We are halfway through 2026, and most leaders are moving too fast to notice. In this episode of P.A.C.E.™ Unlocked, Jim Ponder and Kelly Mayberry sit down for an honest conversation about the midpoint of the year: why so many teams arrive in June tired, why goals quietly drift out of alignment between January and summer, and how to recalibrate without throwing out the plan.
In this episode:
- Mid-year drift is normal, and it is structural. Teams keep layering new priorities on top of old ones without taking anything off the plate. The fix is a deliberate checkpoint, not more effort.
- Slowing down to speed up is a discipline, not a retreat. A pause without focus is coasting. A pause with focus is recalibration.
- A goal can change its route without changing its destination. Most goals need a different path to the same outcome. A smaller set genuinely need the destination itself to move.
- Clarity decays quietly. Ask three people to name the organization’s top three goals, and the gaps in their answers show exactly where alignment has gone foggy.
- Celebrating booked wins is part of the system, not a reward saved for later. It is how a team sustains pace through the second half.
