I and others have long understood something about leadership: A traditional leader is someone with the ability to inspire and motivate others in their business or organization.

A leader is someone who exemplifies honesty, integrity, and responsibility in every action they take, but it is more than that. Being a leader is also about taking the correct actions at the correct time.

While acting with integrity is a huge facet of business leadership (and leadership of any other kind), it is the decision-making capabilities of those in charge that can make or break an organization, especially now.

Before we go any further, I want to be specific about one thing: mistakes. Leaders are human, and I am not saying you cannot make mistakes. Failure is a part of life and an integral part of being an Anticipatory Leader, as long as you learn from those failures and use them to keep moving forward.

I am saying that the decisions we make about where the marketplace is headed, what new innovations we pursue, and our goals for our organizations affect everyone working underneath us as well as our success in this ever-changing, technology-driven world.

The leadership quality that the most successful organizations worldwide have in common is their ability to anticipate the future and make effective, low-risk decisions based on that information.

Contemporary leaders do not fight fire with fire

The world is currently undergoing a massive digital transformation, from the increasing integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technology to the many artificial intelligence (AI) advancements.

You may not realize this, but many organizations are sitting back and letting this technological evolution disrupt them. They are taking a wait-and-see approach, holding off on making decisions until they have to react, ultimately leading them to have to put out the fires they are allowed to approach.

This tactic may have appeared to be the best option in the past, but it never really was. Putting out fires as some type of corporate firefighter is never an effective way to lead an organization. This does not paint a quality picture of where the organization is going for your team members and also does not set an appropriate standard for a united Futureview®.

In my research, it is those who actively anticipate what is to come next and take proper steps to use these future certainties to their advantage who lead the next groundbreaking innovation and become the leaders in their industry.

The way of the future is to look into the future, and to be Anticipatory so you not only accurately see disruptive technologies but use them to make the correct and timely decisions that create new revenue streams, new products, new services, and new markets. Drive change from the inside out instead of letting it take hold of your organization from the outside in.

The marriage between data and intuition in Anticipatory leadership

Successful and effective decisions by Anticipatory Leaders are not made in the spur of the moment. Likewise, those same leaders know that decisions cannot be made for you. They require a combination of evidence, knowledge, and intuition.

The first of those three elements starts with data. Today, thanks to the boundless connectivity we already have, we have a tremendous amount of industry data. You need to be proactive in seeking out this data and then leveraging it to make informed decisions on where you want your organization to be.

Where does this data come from? Believe it or not, it is not always literal, stored in the cloud, or something you can Google. There is a specific tactic in my Anticipatory Leader System that allows you to not only collect data about the future but analyze it to your benefit.

Analyzing cyclical versus linear change

The first step is to analyze cyclical change to see into the future. There are well over 300 cycles in the known universe, meaning that when one thing happens, we can accurately predict what will come next.

Cycles are all around us, from the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening to more contemporary business patterns. For instance, a recession may begin with decreased income leading to lower sales and decreased production, followed by unemployment. But what is certain to follow is the recovery from a recession, where we know that increased income, more sales, more production, and increased employment come in tow.

Conversely, linear change does not come in the same way cycles do. An example of this is computing power. The world has gone from 4G to 5G and eventually will reach 6G and beyond.

We will never regress to 4G, 3G, or anything prior. Computing power will only ever keep accelerating, so you can expect technology capabilities to only increase as well.

This is the knowledge you can leverage and thus adapt to suit your organization’s needs as a leader!

Disruption is not the enemy – poor strategy is

Disruption is inevitable, but instead of seeing it as the foe it has commonly been reduced to in the past, a part of Anticipatory leadership starts with viewing it as a strategic asset, anticipating it, and embracing it instead of letting it catch you off guard.

The future does not have to be random, and if it is, it is likely because you are reacting as change happens from the outside in. Waiting around for the next advancement to take you by surprise and put you at the back of the competitive line will keep you there and be a poor reflection on you as a leader.

Strategize by interpreting both cyclical and linear change, determining the Hard Trends and Soft Trends affiliated with them, and deciding to leverage the data that results, opening the door to the future!

For more business and entrepreneurship tips, subscribe to our weekly newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.