Why You Need Foresight as a Leader

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁? One word: 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. I still remember my teacher’s booming voice in the classroom. Whenever he was dissatisfied with an answer, he’d stop, look at us, and demand: "What distinguishes humans from most other living beings?" Before anyone could respond, he’d shout: "𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻!" At the time, I didn’t fully grasp what he meant. But as my career unfolded, I realized he was right. The ability to 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲, 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲—this is what separates 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 from the rest. In business, too many leaders focus on explaining 𝘄𝗵𝘆 something happened. The best leaders focus on 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁—and act before the shift is obvious. 💡 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲: 🔹 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 – History repeats itself. Recognizing trends early allows for proactive decision-making. 🔹 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 “𝗪𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀” – 𝗔𝘀𝗸 "𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳?" – Listen for early warning signs. Play out different scenarios before they unfold. 🔹 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 – 𝗕𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 – The best leaders don’t just focus on today; they scan the environment for potential disruptions. 🔹 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 – 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 – By the time a crisis hits, your options are limited. The best time to act is before the pressure kicks in. The leaders who thrive aren’t just those who react quickly. They are the ones who 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿. 🔍 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲? Let’s discuss.👇 #Leadership #Anticipation #StrategicThinking #Success #LeadingToThrive

𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬. When I was working with the senior vice president of a Fortune 100 firm recently, she predicted several things the competition was going to do. It was as if she had a crystal ball. But this is not unusual. All the successful leaders I have interviewed and worked with have an uncanny knack for seeing patterns. This ability allows them to have foresight and anticipate trends before others do. The question is, how do they do that? Here's how to "see the future:" 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Great leaders practice anticipating. For example, they plan before every event, playing out possible events in their mind's eye. This allows them to be ready for almost anything. Warren Bennis, the father of modern-day leadership, said we need not “accept things as they are, but rather anticipate things as they can be.” 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 When I played in chess tournaments, I learned to think, “If I move here, he'll move there; I will capture his rook, and he will take my bishop.” But I had to do this for 20 variations, each with 20 or more moves ahead. Chess masters can do this in seconds. The chess player anticipates her opponent's moves and instantly knows what they will do next. It is quite a skill and takes years of practice and study. You can develop it using the "What if" model of thinking. All great leaders ask "What if?" What if this occurs? What will I do? Put the "What if" model into practice before each meeting or event. Great leaders have plans for every eventuality. And they do this by asking, "What if?" 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐔𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝'𝐬 𝐄𝐲𝐞 Similar to playing chess at the master level, great generals have the ability to see events unfold in their minds. Historians said that Napoleon was able to win battles in his tent. He could see the battle unfold in his mind's eye and anticipate the enemy’s moves before the battle. Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." 𝐏𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 Life has its patterns if you pay attention. Life repeats the lessons we don’t learn. You can spot the key elements of patterns by paying attention. It's like watching car brake lights in front of you--you know you are about to have to apply the brakes. Remember the immortal words of Grace Hopper, "A good leader is not the one who knows the future but the one who knows where to look for clues." Your partner in success, Joe Murphy ♻️ Cool to repost ________________ THE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY - 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒔 Over 600 worldwide sessions | Over 45,000 attendees | 4.9/5 Sat Score _________________ 📽 New leadership training videos released Mon-Fri at 5 PM ET 🔔 For new leadership articles, tap the bell on my profile #LeadersatAllLevels #GrowthMindset #TheLeadershipAcademy 

What's the one thing that separates lasting success from short-lived hype? Long-term thinking. Since 2021, I've spoken with hundreds of intelligent, successful strategy, innovation and growth leaders about the risks of just focusing on the present. "I don't have time to think about the future because I need to focus on my yearly roadmap" is the common refrain. But perhaps there's more going on here. It could be the reluctance to try something new. Or not wanting to look stupid or be embarrassed by making incorrect predictions. Or not wanting to admit that you don't know the answer. This is fear and ego getting in the way. Rest assured that foresight is about preparation, not predictions. Nobody can predict the future. Here are 5️⃣ data points to hopefully spur some action: 1️⃣ 75% of companies are not prepared for the pace of change in and around their industry. 2️⃣ Nearly 40% of CEOs don’t think their companies will be economically viable a decade from now if they continue on their current path and do not transform. 3️⃣ Only 6% of executives are completely confident in their company’s ability to foresee and respond to future disruption. 4️⃣ Companies with a dedicated foresight methodology and resources are 33% more profitable and achieve a 200% higher growth rate than the average company that doesn't. 5️⃣ While you can make money off a declining business model for years, data shows that once a company runs up against a major stall in its growth, it has less than a 10% chance of ever fully recovering. This is a wake-up call, pushing us to deeply rethink how we operate, and how we approach building and growing companies. It should propel us to reimagine how we create, distribute and capture value—not only to thrive in our own companies but to address the transformational challenges of the coming decades. Spending time in the future solves a very immediate pain: how to make better plans and decisions today. This isn't a nice-to-have or a vitamin (though it does provide long-term benefits). It's a must-do. Foresight could very well be the cure to what ails our companies, with the power to stop the waste of finite things like time, money and human potential. Right now every company, no matter your size or industry, should explore the future. What do you think? Is the intentional act of spending time in the future a vitamin, painkiller or cure? Let everyone know in a comment. 👇🏻 cc Julian Bleecker #foresight #futuresthinking #innovation #strategy #growth