Looking Ahead is Leadership

Nowadays, positive cases are cause for alarm. But not for exemplary leaders who emerged with positive scores in this tough test of leadership. These are the people who had the gumption to prepare themselves and their companies for exigencies. In an unpredictable world, looking ahead is a vital facet of able leadership.

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others,” said Jonathan Swift. Unanimously, everyone agrees that a good leader must have an inherent future-oriented perspective and the ability to persuade his teams to believe in it. Yet it is not easy to paint that compelling picture of tomorrow and infuse it into the daily operations of managing the business. In most leaders, visionary capabilities lose out to short-term, operational responsibilities. It is nothing short of an art to maintain an even keel.

Vision may be inborn, as is generally perceived, but honing it in is necessary. All it takes is mind set and inclination to imbibe two fundamental practices. First, it is imperative to identify competence and scan horizons to grasp what’s happening on macro levels. Second, it is important to fine-tune your knack to connect the dots to understand dynamics that may affect the business.

The habit of early noticing is the key to looking ahead. This then slowly develops into proficiency at separating the wheat from the chaff. Eventually, this translates into finding coherent patterns in market dynamics and recognising potential disruptions that may appear on the periphery. The final phase in this journey is to arrive at the big picture, and take decisions that challenge comfort zones, encourage innovation, and formulate strategies to inspire and set direction.

Today, it is not whether foresight should be the tool of good leaders, but how to hone aptitudes to make foresight an effective ally in steering businesses. My father Dr. Surinder Kapur always said, “Remember the future and imagine the past. Focus on where you want to be, and keep that top of mind. The past is over, so imagine it any way you want to.” It is a lesson COVID-19 pandemic has reiterated and reinforced the hard way.