Leadership qualities tend to be ubiquitous. That’s why we look back through history at the remarkable people who led successful businesses, governments, and social initiatives. Consequently the thinking goes that if we had the foresight skill and were able to emulate these pioneers, we would be successful leaders.
Throughout history, the world has never witnessed the fluctuations, complexities, and transformations we see today. Similarly the first technological steps took tens or even hundreds of years to appear.
While at present, technological and paradigm changes and transformations occur within only a few years. And some of them sometimes do not exceed one year.
We must also note that the rapidly accelerating developments and the magnitude of change are not limited to technology only. For example, unprecedented transformations in high-tech industries, education and its methods, climate change and environment. And many other areas are changing the nature of business and daily life in every region of the world.
“Today’s leader has requirements and needs to understand the nature and impact of change more and more than the previous pioneers who left their mark in history.”
Let’s go back to research and studies on essential leadership skills. We will find many outstanding and proven qualities, such as honesty, delegation, cooperation, empathy, inspiration, confidence, and many more. However, these studies and research and their findings occurred when governments, industries, organizations, societies, and individuals were more aligned. If we look from many ways, today’s leader has no precedent or standard of skills that will help him succeed. Because of the developments and changes that our world is witnessing today, which differ significantly from what it was in the past.
With ups and downs affecting every aspect of our lives and our organizations, we must address these aspects in the 21st century. Thus, “Foresight” is considered the essential leadership skill. As it is the ability to manage effectively, harness, and benefit from the continuous change around us.
In addition, foresight is “the ability to create and maintain a high-quality, coherent, and pragmatic vision for the future. And to use emerging ideas in beneficial organizational ways”. In other words, foresight is a way of examining and verifying the paths the future may take, using qualitative and quantitative measures. And then using the insights gained from this analysis to navigate our uncertain and changing world.
Foresight skill is important and necessary for today’s leaders. As it enables them to read signals, see trends, test assumptions. And deal with them with high professionalism and outstanding performance.
Success in the twenty-first century means being constantly adaptive and transformative. As a result Foresight helps us move from reactive change to a proactive transformation. Next it shows us where our organization is heading and how to successfully bring it to safety and achieve its goals and strategies.
There are three ways we can begin to learn the skill of foresight:
1. Inquire and verify your assumptions and positions
- Make a conscious effort to notice your situations
- Inquire about your instinctive reaction to the news, ideas, information, and people
- Learn from yourself, and examine the barriers you naturally set
- What might you be missing?
- What other perspective can you imagine?
- Talk to others and learn from their attitudes as well!
2. Discover ideas and innovations
As a distinguished leader, you are already looking for news and information that may affect your business, but this is not enough:
- Look outside your field of work to discover ideas and innovations that may disrupt your organization or provide an excellent opportunity for it.
- Expand your culture and readings in areas unrelated to your field.
- Connect with people who focus on topics different from your usual interest.
3. Be proactive
The next natural step to learning and exploring other fields and increasing culture outside your area is to use your imagination:
- Challenge yourself to think about the proactive effects of ideas, innovations, and events.
- Analyze the information through its intersection and contrast. And connect it to show you a new proper creative image.
- Treat any sound idea about the future, grab it, and hope for it. No matter how meaningless it seems to you, or it may be ridiculous in the eyes of many.
“If you’re afraid to let your mind think and get creative, you’ll never find yourself on top.”
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