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Over the wet Christmas break I had time to contemplate what the year ahead might bring, as well as reflect on 2011 and the challenges that tested us. Since returning to work, I’ve had discussions with friends in business, banks and community leaders and gained a cross section of opinions on what is coming up.

There is no doubt that 2011 was a toughie for most industries and while the immediate path ahead isn't exactly going to be clear sailing the majority of those I spoke to are confident we will see an improvement over the next twelve months. We're coming off a pretty low base, so the only way is up!

Solid leadership is going to be the defining factor and what will see us through. This equally applies to our businesses, our not-for-profits and charitable sector, our political environment and our everyday home lives.  In business I set goals and themes for every year - this year I am running with Lead or Bleed.

Last year was not all sweat and tears. For me the Rugby World Cup and the general election were to two prominent events. Both of them taught me that, as a leader, you must take responsibility for being the architect of your own result and you always need to have options available should the game change. 

Think back to the rugby - Daniel Carter (Plan A), Colin Slade (Plan B), Aaron Cruden (Plan C). All were pushing for the same end result, but just running with a slightly different strategy to get there. Who was to know that the winning points would actually be scored by Stephen Donald (Plan D)!

Then there was the election. I have no doubt that the end result was heavily influenced and driven by the popularity of John Key. He is a great leader and is admired even by his critics. Before the election many thought that National would govern alone, but the leader was never going to take that risk and definitely had all bases covered with alliances.

It's no different in business. Our current marketplace has shown us that the goal posts are continually moving - continuously evolving technology, immediate communication and delivery expectations, offshore competition, regulatory changes, sustainability the list goes on. It's not easy and our plans of yester-year may now feel like a collapsed scrum on our own try line or a heavily defeated opposition party.

It's at this point when our team looks to us as the leader to step-up, dig deep, and show them the new way forward. Employees are looking for direction and an assertive leader to get them to where they rightfully should be heading. They want to be led, and led proud.

Let's face it, we've been looking for leadership from our politicians in this harsh economic climate, from our captains in our national sports teams, from our rescue crews as they scramble to avoid environmental disaster and from our business owners as we challenge ourselves in what could be seen as the harshest economic climate in over 50 years.

Qualities such as a true entrepreneurial spirit, commercial sensibility, skills to motivate the team to come along on the journey and an excellent strategic mind to look for 'what's next' must be in their DNA. Tenacity or grit alone won't see us through anymore. Leaders need to grasp all the tools available to them, we need to review our strategies so that we utilise tomorrow's technology, we need to push for entry into new markets and we need to up the ante in our industry sectors. The option to be a participant no longer applies. 

Today's status quo will not be tomorrow's benchmark so we need to improve what we do, what we offer, how we offer it, and how we create it if we want to improve our result. We need to lead our businesses, anything less may see us bleed the life blood out of it as our competitors pass us by. Running out of puff after four years of recession isn't an excuse, it's a cop out.

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