Every December, the professional world seems to split into two camps: those who race to the finish line, and those who pause to take stock. Increasingly, it’s the second group, those willing to reflect before they plan, who emerge as the leaders moving further, faster, and with greater clarity.
According to Griffith MBA Director Professor Naomi Birdthistle, reflection is no longer a soft skill; it’s a strategic one.
“Self-awareness is the bedrock of leadership,” she says. “When you understand what shaped you this year, the choices, the challenges, the values, you enter the next year more grounded and better prepared.”
Leadership research echoes this: growth accelerates when reflection is deliberate. As 2025 draws to a close, this may be the most important habit professionals can carry into 2026.
Leadership begins with values, but values aren’t static
If your values are your compass, it’s worth asking: are they still pointing you where you want to go?
Many professionals charge ahead in their careers without stopping to notice how their priorities have shifted. Why certain decisions felt right. Why others felt like compromises. Why some moments energised them while others drained them.
Research into authentic and values-based leadership suggests this is more than introspection, it’s performance. Leaders who understand their values make clearer decisions, build stronger trust, and weather uncertainty with more stability.
So, over the break, reflect not just on what you achieved, but on what those achievements reveal about who you are becoming.
2025 has certainly been a year of rapid change across industries, and many leaders found themselves focusing heavily on immediate goals. But the leaders who set themselves apart are the ones who think in arcs, not sprints. An arc represents a long-term trajectory or narrative, a strategic path that connects today’s actions to a bigger vision and future outcomes. It’s about continuity, evolution, and purpose over time. A sprint, on the other hand, is a short, intense burst of activity aimed at achieving immediate goals or quick wins. While sprints are useful for execution, thinking in arcs ensures that those efforts contribute to a broader, sustainable direction rather than isolated successes.
Ask yourself:
What part of your work this year will still matter in five years?
Who is better off because of your leadership?
What systems, relationships or insights did you strengthen?
Legacy isn’t just for CEOs; it’s built in everyday decisions. The small, consistent actions that ripple forward. Professor Birdthistle reminds us: “Leadership is about shaping more than the present moment. Your decisions set direction for the people who come after you.”
The behaviours you carry into 2026 matter more than the goals you set
Goals shape intentions, but behaviours shape leaders.
Great communicators become great by practising how they communicate. Strategic thinkers grow by reflecting on decisions. Resilient leaders strengthen by noticing emotional habits and adjusting in real time. So instead of writing a long list of resolutions, choose a handful of leadership behaviours you want to embody next year:
Listening with intent
Making decisions with long-term perspective
Regulating emotion under pressure
Creating space for others to lead
This is where reflection becomes action.
A stronger 2026 starts with one simple question: What kind of leader do you want to be?
Professor Naomi Birdthistle
Reflection may feel like a luxury in a busy year, but it has long distinguished those who lead with purpose. It’s what separates frantic productivity from meaningful progress. As Professor Birdthistle puts it: “When you pause to really see your leadership, its strengths, its gaps, and its patterns, you give yourself the chance to begin the New Year with intention, not inertia.”
If you’re looking to grow your career in 2026, the most powerful work you can do right now isn’t planning your goals. It’s understanding the type of leader you are wanting to be from the New Year onwards.
A moment to consider new opportunities
For professionals thinking about taking the next step in their career, the end of the year is also the ideal moment to explore further study. Griffith Business School offers a range of MBA scholarships designed to support diversity, excellence and responsible leadership.
With applications now open for the 2026 Trimester 1 MBA scholarships, future students can take this time to reflect on their aspirations and consider how postgraduate study could help shape their leadership journey.
Announced by The Honourable Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education, the Centre has secured $35 million in federal funding with an additional $50 million contributed from collaborating partners and universities, bringing the total funding to $85 million.
Led by Professor Michael Petraglia, Director of the internationally renowned Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, the new Centre of Excellence – which is Griffith University’s first to be awarded as the lead institution since 2007 – will spearhead groundbreaking research to reframe the study of human origins.
“Despite its promise, human origins research remains hindered by geographic bias, exclusion of Indigenous and traditional knowledge, and lingering colonial narratives – limiting its potential to tell inclusive, globally representative stories of our origins.”
Professor Michael Petraglia
To overcome longstanding biases in human origins research, the Centre is the first of its kind globally, assembling an international consortium of researchers and partners in the field.
The Centre is a collaboration between eight leading Australian universities, led by Griffith University. Partner institutions include The Australian National University, Flinders University, La Trobe University, University of Adelaide, University of Queensland, Monash University, and the University of Western Australia.
It brings together 62 researchers across science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and humanities and social sciences (HASS) disciplines, working with 30 national and international partners to integrate Indigenous knowledge systems, traditional knowledge perspectives, and cutting-edge scientific methodologies.
The Centre’s inclusive and transdisciplinary approach will see researchers co-design and co-conduct fieldwork with our partners and their communities in understudied regions across Africa, Asia and Australia, revolutionising our understanding of human adaptation and innovation.
The Centre will also support a new generation of transdisciplinary researchers including more than 40 research fellows, 70 PhD and Masters students, and 112 Honours students – with half the opportunities prioritised for Indigenous peoples or those from the Global South.
In addition to formal academic pathways, the Centre will develop co-designed microcredentials and ranger training programs in collaboration with Indigenous communities.
A suite of outreach and engagement initiatives will be delivered in partnership with organisations and communities, including an annual symposium, touring and virtual exhibitions, a seminar series, a transnational white paper policy series, as well as various methods and translational workshops.
Importantly, the Centre will empower Indigenous and traditional knowledge researchers and communities to lead new dialogues that reshape how we understand both past and present human experiences. It will also contribute to public education and inform national and international policies on nature, heritage, and climate resilience.
Griffith University has reaffirmed its long-standing commitment to the APEC region through the refreshed and strengthened Griffith Asia Institute APEC Study Centre, a hub dedicated to advancing sustainable development and regional cooperation across the APEC economies.
Building on the strong foundations laid by its earlier leadership, the Centre continues its role within the APEC Study Centres Consortium—a global network supporting research and capacity building across APEC’s 21 member economies. Operating from within the Griffith Asia Institute, the Centre will deliver rigorous, policy-relevant research aligned with APEC priorities, including sustainable growth, trade, labour markets, migration, health systems, social inclusion, and climate resilience.
Centre Lead of the APEC Study Centre, Associate Professor Parvinder Kler, said the renewed focus comes at a critical moment for Australia’s regional engagement.
Associate Professor Parvinder Kler, Centre Lead.
“The regions encompassing the APEC economies are navigating profound transitions—from demographic shifts and labour mobility to climate challenges and digital transformation. The APEC Study Centre enables Griffith to contribute evidence-based insights that support more inclusive and sustainable economic outcomes across these economies.”
He noted that the Centre’s work will remain firmly guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring its research is globally relevant and regionally impactful.
A key feature of the strengthened centre is the Young Professionals Program, providing emerging scholars with hands-on experience in live policy conversations. Investing in the next generation of regional thinkers is essential. The Young Professionals Program helps students and early-career researchers build the skills and networks needed to shape the region’s future.
Deputy Centre Lead Associate Professor Shyama Ratnasiri emphasised the importance of partnerships and co-creation.
Associate Professor Shyama Ratnasiri, Deputy Centre Lead.
“Griffith Asia Institute’s APEC Study Centre brings together universities, government agencies, and industry partners to co-create solutions. That collaborative spirit is the foundation of APEC, and it’s central to our mission.”
The APEC Study Centre website is now live, offering information on research priorities, partnerships, programs and upcoming opportunities.
Children from low-income groups were disproportionally disadvantaged by online testing, according to a new report from Griffith University which used data from the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).
Researchers found numeracy, spelling and reading subjects were most affected by the transition from paper testing to online testing.
Head of Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics Professor Alberto Posso said the shift to online testing may have worsened educational inequalities.
“Even modest score reductions can accumulate and compound disadvantage,” Professor Posso said.
“NAPLAN results can influence placement in selective programs or school applications.
“Lower test scores can put low-income students at risk of reduced opportunities and long-term inequalities.”
The study showed children in grade three and grade five had been disproportionately disadvantaged by the transition to online testing, and numeracy showed the largest decline.
Researchers analysed data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, covering 10,529 schools between 2008 and 2023.
Income records from the Australian Taxation Office were then correlated to examine the link between household income and school performance.
“Students in the lowest income group scored lower than their peers in the highest income group,” Professor Posso said.
“The results highlighted the need for targeted support for disadvantaged communities, such as equal access to digital resources and training for students, teachers, and parents.”
Saliva and plasma could be crucial in detecting recurrences or relapses of head and neck cancers, negating the need for a painful and invasive biopsy.
The research team from Griffith University’s Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics investigated whether small extracellular vesicles (small EVs) enriched with plasma and saliva could accurately reflect the molecular profile of a tumour from a head and neck cancer patient.
Head and neck cancers were a deadly form of cancer with medical professionals diagnosing about 900,000 new cases each year.
Professor Chamindie Punyadeera
Professor Chamindie Punyadeera said the team found a strong overlap in the protein cargo between tumour-derived small EVs and those isolated from plasma and saliva.
“More than 60 per cent of identified proteins were shared,” Professor Punyadeera said.
“This indicates biofluid small EVs carry many of the same molecular signatures as the tumour vesicles.”
In addition, several key proteins involved in tumour progression, immune modulation, and extracellular matrix remodeling were consistently detected across all sample types, reinforcing their potential biological and diagnostic importance.
These finding suggested non-invasive biofluids, such as plasma and saliva, could be used to monitor tumour biology and identify clinically relevant biomarkers without the need for direct tumour sampling.
Research Fellow Abolfazl Jangholi
First author, Research Fellow Abolfazl Jangholi, said this could transform how head and neck cancers were detected and monitored, thereby enabling earlier diagnosis, easier longitudinal monitoring, and personalised treatment decisions based on EV protein signatures.
“This study lays the groundwork for developing clinically applicable EV-based biomarker panels which can be used in routine diagnostic testing,” Mr Jangholi said.
“By investigating the functional roles of the overlapping proteins, we can uncover how these molecules contribute to tumour progression and metastasis.
“For the patient, this means a non-invasive alternative to tissue biopsies for cancer diagnosis and monitoring.”
Executive Director of the Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics, Professor Paul Clarke, said: “I am thrilled to see the results of Professor Punyadeera and Research Fellow Jangholi’s study.”
“Their work, at the core, aims to save lives and is a great representation of the translational research being done at the Institute to deliver real and immediate impacts in Australia, and around the world.”
Two Griffith Business School researchers say Aotearoa New Zealand is entering a pivotal moment in reimagining tourism, following a nine-day, 2,400-kilometre research trip across the South Island as part of the MBIE-funded project He karapitipitinga mariko – Immersive regenerative tourism experiences in Aotearoa.
Griffith PhD candidates Lisa Marie Loehr and Yue Liu joined research partners across four regions to explore how immersive technologies and local knowledge could help create more sustainable, community-led visitor experiences.
“We have to be brave enough to change the paradigm we’re working with,” Ms Loehr said.
“Tourism can no longer be about the relentless pursuit of growth — it must be about designing a system that strengthens communities, culture and the environment.”
Between 2024 and 2025, New Zealand welcomed an estimated 3.41 million international visitors, but the researchers say the post-pandemic landscape has accelerated calls for a “tourism reset”. Workshops with operators, iwi and community groups revealed strong enthusiasm for new models that blend in-person and virtual experiences while ensuring benefits stay local.
“Everywhere we went, people shared their aspirations for a regenerative tourism future,” Ms Liu said.
“What stood out was the importance of partnership — listening first, observing, and only then speaking. That approach is essential for designing solutions that genuinely reflect place-based needs.”
9 days, 5 locations, 4 workshops, and 1 great team
Within the MBIE research programme, the team began to build its collaboration with operators, iwi, communities and destination managers to reimagine South Westland tourism and co-create a regenerative future. Discussions focused on:
Co-creation: collaboration across agencies, iwi, communities, politics, visitors, academia and environmental capacities
Locally defined priorities: immersive technologies as tools for shaping tourist stewardship
Measurable outcomes: defining “regeneration” and metrics beyond economic outcomes
The first ‘Living Lab’ explored aspirations for a resilient, knowledge-intensive and low-carbon tourism system, providing a critical step for ongoing research.
A stay at Te Rau Aroha Marae in Bluff offered a powerful experience of manaakitanga, hosting the first ‘All-Team Meeting’ and reinforcing the central role of Māori worldviews in shaping regenerative models.The visit also provided significant professional insights. “Relationship-building, reflection and continuous engagement are crucial,” Ms Loehr said. “Data sovereignty and protecting local knowledge must sit at the centre of our work.”
Loehr and Liu will continue developing their research through a summer program at the University of Otago, strengthening their understanding of Māori knowledge systems before returning to work with communities on technology-supported regenerative tourism solutions.
As Ms Liu reflected, “Aotearoa showed us its full richness — from snowy peaks to glacier valleys to the warmth of shared kai. The experience has set a powerful foundation for long-term collaboration.”
Hei konā mai.
Griffith University has launched a landmark three-year research project in conjunction with Swimming Australia that aims to transform how Australia understands and engages with its swimming population.
A/Prof Popi Sotiriadou
Led by Associate Professor Popi Sotiriadou (Chief Investigator) with Dr Wayne Usher (Co-Investigator), the study is being delivered in close partnership with swimming’s national body Swimming Australia, marking one of the most significant collaborations between academia and a national sporting organisation in recent years.
Although swimming is Australia’s most participated-in sport, with more than 4.4 million people taking part, more than 90% of these swimmers fall outside traditional club structures.
This makes their motivations, behaviours, and barriers largely foreign to national policy, program design, and strategic planning. Under Popi’s leadership, this project takes a new approach to uncovering those stories and closing the gap between formal membership data and the lived reality of all our swimmers.
The study uses a phased, mixed-method design: large-scale demographic profiling in Year 1, qualitative exploration of lived experiences in Year 2, and real-world ethnographic observation in Year 3.
Together, these stages will generate the first comprehensive national picture of both member and non-member swimmers, enabling Swimming Australia to design more inclusive programs, strengthen participation pathways, and improve long-term retention.
This partnership reflects Swimming Australia’s commitment to becoming a more inclusive, data-driven, and community-connected organisation. It also showcases Griffith University’s leadership in sport management research and its ongoing contribution to national sport policy, water safety/education and community wellbeing.
Popi’s vision positions this project as a foundation for lasting, evidence-based change, ensuring every swimmer in Australia is seen, understood, and supported.
“We’re excited to partner with Griffith University to deepen our understanding of swimmers across the full participation spectrum. As Australians become more selective in their sport and physical activity choices, it’s essential that we truly understand our participants.”
CEO of Swimming Australia Rob Woodhouse.
Rob Woodhouse
Swimming Australia is eager to gain clearer insight into emerging and alternative ways people are engaging with swimming. “Working with a leading research institution like Griffith University gives us the confidence to share robust insights with our member organisations and the broader swimming community, ultimately strengthening the participant experience and supporting the health and wellbeing of all Australians,” Rob Woodhouse said.
“The data and knowledge generated through this project will underpin future work within the Swim Well Strategy and play a critical role in driving our current Sport Growth Action Plan.”
This project strengthens communities, creating healthier, safer, more connected Australians through one of our nation’s most important lifelong activities, and it cements Griffith University’s leadership in national sport and community research, driving evidence that will shape safer aquatic environments, stronger participation pathways, and healthier communities across Australia.
Griffith Business School has reaffirmed its position as a national research leader, with the latest edition of The Australian Research Magazine recognising the School as Australia’s leading institution in Marketing, Tourism & Hospitality, and Strategic Management.
The prestigious rankings highlight outstanding performance across the past five years, based on a methodology that considers top-tier research publications, citation impact and research volume. The School’s discipline of Marketing maintained the top national position having held it in 2022, 2024 and 2025, while Tourism & Hospitality secured the #1 spot for the second consecutive year. The School also celebrates #1 in Strategic Management, marking excellence in research shaping real-world business transformation.
Griffith Business School Dean (Research), Professor Christopher Fleming said the results speak to the depth and breadth of the research undertaken in pursuit of the School’s vision to create a more prosperous, equitable and sustainable future for all.
“These rankings recognise much more than academic output, they reflect research that empowers industry, informs policy and creates real social and economic outcomes. Behind every publication is a team of scholars, partners and PhD candidates working to solve the most pressing challenges facing business and society. I am immensely proud of our research community and the impact they are making nationally and globally.”
Australia’s top researcher in Marketing
Associate Professor Sara Thaichon
Among this year’s standout achievements, Associate Professor Sara Thaichon has been named Australia’s leading researcher in Marketing, acknowledging her pioneering work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, digital consumer relationships and ethical technology use.
Her current Australian Research Council-funded project investigates the influence of virtual influencers and AI-generated personas on young Australians, with a focus on wellbeing, self-image and digital literacy.
Speaking about her work, Associate Professor Thaichon said,
“We are living in an era where AI and digital platforms shape how people make decisions, connect with brands, and understand themselves. My goal is to ensure these technologies support wellbeing rather than compromise it. By collaborating with industry and policymakers, we can build responsible digital environments that protect users while enabling innovation.”
Tourism research enabling community transformation
The magazine also showcases the impact of the School’s tourism expertise, recognising the work of Associate Professor Brent Moyle, whose research focuses on sustainable economic development in regional and remote communities through tourism.
His projects have supported the establishment of culturally and environmentally significant tourism attractions across Australia.
About the rankings
The Australian Research Magazine 2026 identifies the nation’s top 250 researchers and top performing institutions, using publicly available data to evaluate excellence across eight years of publication and citation analysis. The ranking framework highlights areas of national significance and recognises exceptional pockets of capability that contribute to Australia’s research future.
In an Australian-first, researchers have been able to map inflammatory pathways and genetic signatures in Australian veterans who have been diagnosed with Gulf War Illness (GWI).
The study, led by Griffith University’s National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), uncovered immune gene activity, offering new insights, additional evidence and fresh hope for veterans.
GWI effects up to one-third of veterans deployed during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, with the illness causing debilitating symptoms such as chronic fatigue, pain, brain fog, and sleep disturbances.
Despite decades of research, the biological mechanisms of this condition remain elusive.
Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik
NCNED Director Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik said the research involved the use of cutting-edge NanoString transcriptomic technology to analyse the expression of immune-related genes in blood samples from Australians with GWI.
“Research into the pathomechanism of GWI is limited in Australian cohorts,” Professor Marshall-Gradisnik said.
“Ongoing research in this area is critical to improve health outcomes for many Australian veterans living with GWI.
“Our team is dedicated to using multidisciplinary and innovative technologies to enhance our understanding of GWI.”
Dr Natalie Eaton-Fitch
This novel study identified 33 significant gene changes pointing to chronic inflammation and immune activation perhaps decades after the exposures reported during the Gulf War.
First author, Dr Natalie Eaton-Fitch, said the findings marked a path forward for future research into biomarker identification and targeted treatment development.
“The study underscores the urgent need for large-scale investigations to validate potential biomarkers and explore therapeutic interventions,” Dr Eaton-Fitch said.
“With no current diagnostic test or approved treatment for GWI, this research offers additional breakthroughs in this area.”
About 170 years ago a large bundle of stone tools was deliberately buried close to a waterhole in the hard dirt of the remote outback.
Who buried them and for what purpose? Why were they never retrieved?
Archaeologists from Griffith University, who discovered the hoard, believe they are evidence of planning and trade by those that stashed them.
The research team spotted a handful of stones poking out of the soil in an area just north of the town of Boulia, Central West Queensland.
After investigating further, they discovered a pile of 60 large Aboriginal stone “tulas”, special flaked stone tools that were hafted onto a handle and used for woodworking.
‘Tulas’ were hafted onto a handle to form a useful woodworking implement
They were important tools, used across most of the continent to make objects such as boomerangs, wooden coolamon dishes, shields and clapsticks.
“This region’s climate is harsh.” Dr Perston said.
“Even while we were excavating, bushfires raged to the north, preventing some of the team from joining us.
Once we found the cache, we knew were in a race against time to recover the tools before they were washed away in the next flood”.
Excavating the cache
The team used scientific methods to analyse the tools, working closely with the Pitta Pitta, who hold Native Title for the area where the collection was found.
“Innovation and connection helped the Pitta Pitta people survive the region’s harsh climates.
If they could not find resources locally, they bartered along vast trade routes.
It’s possible this cache was a bundle of specially-made artefacts that were intended for trading.” Dr Perston proposed.
The team attempted to figure out when, how and possibly why these tulas were buried.
Quartz grains in the soil can be dated using a method called optically stimulated luminescence, or OSL.
This technique uses decay rates in quartz to calculate when the grains were last exposed to sunlight.
Using this method meant the team had to collect samples from the centre of the cache on a dark and moonless night.
Dating revealed a 95% probability the tulas were buried sometime between 1793 and 1913.
The nearby town of Boulia was established around 1879, and the Burke River police camp operated from 1878 to 1886.
“We think the Pitta Pitta ancestors were likely planning to trade the tools in these caches when the time came, but for some reason never retrieved them.” said Dr Perston.
“One possible reason for this may be due to disruption caused by European arrival – but the dates aren’t precise enough to be sure.
“What we can say, is that this cache reveals how planning, resource management and collective cooperation allowed Aboriginal people to not only survive, but thrive, in this harsh environment.”
