2024
Open the windows in magical
anticipation of the holiday season!
Happy holidays
and best wishes for the New Year!
Five Books
For Holiday Reading
During the New Year holidays, we strongly advise you to do sports and walk in the fresh air, skiing, skating, swimming in the pool in the ocean in warmer places. But if it gets boring, if you want to somehow distract yourself from the sun, wind and water, you can then go to the theater, go to visit, go on a picnic, but those who are still serious about reading, we advise five books:
01
Lucy Worsley "Agatha Christie"
what do we know about the talented author except her love to detective stories and an affection for Hercule Poirot with little gray cells, the mysterious story of Agatha Christie's own disappearance? Every chapter of this book ends mysteriously and demands a sequel.
04
David Deutsch "The Beginning
of Infinity. Explanations
that Transform The World"
the physicist and philosopher writes about the explanations of scientific theories, the need for critical thinking to ceaselessly advance knowledge and science, the creativity that leads us to progress, and the choice of wrong or right judgments on which the life of civilization depends.
05
Woody Allen "Zero Gravity"
Being asked in an ordinary day what the best stories to read, we for sure will answer: of course, Alice Munro and Elizabeth Strout. But on holidays, you should have something as fun and quick as a sip of champagne. And that, without a doubt, is Woody Allen and his satirical short stories.
Just one more thing! During the holidays, these five books should be read not one by one, but simultaneously - all together. Then, like colorful toys on a Christmas tree, at first everything will be mixed up, and then there will be complete peace and amazing clarity.
03
John Tresch "The Reason
for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science"
about Edgar Allan Poe, who is in every word and in every black crow: then his story will appear in Ray Bradbury, Stephen King and Evgeny Grishkovets, then they will make a movie "The All-Seeing Eye" where he will be the chief detective, then they will show an unsuccessful TV series about the House of Usher. The main starter of all hoaxes, Poe was passionate about science, met great and pseudo-scientists passionately promoted and criticized scientific discoveries.
02
Christopher Priest "The Gradual"
a writer who writes about perpetual wanderings across islands and cities, mysterious time lost and replenished in moving, good music, bad people, and a life that never ceases to disappoint and surprise, and to present sad and wonderful news.
Key Competencies
To Develop Future Leaders - Global Thinking.
The year 2026 is predicted to be a time of new leaders: capable of thinking globally, possessing a broad professional outlook, understanding trends and opportunities
for development, capable of thinking outside the box, overcoming common patterns and stereotypes, transforming innovative ideas into practical solutions, capable of forming and forecasting customer needs.

The most in-demand leadership competencies in 2026 will be global thinking and creating new. They belong to the group of hard-to-develop competencies. Start "pumping" them
in 2024, and by 2026 you will be able
to move to a new level.

Global thinking: Considers the global context, studies the global market situation, takes into account the international diversity and opportunities, masters the best world practices
01
Start work on a project
that requires traveling and researching an issue or acquisition (or joint venture overseas) opportunity, followed
by a presentation of the results to your CEO/Board of Directors.
03
Perform independent research
Select an international company
of interest, possibly your competitor, and gather all possible information about it (successes, failures, weaknesses). Compare it with your company. Do a comprehensive study
of its performance in certain functional segments (e.g. marketing). Ask what you would do differently. Then do research from a competitor's perspective and try to identify your company's weaknesses.
02
Take charge
of a project team that includes representatives from different countries.
Key Competencies
To Develop Future Leaders – Creating New.

The year 2026 is predicted to be a time of new leaders: capable of thinking globally, possessing a broad professional outlook, understanding trends and opportunities for development, capable of thinking outside the box, overcoming common patterns and stereotypes, transforming innovative ideas into practical solutions, capable of forming and forecasting customer needs.

The most in-demand leadership competencies in 2026 will be global thinking and creating new. They belong to the group of hard-to-develop competencies. Start "pumping" them in 2024, and by 2026 you will be able to move to a new level.

Creating new: Thinks creatively, develops competitive products and solutions, stimulates the search and generation of new ideas, estimates their commercial potential, brings ideas to implementation.
01
Take charge
of a group of people in a rapidly expanding area of operations.
03
Follow all stages of development
of a new product or new service, from design idea to market test to production run.
02
Organize the relaunching of a product or service
that has not previously been successful.
Five Steps to Wrap Up
the End of the Year

The New Year is just days away and many people are eager to finish their backlog. We suggest planning the end of the year in such a way as to pass it "without stress" and at the same time not to miss important things.
01
Make a list of things to do before the end of the year.
Choose a quiet time for yourself. As with any project, preparation determines the success of the entire endeavor, so don't miss this step. Put on paper all the things to do, desires and plans that you think are important to realize before the end of the year. Note, it is important to write it down. Trying to save time and do all the work "in your head" is unreliable.
A realistic view of modern life requires the realization that you can't have time for everything. The high pace of life and business, the many roles in which you perform, requires the ability to prioritize. And if you develop practices that will allow you to effectively move through the turbulent flow of cases and tasks, especially during periods of high workload, then any New Year's Eve marathon will be within your reach!
04
Add the to-do list to the calendar
Add the important three priorities to your calendar and outline the steps you need to take to accomplish them. Count down - for example, if a report needs to be ready by a specific date, you should schedule time for the final edit, and before that - the first reading or coordination with colleagues, writing a draft. For other things, you can also outline a plan - the necessary deadlines and designate in your list the amount of time it will take to realize them.
05
The 20/10 rule
It is now important to take 20 minutes to plan your week, and 10 minutes each day to check your plans for the next day. Leave 'air' for yourself in your calendar so that urgent things that come up don't 'eat up' time from your important priorities. It's worth planning the things on your list that "work" for your key priorities and what you need to get done before the New Year first. If you have important non-work related things to do, you should definitely put those on your calendar too!
03
Prioritize and structure
Highlight the responsibilities that
are most important. We are looking for the 20% of tasks that will have 80% of the effect. Let you have three prioritized tasks, no more. It's important to embody them so that you can approach the end of the year with a sense of accomplishment. The things that are
not prioritized divide into groups: things that need to be done in time, things that can be done if you have time, and things that are worth asking for help. Check if all of these things really need
to be done in December.
02
Formulate key roles and the responsibilities associated with them.
Think about your key roles in life that are relevant for the rest of the year.
List them all: your professional role, your role as a good friend, mom, cat or dog owner, and so on. Write out your roles on a worksheet. Around each role, write down the priorities and important responsibilities you have for the rest
of the year.
Maintain Resilience And Energy During The Holidays
Being able to switch and rest in time is one of the keys to preventing burnout. The most resilient people are those who are busy both on and off the job. Frustration and feeling skewed towards work is often the result of work-life balance struggles. It can feel like we are so busy at work that we just don't have time for anything else. This is where good old-fashioned planning comes to our rescue:
01
Structure your activities outside of work
the same way you structure your work schedule. If you don't - work will eat up all your time.
04
Use your strengths outside
of work:
if you are a good organizer - organize something, if you like socializing - join some community. Studies have shown that people who have a suffering life outside of work leave their strengths at the office.
05
Organize your work process in advance
so that both yourself and team members can afford to take a break. Think about how you can optimize your workflow, how to ensure interchangeability? Of course, when you're on vacation, it's best to focus on the vacation. But it just so happens that sometimes we need to plug into an issue. Don't "spread" work throughout the day. Also plan a limited amount of time, such as 1 hour in the morning and evening, that you will devote to work.
03
Concentrate on the present moment, don't get distracted
If you have 1 hour for sports or playing with your kids - immerse yourself in this process. In any case, you can't solve all your other problems in 1 hour.
02
Work-life balance is not about
a 50/50 ratio
It's about building a balance that is good for you. Maybe it's a more comfortable work schedule. Or maybe four small breaks a day. Get some time before bed? Spending quality time with your kids or talking to family members? Participate in some type of community or sport? Talk to your family and put these things on your schedule.
Last Minute Gift Ideas
Every January we make a promise to ourselves to choose gifts carefully and in advance, we make lists, but last minute gifts in December still happen. Here are some ideas to inspire you:
01
The most easily-realizable option is a gift certificate
You can choose a marketplace with the widest range of products or a highly specialized one, or maybe you will remember a random phrase that will push you to something new and unusual!
When you review your gift list, run your eyes over it again, you may have forgotten to put your name on it! Do it and you will have more fun running errands!
04
If you know someone is a member of a charitable organization,
know how important the topic is to him or her and want to give something meaningful, a donation to the organization in their honor is a great gift.
05
New Year's Eve Gift Basket
The winter holidays are probably the perfect time for these tasty baskets – from rich vintage wines to gingerbread houses. The increased number of guests ensures that your gift will be in demand!
03
Sometimes it's not the gift that matters, but the experience -
arrange a day you can spend together, go to an exhibition, go on a mini trip or just have dinner.
02
A floral subscription is a great way to extend the holiday feeling
Fresh flowers will be delivered from you each week and you'll get a "thank you!".
Annual Life Review
01
Start your annual review
by making a timeline - write down all twelve months of the year and the major moments and milestones from the current year. Review your calendar, photos, and social media to recall what happened and then see what other events, moments, etc. come to mind.
04
You've made it to the final step!
It's now time to define, visualize and plot where you're heading in the new year. Who do you want to become? What do you want to achieve? What resources do you need? You're going to dive into questions like these and more. At the end of this stage, you will have more clarity and a plan to get the most out of your life in the new year.

  • What three big goals will you accomplish next year? What's important about them?
  • What two or three skills / competencies will you acquire? What is one superpower that you will utilize to achieve your goals?
  • What do you need to walk away from?
  • What are two or three habits or behaviors you will stop?
  • What are two or three habits or behaviors you will start?
  • What obstacles will you face and how will you overcome them to accomplish your goals?
  • Who in your life deserves more attention?
  • Who do you plan to build a new relationship with?
  • Who will you mentor and help?
  • What resources do you need in order to start making progress?
  • Who will you seek help from?
  • How can you evaluate your progress?
03
It's difficult to know where you are going if you don't know where you are
For this step in the process, you are going to assess your life across ten dimensions. These dimensions, taken together, represent a lens to help you look at your life holistically. This exercise is a slight adaptation to the self-assessment tool known as the 'The Wheel of Life.' This assessment captures your satisfaction in the major areas of your life. It should be a current snapshot. Assess your satisfaction in each dimension by giving it a value from one to ten. A score of one means "Highly unsatisfied." A score of ten means "Couldn't get any better."
02
Think about your year
examine what you experienced this year. Prepare mentally and emotionally to look at your successes, failures, relationships, lessons and themes.

What were your two or three biggest accomplishments / successes? What contributed to them?

  • What risks did you take and what were the rewards?
  • What goals didn't you accomplish? What got in the way?
  • Where did you spent too much time or other resources?
  • What single person had the biggest impact (positive or negative) on your life? How?
  • What were the top lessons that you learned this year?
  • What are you most thankful for?
Open the windows in magical anticipation of the holiday season!
Happy holidays and
best wishes for the New Year!