Are You Ready to Lead? Future Orientation
Future Orientation
Managers execute, leaders direct. Leaders address immediate organizational needs while simultaneously looking beyond the bounds of the organization to identify future needs that will allow for continuous growth and profitability.
Once identifying the future needs, leaders act. Leaders understand that doing the right thing is more important than doing it right. Efficiency may refine the process/change, but what is required must be done first. In other words, first effectiveness and then efficiency.
“Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge are essential resources, but only effectiveness converts them into results. By themselves, they only set limits to what can be attained. To be reasonably effective it is not enough for the individual to be intelligent, to work hard, or to be knowledgeable. Effectiveness is something separate, something different. But to be effective also does not require special gifts, special aptitude, or special training. Practice effectiveness until it becomes a habit. Effectiveness can be learned — and it also has to be learned.” — Peter Drucker
Future oriented forward-thinking guides how leaders think and act — deciding the new initiatives to launch, identifying the projects that aren’t generating value and must be terminated, cultivating ideas that require a new strategy to execute, discovering the challenges that must be addressed with creativity and innovation, resolving conflicts that need to be dealt with now before they are too difficult to handle, and making decisions that require a fresh perspective.
Equally important, leaders must continuously evaluate if the corporate organizational structure is optimal to scale, and consequently, what skillset and type of people are required to ensure the company operates effectively in the future.
Ask yourself: Do I Lead with a future orientation: How do you use your strategic thinking skills to identify new initiatives that will determine the future of your organization? How do you contribute to hiring and organizational structural planning?