TOP CHALLENGES FOR FUTURE LEADERS

Interesting and insightful read, to keep yourself on top of the game!

WHAT FUTURISTIC LEADERS THINK AND DO?

"Futuristic leaders ACHIEVE results because they truly BELIEVE a different future is possible. They CHANGE their own and their organiza­tion's behavior, habits, and culture, in order to obtain their collective DREAM.

Futuristic leaders fully EXPECT to reach their goal -- and also fully "expect the unexpected" along the way -- because they unswervingly FOCUS on that goal.

Aware that reaching the future requires that they and their organizations GROW -- both mentally and spiritually -- futuristic leaders HEAR things: they listen intently for clues and pieces of vital information that will guide them in that growth.

Futuristic leaders vividly IMAGINE what the future will be like, what needs to change to get there, and how the charted course might need to vary along the route.

They JUSTIFY their mission, not only based on profitable returns, but in the proper ethics and values that will bring it to fruition.

Futuristic leaders KNOW both what they know and what they don't know, and what more they and their teams will still need to know in the future. They const­antly LEARN, day by day, decision by decision, as they move forward.

Futuristic leaders MOTIVATE themselves, and inspire those around them to do the same, to adventurously NAVIGATE previously uncharted territory. They ORGANIZE and optimize every available capacity and resource to help them PERSEVERE until every part of the mission is accomplished.

Futuristic leaders always QUESTION their advisors, their information, and themselves. Then they can best RESPOND to challenges and opport­unities in ways that STRATEGIZE the most responsible and best possible future outcomes.

Futuristic leaders TEACH everything they know to the highest-qualified teams of individuals. They UPLIFT them to VISUALIZE and drive towards their collective future.

As well, in today's "webolutionary" Internet Age, futuristic leaders encourage their teams to literally WEBIFY their organizations into value-creating networks, or "biznets."

Futuristic leaders also XEROGRAPH themselves: they "clone" or duplicate their own abilities and processes in others, to ensure ongoing growth and continuity through yet another generation of futuristic leaders.

Finally, futuristic leaders repeatedly YIELD consistent and spectacular results, and ZOOM their organizations speedily to ever-succeeding peaks of success."

~ Dr Frank Feather, futurist and asuthor of Futuristic Leadership A-Z';

[What I have liked most about the foregoing wonderful (though belated) book was the author's ingenuity of using the whole alphabet system to illustrate twenty six key action steps to help one prepare for the future. 'To prepare' means to 'see' & 'map' the future.

The author also wrote the earlier fascinating book during the late eighties, entitled 'G-Forces: The 35 Global Forces Restructuring Our Future'..]

EMBRACING TOMORROW'S WORLD WITH 5 MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS

I have stumbled upon an interesting article, entitled 'Leadership Principles to Live By During Times of Change', by executive coach Bea Fields, also co-author of 'EDGE: A Leadership Story', in AppleProductsRock.com.

Here are my quick takeaways of her timely exposition:

1. Radical Innovation

Is your business or organization really designed for innovation? Are you sure?...

... If your business or company is truly an innovative one, your doors will be open for debate, and your culture will be designed to make it psychologically safe for both employees and customers to voice not only their suggestions, dreams and goals but their concerns, complaints and frustrations.

2. Intellectual Horsepower

... Intellectual horsepower includes not only IQ (many people believe that an IQ of 130 is needed today to be a top player) but includes transferable skills, the ability to understand and break a complex situation into logical steps and being super sharp, agile and a quick study.

Intellectual horsepower also includes being able to embrace paradox and ambiguity and being adept at functioning effectively in the midst of opposing ideas or forces...

3. Employee Development

... As a leader, your job is to build a true learning organization, one which provides your employees with ongoing customized training and coaching so that they can step in and run your company at a moment’s notice...

4. Strategic Agility

... By fine tuning your strategic thinking, you will be able to anticipate future consequences and trends, create competitive breakthroughs and paint a vision of what your company will look like tomorrow (which always infuses a sense of inspiration and optimism into a company).

One of the best ways to strengthen strategic agility is to move your team from working on details to a place of curiosity and imagination.

5. Technological Savvy

... I believe that Generation Y holds the key to your ability to build a tech savvy organization, so don’t discount what they can bring to your company. They are our future, and it’s time to start welcoming them and allowing them to teach us what they know so that we can leverage their knowledge for our future success.

Generation Y will provide you with a terrific opportunity to deliberately develop out your company’s capabilities, so embrace them, learn from them, develop them and lead them. You will set the tone for generations to come that you respect young, eager, creative minds.

Readers can go to this link to read the original article in its entirety.

[Readers looking for a foundational understanding - plus, tactical approaches - of the five most important skills as outlined by the foregoing author can go & peruse the following books by Dilip Mukerjea:

~ 'Surfing the Intellect: Building Intellectual Capital in a Knowledge Economy';

~ 'Unleashing Genius with the World's Most Powerful Learning Systems';

- 'Brain Symphony: Brain-blazing Practical Techniques in Creativity for Immediate Application';]

WHAT FUTURISTS BELIEVE

"Futuristic leaders ACHIEVE results because they truly BELIEVE a different future is possible. They CHANGE their own and their organiza­tion's behavior, habits, and culture, in order to obtain their collective DREAM.

Futuristic leaders fully EXPECT to reach their goal -- and also fully "expect the unexpected" along the way -- because they unswervingly FOCUS on that goal.

Aware that reaching the future requires that they and their organizations GROW -- both mentally and spiritually -- futuristic leaders HEAR things: they listen intently for clues and pieces of vital information that will guide them in that growth.

Futuristic leaders vividly IMAGINE what the future will be like, what needs to change to get there, and how the charted course might need to vary along the route.

They JUSTIFY their mission, not only based on profitable returns, but in the proper ethics and values that will bring it to fruition.

Futuristic leaders KNOW both what they know and what they don't know, and what more they and their teams will still need to know in the future. They const­antly LEARN, day by day, decision by decision, as they move forward.

Futuristic leaders MOTIVATE themselves, and inspire those around them to do the same, to adventurously NAVIGATE previously uncharted territory. They ORGANIZE and optimize every available capacity and resource to help them PERSEVERE until every part of the mission is accomplished.

Futuristic leaders always QUESTION their advisors, their information, and themselves. Then they can best RESPOND to challenges and opport­unities in ways that STRATEGIZE the most responsible and best possible future outcomes.

Futuristic leaders TEACH everything they know to the highest-qualified teams of individuals. They UPLIFT them to VISUALIZE and drive towards their collective future.

As well, in today's "webolutionary" Internet Age, futuristic leaders encourage their teams to literally WEBIFY their organizations into value-creating networks, or "biznets."

Futuristic leaders also XEROGRAPH themselves: they "clone" or duplicate their own abilities and processes in others, to ensure ongoing growth and continuity through yet another generation of futuristic leaders.

Finally, futuristic leaders repeatedly YIELD consistent and spectacular results, and ZOOM their organizations speedily to ever-succeeding peaks of success."

~ Dr Frank Feather, 'Futuristic Leadership A-Z';

[What I have liked most about the foregoing wonderful book was the author's ingenuity of using the whole alphabet system to illustrate twenty six key action steps to help one prepare for the future. 'To prepare' means to 'see' & 'map' the future.

The author also wrote the earlier fascinating book during the late eighties, entitled 'G-Forces: The 35 Global Forces Restructuring Our Future'.]