What single quality differentiates high-potential leaders from ordinary contributors in an organization?
It’s their ability to be forward-looking and focus on the future. To become a better leader or distinguish yourself as someone primed for promotion, you’ll want to develop your capacity to envision the future.
Focusing on the future sets leaders apart. The capacity to imagine and articulate exciting future possibilities is a defining competency — perhaps the most important one, next to honesty.
Leaders must be able to answer the question, “Where are we going?” We look to our leaders to envision a future, figure out where the organization must go to succeed, evaluate ideas for pragmatism and determine if they fit the company’s core mission. Leaders focus on how people, money, resources and organizational capabilities will work together to move from the present to a desired future.
Top executives estimate they spend only about 3 percent of their time thinking about, and getting others on board with, the critical issues that will shape their business 10 or more years down the road. It’s simply not enough time.
To become a better leader, your thinking must be future-oriented. You’ll need to become intensely curious about trends, both inside and outside your organization’s field. You’ll need a systematic way of staying informed and tracking changes.
This article summarizes three ways to become more forward-looking and develop your talents as a future-focused leader.
_______________________
This is a brief synopsis of an 1600 & 900-word article suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.
The complete 1600-word article includes these important concepts:
- What People Want from Leaders
- How Far Can You See?
- How to Develop Future Focus
- Sparking Energy for What Really Matters
- 3 Ways to Grow Your Future-Focus
- Insight: Explore Your Past
- Outsight: Imagine the Possibilities
- Foresight: Survival of the Optimists
- You Can See Forever
_____________________________________________________
If you are a Content for Coaches client and your account is current, no need to order. Send me an email to confirm that you wish to use this article for your next newsletter.
All others please use the order links below.
Order Links to purchase this article:
a. Text, 1600-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $79 –
Focus on the Future: How to Be More Forward-Looking - 1600-word article, reprint rights
b. Text,900-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $57 –
Focus on the Future: How to Be More Forward-Looking – 900-word article, reprint rights
c. 5 Article Nuggets, a series of blog-style content with Full Reprint Rights, $89 -
Focus on the Future: How to Be More Forward-Looking - 5 Article Nuggets, blog-style,
first-person pronoun, links
Why do we admire celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer and Bill Clinton?
They make you feel like you’re the most important person in the room.
They excel at listening—a skill that separates great personalities from the near-great. (photo courtesy Michal Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
When you meet Clinton for the first time, he says something positive to acknowledge you. His listening skills are laser-focused on the person he’s with. We spend 80 percent of our waking time on four communications tasks:
- Reading
- Writing
- Speaking
- Listening
While listening accounts for 50 percent of our communications, we pay little attention to this important process and tend to take it for granted. We erroneously assume that listening is a passive activity and that everyone knows how to listen.
In fact, most of us find it hard to maintain the prolonged concentration required for truly effective listening. To be a good listener, you need to adopt proactive habits.
This article provides suggestions on how to become a better listener.
__________________________________________________________
This is a brief synopsis of an 800-word article and Article Nuggets,*suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.
The complete article includes these important concepts:
- Listening, but Not Hearing
- Why Don’t We Listen?
- Test Your Listening Skills
- 9 Keys to Better Listening
_________________________________________
If you are a Content for Coaches client and your account is current, no need to order. Send me an email to confirm that you wish to use this article for your next newsletter.
All others please use the order links below.
Order Links to purchase this article:
1. Be A Better Listener, 800-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $57 –
2. Be A Better Listener, 3 Article Nuggets* with Full Reprint Rights, $64 –
*Article Nuggets: The same article broken up into 3 blog-style sections suitable for a series of blog posts or shorter newsletter articles.
