Anticipate - The Art of Leading By Looking Ahead

Business schools, leadership gurus, and strategy guides agree - leaders must have a vision. But the sad truth is that most don't...or at least not one that compels, inspires, and energizes their people. How can something so essential be practiced so little in real life?Vision may sound like a rare quality, unattainable by all except a select few - but nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone can expand their visionary capacity. You just need to learn how. In Anticipate, strategy and leadership expert Rob-Jan de Jong explains that to develop vision you must sharpen two key skills. The first is the ability to see things early - spotting the first hints of change on the horizon. The second is the power to connect the dots - turning those clues into a gripping story about the future of your organization and industry.Packed with stories and practices, Anticipate provides proven techniques for looking ahead and exploring many plausible futures - including the author's trademarked Future Priming process, which helps distinguish signal from noise. You will discover how to:

• Tap into your imagination and open yourself to the unconventional
• Become better at seeing things early
• Frame the big-picture view that provides direction for the future
• Communicate your vision in a way that engages others and provokes action

When you anticipate change before your competitors, you create enormous strategic advantage. That's what visionaries do...and now so can you.

List of contents

Contents
Prefacexi
Acknowledgmentsxxi
Introduction1
Unraveling the Mystery | The Vision Thing | Context Sensitivity | Short--Termism | Long-Term Language | The Battle
PART 1: VISIONARY CONTENT11
Chapter 1: The Groundwork13
Your Personal Vision | Vision 101 | Transformational Lead-ership | The Alpe d'HuZes | Core Ingredients | Logos, Ethos, and Pathos | The Dark Side
Chapter 2: Tapping into Your Imagination 31
Rejuvenated Restaurants | N.N. Living in a Permanent Pre-sent | The Image of the Future | Alice in Wonderland | Schemas, Assumptions, and Frames | Two-Faced Friends | Eternal Truths | The Grand Illusion | Cognitive Dissonance | Neural Networks | Breaking the Frame | That's Funny | Lat-eral Thinking | WWGD | Blue Ocean
PART 2: VISIONARY PRACTICES55
Chapter 3: Developing Your Visionary Capacity 57
Visionary Shoes | Made, Not Born| Contained Emergence | A Development Framework | Seeing Things Early | Con-necting the Dots | 2x2 | Followers | Trend Hoppers | Histori-ans, or Cynics | The Visionary | Deepening the Framework | Narcissistic Distraction
Chapter 4: Seeing Things Early83
Reducing Thoughtlessness | Signal and Noise | The Theory of the Car Crash | Market Transitions | Toys in the Board-room | The Priming Phenomenon | FuturePriming | Fu-tureFacts | More Manifestations | The Four Golden Rules | Food for Thought | Missing Traffic Signs | Rubber Hits the Road | Creativity Ignited
Chapter 5: Connecting the Dots109
June 12, 2005 | A Belgian Tale | Black Swan? | The Tunnel Vision | -Irrationality Rules | Frame Blindness | Overconfi-dence | The Mysterious Guru | Creating Memories of the Future | Shell's Awakening | The Fall of Fortis | Groupthink | So What? | Brilliant or Foolish? | Responsible Visionary Leadership
PART 3: VISIONARY SELF 149
Chapter 6: Your Visionary Self151
On Becoming a Visionary Leader | You! | Utzon's Master-piece | Jumping Off the Eiffel Tower | Passion and Authenticity | Discovery Mode | Covey, Stories, and Pearls | Mediating Reality | Danone's Ecosystem
Chapter 7: Mindful Behavior173
Solar Roadways | Mindfulnesslessness | Foolish Consisten-cy | Mindfulness, Take Two | Curiosity | Powerful Questions | Conversation -Surprise | Working Your Swing | Recategorizing Practices | New Information Practices | Multiple View Practices
PART 4: VISIONARY COMMUNICATION 197
Chapter 8: Igniting Your Followers199
Hygiene Factors | Gettysburg Address | The Power of Lan-guage | Workhorse Verbs | Notions of Loss | A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words | Memorable Metaphors | Ac-tionable Analogies | Let Me Tell You a Story . . . | Data with a Soul | Jobs & Pausch | Visionary Checklist
Appendix A: Strategic Questionnaire229
Appendix B: Values List233
Appendix C: 25 Visionary Development Practices237
Notes243
Index255

About the author

ROB-JAN DE JONG is one of five faculty members in Wharton's flagship executive program "Global Strategic Leadership." A sought-after international consultant, he helps leaders and companies anticipate the future and arrive at winning strategies. His clients include Philips, ING, HCL, Dannon, and other top organizations.

Summary

Anyone can develop the vision required to be a true leader. You just need to learn how.

Product details

• Authors: Rob Jan de Jong, Rob-Jan De Jong, Rob-Jan Jong
• Publisher: Amacon Book Division
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.02.2015
• EAN: 9780814449073
• ISBN: 978-0-8144-4907-3
• No. of pages: 288
• Series: Amacom
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Business > Management; BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Strategic Planning, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Business Communication / General, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Motivational