Preparing for the Future: Lead, Don’t Panic

Preparing for the future is like packing a bag for a trip without knowing where you are going, what the weather or terrain will be like at the location, or even how long the trip will be. Should you pack gloves and a warm coat for Alaska? Or flip flops and Bermuda shorts for the Caribbean?

For leaders, preparing for the future means staying ahead of change and adapting to uncertainty. It is not optional but crucial, and panicking is not an option.

The reality is that the speed of change is accelerating today. It is generally driven by global inflection events such as social unrest, deadly pandemics, crippling wars, technological advancements, and political changes.

Often, it seems like the future arrives before we can even blink – ready or not. And like a newborn baby, it comes kicking and screaming without an instruction manual. However, we are not totally helpless. Before the future arrives, we should leverage a good dose of prayer and preparation.

Prudent leaders don’t wait for the future to get here. They create the future and prepare for the challenges that will eventually come.

Importance of Preparing for the Future

Would you go on a cross-country drive without making sure there is gas in your tank and air in your tires? Let me take a wild guess: “No.” Similarly, preparation for the future is important to leaders. Ensure you are giving this the right priority and that it’s not in your leadership blind spot.

The future brings the challenges of uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity. However, leaders are responsible for providing clarity and guidance to those who follow them through these challenges.

Poor planning or lack of preparation will lead to chaos, like me ending up in Alaska wearing Bermuda shorts and flip flops; not practical.

Preparing for the Future

There are several things we can do to prepare for what’s to come. Of course, step number one is a good dose of prayer. As Christ-centered leaders, prayer is our number one source. Now, considering “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26), we also need to take action. Here are some great nuggets to start.

Growth mindset.  Acknowledging the uncertainty of the future and developing a deep desire to grow with new experiences. Take time to study the business trends and the changing landscape for new customer demands.

When we lead by example, we will foster a learning environment among those we influence.  

Strategy. Be more intentional in future-proofing our plans to handle the fast-paced world. That means first, take time to consider the current environment and understand the associated developing trends.

Next, discern what’s likely to come in the future and ensure our plans are robust enough to handle any negative impacts.

Agility. Changes will be faster and more dramatic than expected, which dictates that we need to be more agile. That is the ability to navigate through uncertainty, and pivot quickly to a new and different direction if needed.

The more prepared we are, the less likely we are to be stunned or panicked by unexpected and undesired shifts in our situations.

According to futurist and author Alvin Toffler, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn”—which is a fancy way of saying, “Keep up or get left behind.”

Capability. Develop the appropriate skills to be relevant in the future. We are currently in a digital era. It may be cute to joke that our 7-year-old can teach us a thing or two about computers. However, not being able or willing to learn how to leverage emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no laughing matter as a leader.

AI will leave us behind if we don’t pay attention now.

Resilience. There may be nothing new under the sun, but our experiences are developed by confronting challenges like we’ve never seen before. For example, the words “pandemic” and “dis-information” were never in my vocabulary, nor were they huddles to overcome ten years ago. But they brought new challenges to overcome to get to my recent goals.

We need a different level of resilience today than in the past. The current and increasingly arriving hurdles are new and different.

We must be skilled in seeing new challenges as opportunities for growth and success.

Self-care. It can be challenging to take care of our body, soul, and spirit. For some of us, it’s easier to lie in bed than to wake up at the crack of dawn to exercise.

Finding time to mentally decompress and recharge seems fleeting. That’s because we are constantly furnished with an ample supply of negative mental and physical stressors.

Preparation for the future includes increasing our value of self-care and designing it into our personal and organizational work processes.

Succession Planning. The importance of planning for succession goes beyond having functional continuity. Our job is to prepare future leaders to carry the baton, which includes our legacy.

Change brings good characters as well as the other characters.  Considering how easy it can be to destroy a legacy, we can increase the probability of sustained business success and maintaining a lasting legacy by grooming and sponsoring the right successors.

Leaders may not know the future, but preparation ensures readiness for any scenario.  The future is uncertain. However, prudent leaders prepare for it by ensuring they and those they influence are ready.

Preparation is intentional. It begins now, and with ourselves.

Preparation involves taking simple steps to intentionally ensure our plans are robust to handle future changes, develop our skills and capabilities to leverage emerging technologies, be able to mentally pivot quickly, and be legacy-focused.

We cannot predict what the future brings, but we can prepare for what’s to come.

Empowered Leader Reflection

What one thing are you doing to prepare for the new normal of the future?

If this resonates with you, please share your thoughts with us below.