Leadership Tip of the Week: Foresight

Uber is now a public company. The organization has had their trials and tribulations, but they have been largely responsible for successfully disrupting the taxi service industry. Their meteoric growth should serve as a warning to other industries who fail to innovate.

Leaders are challenged to pay attention to technology and make sure their organizations are keeping up with the latest innovations and emerging technologies. Those who don’t are at risk of becoming obsolete or challenged like the taxi services. Companies that are slow to innovate may give other organizations an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage.

That is why leaders need foresight, which is the ability to anticipate the future environment and use that knowledge to achieve the best outcome for their team.

Keys to developing foresight:

• Expand your knowledge base – Continuous learning is extremely critical, and leaders should spend time learning about things that are outside of their industry.
• Never stop improving – Leaders don’t have time to ‘get comfortable.’ They need to be constantly looking for ways to improve their organizations.
• Network – If leaders can’t develop their own foresight, they need to connect with people who can. Networking with leaders in other industries may help leaders identify new opportunities.

No industry is safe from disruptive technologies. Leaders need to make sure they use foresight to stay at the forefront of their industries.