The economic and business environment is so unpredictable due to forces and variables at play, that one is often faced with opportunities and challenges when least expected.
Managers may be caught unawares and therefore either miss an opportunity that would have made a difference to the company or go into reactive mode to address the difficulties that the market presents at short notice.
While general managers and managers need to deliver effectively today, they must have their eyes firmly set on the future. They cannot limit themselves to their immediate operation, company or niche market, but be au courant with wider implications to their business and corresponding markets. This is where we talk about leadership as opposed to management.
One of the secrets behind successful leadership lies in thinking ahead – seeing things others have not even started to think about, capitalising on oppor-tunities, even dreaming of new paradigms.
Successful leaders are those who know their market well and are able to manage effectively but, above all, can anticipate the future, sense upcoming changes, prepare for change and capitalise on it. Sometimes this includes creating one’s own future.
Good leaders think about the future but act today. For these leaders, change is as constant as their daily meal and as obvious as the air they breathe. Through experience, the future becomes their natural bedfellow, almost a companion for life.
Leaders become confident in their daily decisions, are able to inspire others because they know where they are heading, and are able to build momentum as they do not go round in circles.
In Future, Engage, Deliver: The Essential Guide to your Leadership, Steve Radcliffe says: “Powerful and effective leaders are guided by the future that they want.
Radcliffe also says that those leaders who are often caught up in an immediate, momentary and urgent situation will never manage to take their teams further than where they are now.
Leaders cannot take employees to places they do not know about themselves. How often have we recruited people in top positions and have not taken care to sit with them and explain the strategy of the organisation, the challenges it faces and how it is tackling these issues?
How can one create coherence, common vision and focus unless leaders in an organisation are as familiar with the strategy as they are with the back of their palms.
This is because visions excite people by appealing to their emotions. Therefore, this encourages them to contribute their best. However, visions also need to be accompanied by credibility in order to be believable and effective.
When leaders have a strong relationship with the future and also carry a credible track record, inevitably they exert a huge impact on others. They energise people to go faster, higher and stronger both in output and creativity. These leaders are able to offer hope and a renewed sense of meaning to the work their employees carry out.
Having said this, no one is immune to disappointments, sometimes even failures. However, what keeps these leaders going during difficult and challenging times is their credibility and that people know that they care.
The Radisson credo says no one is interested in how intelligent leaders are, but that they care. Radcliffe adds: “Leading is a natural human activity that is part of all of us.
“You don’t need a certain IQ or job title to be a leader. However, there is something you do need. You need to be up to something. That is, you need to have an ambition or dream or goal for your team, organisation, colleagues or yourself and it’s got to matter to you.”
To conclude one can argue that if anyone wants to be a leader, they need to get in touch and sit comfortably with the future. They also need to do the right things and build credibility but also feel passionate about what they do and who they lead.
Maybe a tall order, but it is all part of the job description.
Mr Gerada is chief executive officer, Foundation for Human Resources Development.