Forward Thinking

Imagine getting into a sailboat and just going with the wind. How will you know when you get there? Heck, you don’t even know where there is. Where is this company going? What does it want to be when it grows up? What is its purpose? Create, communicate and get buy-in to a vision and get the entire team rowing your sailboat in the same direction. Focus on executing that vision, use this as a lens in which to evaluate strategic shifts. Now take the entire team in your ship and heading towards your planned goal. Are you getting closer? Are you proceeding to plan? Should you make a course change? Having a destination is critical to executing, tracking progress and managing the crew. You cannot focus on a goal and the progress you have made towards achieving that goal if you do not have a goal.
Every organization would love to have a clear view of the future. This would help companies to plan on investment, take advantage of emerging markets, opportunities and to protect companies in advance from economic and market downturns. One of the important leadership mindsets is forward thinking and an orientation to outcomes. We would not generally consider setting out on a road without a destination and we certainly would not do it time and time again. Beginning with the end in mind can be a launching point for pathways to successful leadership. Practicing and orienting towards an outcome means to create end results, final outcomes and desired values as a result of sustained action that follows a vision. This is transforming a dream into reality.

A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others see." -Leroy Eime

According to the above quote, we can say that leadership and forward thinking are mutually inclusive. Great leaders are indeed forward thinkers who examine the past and the present and then look down the road ahead armed with the best knowledge and insight possible. They willingly lead first