What enables great business leaders to detect signals that their industry, or perhaps the entire world, is about to change? How are they able to place their business in a position to capitalise on that change?
It boils down to visionary capacity. Leaders who lack it often guide their businesses to obsolescence and failure. The rare leaders who cultivate a strong vision have disrupted industries, created new ones, and remade the world.
In "Anticipate: The Art of Leading By Looking Ahead," strategy and leadership expert Rob-Jan de Jong draws on extensive research offering practical guidance and concrete techniques to help any leader become more visionary.
The presence of a vision positively correlates with the perception of a helpful sense of direction. It turns out that even in down-to-earth places, the Vision Thing is useful.
The guidance and inspiration that a vision provides doesn't just affect people directly (followers who are aware of the vision), but also indirectly affects people (customers who are unaware of the presence of a particular leadership vision). The results seem to indicate that the Vision Thing - when done right - leads to happier employees and happier customers, and thereby undoubtedly has a positive effect on the bottom line.
As a leader, the importance of you in your vision cannot be underestimated. As a leader, you play a critical role in making your vision powerful through the way you show up, the way you behave, and the way you accept the consequences of your words.
The values you live by and emanate are part of your story already. They must also become part of your identity as a leader.
Reference: Rob-Jan de Jong: ‘Anticipate: The Art of Leading by Looking Ahead’
