son was processing grief an ocean away. My daughter Carly turned 18 and we celebrated in style. The juxtaposition was stark. Spectacular experiences shadowed by trauma, joy intertwined with loss.
Leadership means holding space for contradictions. You can celebrate achievements while someone on your team grieves. You can pursue your dreams while supporting those who must pivot. The both/and of leadership is what makes it human.
April: Creating Space for Joy – Lesson #4: Play isn’t optional. It’s essential
I continued my book tour with a session at CVC. Dan and I enjoyed Britta Jaschinski‘s exquisite “Still Life” exhibition, that was outstanding. I hosted a free online masterclass sharing lessons from NASA’s ‘Dare Mighty Things’ and led a series of sessions for Everywoman on the 8As of Audacity. We completed the first edition of the MAP program for Deutsche Bank. But what I remember most vividly is the art gallery, the laughter, my birthday and the moments when work felt like play.
Productivity culture will tell you play is earned after work. I’m telling you play is the work. The moments of joy, beauty, and delight aren’t distractions from leadership. They’re the fuel that sustains it. Schedule play as seriously as you schedule strategy meetings.
May: The Alchemy of Connection – Lesson #5: Intentional community compounds impact
May graced us with the 5th Audacious Leaders Retreat in Transylvania. Tatiana Poliakova led ‘Nothing to Prove’ and Carmen Balacianu led ‘Achieve an Impossible Dream’ webinars. While supporting my daughter through A-levels, I also attended #TashTVTalks with Tash Courtenay-Smith and Amelia Sordell 
. Connection wasn’t a nice-to-have this month, it was oxygen.
The leaders you surround yourself will shape who you become. Create intentional spaces for meaningful connection. Not networking, but genuine community. Our Retreats have become a sacred space for an exceptional community of audacious humans.
June: Pausing to Integrate – Lesson #6: Reflection is where growth lives
We completed our third Inspiring Women Leadership program for Natixis and launched the fourth cohort. I delivered a keynote for the Diversity Project mid-year event, whilst Tatiana and Carmen led a corporate offsite on a beautiful beach. The highlight was seeing Jacinda Ardern in London. Midway through the year, I began to notice patterns, what energized me, what drained me, what wanted to shift.
My insight? Build reflection into your rhythm, not just into crisis. June taught me that mid-year reviews aren’t just for business metrics. They’re for asking: What’s working? What’s not? What needs to change? Without pause, there’s no integration. Without integration, there’s just motion.
July: Fully Pause – Lesson #7: Rest is not the absence of work. It’s the foundation of it
July was family holiday season. I travelled to South America, Dan travelled to the US, whilst Carly went interrailing across Europe. Tatiana and I facilitated a team offsite celebrating achievements and setting foundations for growth. For the first time in months, I felt my nervous system settle. Rest wasn’t weakness. It was wisdom.
High performers often confuse relentlessness with excellence. Real excellence includes recovery. Your best work emerges not from pushing harder, but from knowing when to stop. If you’re always ‘on,’ you’re never fully present. Give yourself permission to fully pause.
August: The Gift of Legacy – Lesson #8: Celebrate milestones by expanding their impact
One year since ‘The Audacity Spectrum’ launched into the world, I made a decision that felt both natural and radical: to give all future proceeds to charity. The book had already changed my life. Now it could change others’ too.
How can your success create more success for others? Audacious leadership isn’t about accumulation; it’s about circulation. When you’ve received value, find ways to pass it forward with intention. Your legacy isn’t what you keep. It’s what you give away.
September: Betting on What Matters – Lesson #9: Ambitious projects require audacious trust
I hosted Rich Litvin‘s 4PC Intensive in Transylvania at my family hotel, Transylvanian Inn – Vilă în Predeluț, Bran. A year of preparation culminating in an intimate, transformative experience. My sister and son contributed to the event’s success, and I felt profound pride. We launched Cinven’s second Ascend program cohort, hosted a Women InPower breakfast, ran ‘The Confident Leap’ workshop for Everywoman, and met Chris Packham! The month was packed with bold moves.
Big projects require you to trust yourself, your team, and the process before you have proof it will work. That year of preparation for the Intensive taught me that audacity isn’t recklessness. It’s calculated trust. What ambitious project have you been putting off because you’re waiting for certainty? Start preparing.
October: Expanding Your Reach – Lesson #10: Your message matters more than you think
I keynoted the KBSA conference for 200+ people invited by my dear friend Koralia Hume. What began as intimate workshops was now reaching hundreds.
Don’t let imposter syndrome convince you to play small. If you have expertise, perspective, or experience that could help others, it’s your responsibility to share it, even if it feels uncomfortable.. Expansion follows service.
November: The Discipline of Discernment – Lesson #11: ‘No’ is how you protect your ‘yes’
‘No-vember’ has historically been my month to decline what doesn’t align with my soul. This year was no exception. For the first time ever, I said no to writing a newsletter. We completed our fourth Natixis program and launched the second MAP program for Deutsche Bank. The Return-to-Self Retreat became an intimate adventure at the Sphinx portal in Bucegi mountains. We enjoyed pure art at Matilda Rowe’s ‘Creases’ concert. Every yes was intentional because I’d practiced saying no.
Saying yes to everything is saying yes to nothing that matters. Audit your commitments. Which ones drain you? Which ones light you up? Audacious leadership requires the courage to disappoint people in service of your mission. Your ‘no’ protects your best ‘yes.’
December: Releasing to Receive – Lesson #12: Letting go creates space for what’s next
This year felt hard many times. Yet it also felt easeful to serve the clients we love and to continue having audacious conversations on LinkedIn with humans who inspire me. I’ve now hosted 45 live conversations available on YouTube. A project of which I’m deeply proud. This year feels like the end of a big cycle as I cross the threshold into ADAPTAA ‘s tenth year.
We’re bidding farewell to Carmen as a partner in Adaptaa while embracing her as a collaborator in her quest to follow spiritual and awakened leadership. We’re opening our doors to more brilliant coaches, thought leaders, and inspirational people within our network. This means more perspectives, more conversations, more opportunities for you to learn from exceptional leaders who share our values.
Letting go with gratitude isn’t failure, it’s evolution.
The Return to Ease
As we bid farewell to 2025, a year defined by the paradox of ease and complexity, I recognize that I’ve traversed uncharted territories. I pushed beyond my comfort zone to exemplify what audacity actually looks like in practice.
The hardship was necessary. The struggle was the path. And the ease I’m experiencing now? It’s not the absence of challenge, it’s the presence of alignment. When you stop forcing and start allowing, when you say no to protect your yes, when you let go to receive, ease arrives not as a destination but as a state of being.
Here’s what I know for certain after this year’s journey:
- Ease doesn’t mean easy. It means aligned.
- Audacity isn’t recklessness. It’s calculated trust.
- Leadership isn’t about having answers. It’s about holding space for questions.
- Letting go isn’t loss. It’s liberation.
With immense gratitude to my team and our wonderful clients, I extend my warmest wishes to you for a joyous Christmas and an exceptional 2026.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being on this audacious journey with me.
Alina x
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