Example Of Essay On Anticipation In Strategic Leadership

In today's fast-moving world, the ability of a leader to anticipate is one of the most important skill sets required. It has become a norm rather than an exception that every aspect of a business is synchronized with technology, from the most basic business aspect such as retail sales to the most complex such as engineering. Technology in itself is highly dynamic. A business that misses the wave of the most current technologies suffers the disadvantage of customer dissatisfaction. For this reason, it is imperative that a leader in any organization should be keen to analyze trends and be able to pick up new ones that would give the organization a competitive advantage.
The ability to anticipate change is not constrained to the technological sphere. A strategic leader should have the ability to understand the different business cycles in order to enable the business adapt to the various cycles. The importance of anticipating such changes in the business cycle is even more pronounced in this generation given that it has experienced both the boom times and recessions. Consequently, a business that fails to adjust accordingly points to failed leadership.
A leader's ability to anticipate change is aided by their willingness to engage with stakeholders. It may be an internal or an external process. A business' main stakeholders include its employees, customers, and suppliers. A strategic leader should put in place mechanisms through which they can engage with each of these stakeholders as they offer important clues on the perceived product trends as well as an evaluation of the business' product trends.
Over and above the ability to anticipate, a strategic leader must be a good communicator. All the characteristics of an effective leader require the synergies brought on by others. To harness these synergies, it is important that the leader have the ability to share his vision with the stakeholders if he is to maximize their input.