What could you do to enrich your point of view about the future?

Photo by Ethan Hoover on Unsplash

If you are a game-changing leader, you will show up with a point of view about the future. Maybe it’s technology led strategic transformation, team performance or customer experience. It could be specific to the future of your industry or more broadly about your profession. But how do you develop a point of view about the future that solves a problem in the market place and makes you the ‘go to’ person on the topic?

Your starting point could be the past. You have lived through the consequences of things not working properly and you know that there just has to be a better way. Your point of view could also be shaped by your analysis of future trends. You have read everything you can find on your hot topic and listened to your favourite podcasts.

Market testing your point of view with other people will enrich it. They each have their own unique perspective and a piece of gold to offer. You will develop a point of view that is expanded by their collective insights.

It has the advantage that you become known as the go-to person on the topic. Frances had a point of view there had to be a better way to handle systems integration after a merger or regorganisation. She had been on the receiving end of several disastrous examples.She interviewed people in the market to see what she could learn from their mistakes and successes. She gained a depth of understanding that made her the go-to person on the topic. Her successful solutions led to her being headhunted for a senior executive role; more recently she has been appointed to a prestigious board.

The point is that there are many possible futures. Strategic thinker Mark Chussil believes we narrow our decision-making frame when we believe we know what the future will look like. It leads to asking the question: “What should we do?” He suggests that we broaden our decision-making frame when we consider multiple futures, with shifts and disruptions in our environment interacting with shifts and disruptions we can introduce. We can ask this illuminating question: “What could we do?”

What could you do to enrich your point of view about the future?

Best regards, Brian

I’m excited to release my new book – Leadership Is Changing the Game – The Transition from Technical Expert to Leader. 
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