Focusing on the Future Sets Leaders Apart

Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner

We’ve all had a glimpse of the future. You know, that time when you imagined running your own business… or that dream of traveling to an exotic place… or that bold idea for a . . . → Read More: The Value of Vision Series – Kouzes and Posner]]>

Focusing on the Future Sets Leaders Apart

Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner

We’ve all had a glimpse of the future. You know, that time when you imagined running your own business… or that dream of traveling to an exotic place… or that bold idea for a game-changing new product… or that burning desire to get an advanced degree… or that sense of purpose you felt when you signed up for the sustainability campaign… or that calling to join a cause and make this a better planet… or that uplifting sense you got when picturing kids playing in a neighborhood without fear. All of us dream of what might come to pass some day. Leaders take these dreams seriously and act to make them happen.

The truth is that focusing on the future sets leaders apart. 

The capacity to imagine and articulate exciting future possibilities is the defining competence of leaders. We know this because we asked followers. For over thirty years we’ve been asking people to tell us what they most look for and admire in a leader, someone they would willingly follow.

The quality of being forward-looking is second only to honesty as the most admired leader characteristic. On average, 71 percent of respondents select it. In Asia, Europe, and Australia the preference for forward-looking is several percentage points higher than it is in America.

We’ve also been asking a similar question about what people look for in a colleague (someone they’d like on their team), and the responses to this question have revealed a telling and vital distinction between leaders and individual contributors.

Using the identical list of desirable qualities, the number one requirement of a leader, honesty, is also the top-ranking attribute of a good colleague. But, the second most desirable quality of a leader — being forward-looking – is not even in the top ten attributes of a colleague. It’s selected by only 27 percent of the respondents. No other quality we’ve studied showed such a dramatic difference between leader and colleague.

Yet, in spite of the fact that being forward-looking is the quality that most separates leaders from individual contributors, it’s something that too few fully appreciate, and too many devote almost no time to developing.

If nothing is done to address this shortcoming, it will become a huge barrier to your future success. That’s because the challenge escalates with managerial level. Frontline leaders are expected to anticipate events only about three months down the road. Middle level managers often need to look three to five years into the future. Those in the executive suite must focus on a horizon that’s ten or more years distant.

Crossing the chasm from individual contributor to leader requires fully embracing the need to develop the capacity to envision the future. Making the transition from average to exemplary leader, regardless of level, requires the dedication to master it.

And how does a new leader develop the capacity to be forward-looking?

The answer is deceptively simple: spend more time in the future. You have to carve out more time each week to peer into the distance and imagining what might be out there. You have to take the time today in order to have the time tomorrow.

The trouble is, it’s not all that easy to do. The most experienced and senior executives struggle with it. Some researchers have found, for example, that top executives spend only about 3 percent of their time thinking about, and getting others on board with, the critical issues that will shape their business ten or more years down the road. That’s not nearly enough time. That’s why you have to be disciplined about this.

One of the leaders we interviewed said to us, “I’m my organization’s futures department.” All leaders should view themselves this way. Because being forward-looking is the differentiating leadership quality, you need to spend more time reading about, thinking about, and talking about the long-term view. Make it your business to study the future.

Set up a futures research committee to study potential changes and developments in areas affecting your organization. Put together a team to continually track fifty or sixty publications that represent new thoughts on trends in your domain.  Ask them to prepare abstracts of articles they think have relevance. A smaller team can then pull the abstracts into reports for use in planning and decision-making. Or simply have all the people in your organization regularly clip articles from newspapers, magazines, and Web sites.

Circulate the ideas generated and discuss the impact of trends on your products, services, technologies, and constituents. Use these discussions to help you and your organization develop the ability to think long-term.

Developing the capacity to envision the future requires you to spend more time in the future – meaning more time reflecting on the future, more time reading about the future, and more time talking to others about the future. It’s not an easy assignment, but it is an absolutely necessary one. It also requires you to reflect back on your past to discover the themes that really engage you and excite you. And it means thinking about the kind of legacy you want to leave and the contributions you want to make.

It’s your job as a leader to lift people’s sights and lift people’s spirits.

You must remind others – who are often so mired in the day-to-day of work and life that they lose their bearings – that there is a larger purpose to all this doing. You and they are working hard in order to build something different, to make something new, to create a better future. That’s why it’s important to invest the time today in tomorrow’s future.


Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner are the coauthors of the bestselling and award-winning The Leadership Challenge, and over a dozen other books on leadership including The Truth About Leadership, Making Extraordinary Things Happen in Asia, A Leader’s Legacy, Credibility, and Encouraging the Heart. Jim is the Dean’s Executive Fellow of Leadership and Barry is the Accolti Endowed Professor of Leadership at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. Follow them on Twitter @Jim_Kouzes and @TLCTalk and find them on Facebook Jim Kouzes and TLC Page.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Maren and Jamie Showkeir, authors of the fascinating new book Yoga Wisdom at Work: Finding Sanity Off . . . → Read More: How Yoga Principles Bring Sanity to Your Work Life]]>

Did you know that yoga is about more than just stretching and putting your body in poses? In fact, physical activity is just one of the Eight Limbs of Yoga.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Maren and Jamie Showkeir, authors of the fascinating new book Yoga Wisdom at Work: Finding Sanity Off the Mat and On the Job. Their book explains how all eight limbs apply to the workplace.

In our 15 minute discussion, we focused on two of the limbs: Universal Morality and Focus. You can hear their views and practical advice on:

1. How we limit our potential by listening to our inner critic.
2. How small acts of unkindness and disrespect in the workplace erode our power, creativity and productivity.
3. What you can do if you are working in a toxic work environment.
4. How to respond to the demand to be “always on” via technology and always available in work places with limited private space.

Maren Showkeir and Jamie Showkeir are managing partners at Henning-Showkeir & Associates, Inc., a Phoenix-based organizational development company that has collaborated with hundreds of organizations with the aim of harmonizing the demand for business results with creating meaning and purpose at work. They are co-authors of Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment and the newly released Yoga Wisdom at Work: Finding Sanity Off the Mat and On the Job. Find Maren and Jamie on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @authenticmaren and @17jamie.

Recently Annette Richmond asked me for some suggestions on how to quit your job for a Forbes article. She incorporated several of these suggestions in her excellent article: How to Quit Your Job the Right Way. If you want to quit your job, make sure you don’t leave your dignity behind. It’s a good idea not . . . → Read More: How to Leave Your Job And Keep Your Dignity]]>

Recently Annette Richmond asked me for some suggestions on how to quit your job for a Forbes article. She incorporated several of these suggestions in her excellent article: How to Quit Your Job the Right Way.


If you want to quit your job, make sure you don’t leave your dignity behind. It’s a good idea not to burn your bridges. But more importantly, how you quit is about who you are and how you feel about yourself.

These 8 suggestions will help you leave on a good note. They won’t guarantee it, because you can’t control other people’s reactions. But even if there is negativity, if you leave with what cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien calls Honorable Closure, you will be able to feel good about yourself.

1. Do your homework. Before you make the decision to quit, be clear about what your motivation is. Is it because: Career opportunities are limited? There something more attractive elsewhere? This is not the work you want to be doing after all? There is a lack of support from from boss or co-workers, or too much conflict? Some of these reason are because you are moving forward to what you desire. Whatever your assumptions are, have you tested them and are sure they are correct?

2. Never make the decision to leave while you are caught in emotions. If you are really angry, take the time for your rational brain to kick back in. You might still decide to leave, but you can make a rational decision on the best way to proceed.

3. Don’t feel guilty. Your attitude makes a huge difference in how you come across when you tell your boss you’re leaving. You don’t need to feel guilty or defensive about leaving a job. According to statistics, the median number of years in a job is around four years. Some people realize immediately that they have landed in the wrong place. If that’s the case, the honorable thing to do is to move on before it gets worse.

4. If you are asked why you are leaving, be clear, be straight, be descriptive. You are more credible when you share information and facts. Don’t dump a lot of emotional baggage, accusations, or generalities that can’t be verified.

5. Tell your boss before you tell your co-workers so he or she doesn’t hear it first through the rumor mill.

6. Consider discussing your concerns with your boss before you make the final decision to leave. It might be there are options you are not aware of that would affect your decision.

7. Give enough warning so they are not hanging in the lurch.

8. Give it your all to the end. There can be a temptation to slack off when you know you’re leaving. Seeing it through to the finish will help you feel good about your contribution and yourself as you walk out the door the last time.

Imagine how strong your organization would be if everyone were deeply committed and accountable for its success.

These are not new ideas. The evidence and research . . . → Read More: Stewardship Is an Alternative to Leadership]]>

Stewardship is about choosing service over self-interest. It begins with a willingness to be deeply accountable for a body larger than yourself -  for a team, an organization, a community.

Imagine how strong your organization would be if everyone were deeply committed and accountable for its success.

These are not new ideas. The evidence and research results are in, and we know for a fact that partnership and participation are the management strategies that create high-performance workplaces.

Words like empowerment, collaboration and partnership have been tossed around for years.

So how are today’s organizations and institutions doing?

Here in the United States, the answer is, “not so well.”  According to Peter Block, author of the seminal bestseller Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest, “A few companies like LivePerson are doing it differently, but most still just give it lip-service.”

This week marks the release of the expanded Twentieth Anniversary edition of Stewardship. Reading this updated edition, I was reminded of how much my thinking was influenced by the first edition 20 years ago. It is so clearly written, the ideas so compelling, and it makes so much sense, it is a mystery why our organizations continue to struggle.

I was delighted to have the opportunity to pose my questions to Peter directly.

Considering how much we know about what creates high-performance workplaces, why aren’t we doing better?

One problem is that too many people think the purpose of a business is simply to make money.  The traditional business approach is about focusing on scale and speed, reducing costs, getting bigger, and beating the competition.  This approach takes people right out of the equation, and the common good is sacrificed.

In the long run, this approach doesn’t get us far. GM thought the only point of business was to make money, and look how they did. Unfortunately too many organizations, including megachurches for example, are being run with this typical business approach.

Stewardship is about service to something greater. Yes, business needs to make money, but it is also entrusted with the well-being of people, the environment and the planet. When we exclude that, we have a very small purpose that inspires no one, and that evokes neither passion nor commitment.

What is the role of leadership in creating a culture of stewardship?

Most leadership models are based on the idea of being “good parents” – helping subordinates grow, develop and accomplish their goals, rewarding their efforts and successes. It seems benevolent. However, it prevents people from becoming stewards of their organization.

It is not possible to assume deep responsibility and accountability, and at the same time be dependent, expecting someone else to take care of you.

The idea that leaders need to be good parents and that the world is better off when someone is in charge is so deeply held that we simply accept it as true. Even when we intellectually understand the fallacy of these beliefs, they are so deeply ingrained in our muscle memory and automatic responses that we continue to act in a paternalistic manner without realizing it.

We must let go of the need to try to control the world around us. This requires a level of trust that we are not used to holding. But it is possible to make the conscious effort, and it benefits not only ourselves, but our organizations, and everyone around us.

Stewardship is a worthy alternative to leadership.

What kinds of things can we do to shift from leadership to stewardship?

Stewardship asks us to be deeply accountable for the outcomes within our organizations without trying to control others or trying to take care of them. It requires a redistribution of power and privilege, moving choice and resources closer to the edges of the organization. Here are some examples of the kinds of things leaders can do to become stewards:

• Give choice to people at the edge as much as possible.
• Meet in a circle, not auditoriums. Circles allow people to see and talk with each other. Auditoriums are for people to be talked at.
• Stop performance appraisals where bosses evaluate their subordinates. Peers should be talking about how we’re doing together.
• Let go of the idea that everything needs consistency. There are just a few areas that need it, like how you report finances. IT and HR should be consultants, not in control.
• Eliminate the privilege system. Don’t give bigger and nicer offices to those at the top. If you have a special parking spot, give it up.
• Be willing to say, “I don’t know what’s best for you.” Ask them what they think, and then look them in the eye and listen to what they have to say.

Peter Block is a global bestselling author and consultant, and a partner in Designed Learning, a training company that offers workshops that build the skills outlined in his books. The recipient of numerous awards including ASTD’s Distinguished Contribution to the Workplace Award, he was named to Training Magazine’s HRD Hall of Fame. His bestselling book, Stewardship has just been re-released in a 20th Anniversary, Revised and Extended Edition with a foreword by Steven Piersanti.

Leadership: It’s amazing how complicated leadership “experts” have made the topic. I know because I am one of them. I am a senior ranking officer in what can only be called the Legion of Leadership Complexifiers (the LLC).

We members of the LLC make our livelihood . . . → Read More: Simplify Leadership and Focus on What’s Essential]]>

Guest Post by Bill Treasurer

Leadership: It’s amazing how complicated leadership “experts” have made the topic. I know because I am one of them. I am a senior ranking officer in what can only be called the Legion of Leadership Complexifiers (the LLC).

We members of the LLC make our livelihood plumbing, parsing, and peddling leadership concepts. We use fancy words and nitpick the life out of the subject.

Sure, most of us are well-intentioned, but by complicating leadership, we have created an unrealistic and largely unattainable standard for people to live up to.

We set impossible expectations when we tell leaders they need to be:

Bold and calculated

Passionate and reasonable

Rational and emotional

Confident and humble

Driven and patient

Strategic and tactical

Competitive and cooperative

Principled and flexible

Faced with such a laundry list of expectations, how on earth could anyone fulfill all these roles? Why would they want to be a leader?

Keep it simple! The truth is, leadership doesn’t have to be complex.

It’s time to lighten the leadership load and bring leadership back to what’s most essential. Here are six tips that simplify leadership and re-focus on what’s essential.

1. Focus on a Positive Future: Always keep the best days of the people you’re leading in front of them. Focus on looming achievements on the horizon, not the glory days of the past.

2 Stop Stoking Fear: Here’s the most overused phrase in the history of business: What keeps me awake at night… Phrases like that only serve to make people anxious. Followers would rather know what gets you up in the morning.

3. Motivate with Opportunity:  People will move mountains, if in exchange for doing so, they grow and develop. Benjamin Disraeli was right, “Opportunity is more powerful even than conquerors and prophets.”

4. Know Them Until You Care:  Get to know the career desires, goals, and aspirations of each of your people. When you know them, you’ll care about them. And when you care about them, their trust and loyalty increases.

5. Stretch into Discomfort:  People grow and develop in a zone of discomfort, not comfort. Task people with stretch assignments that cause them to grow and make them a tad uncomfortable.

6. Be Grateful:  Your job is to help your people be eminently successful. When they are, you will be deemed an effective leader…because of their work. Be grateful, and say, “Thank you!”

Leadership may not be easy, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. When you cut through the clutter, leadership is about advancing the growth and development of those you lead.

Think of a leader you admire – someone who actually led you. What do you admire about him or her?

• Did she provide you with an opportunity where you could grow your skills?
• Did he give you candid feedback that caused you to see yourself in a more honest way?
• Did she value your perspective, input, and ideas?
• Did he create opportunities for you to stretch, grow, and excel?

Leaders open doors. They create opportunities for those they lead. It’s as simple as that! And when you stay focused on this, everything else falls into place.

Bill Treasurer is the Chief Encouragement Officer of Giant Leap Consulting. His latest book  Leaders Open Doors focuses on how leaders create growth through opportunity. Bill is also the author of the bestseller Courage Goes to Work and Courageous Leadership: A Program for Using Courage to Transform the Workplace, an off-the-shelf training toolkit that organizations use to build workplace courage. Bill has led courage-building workshops for a huge range of companies such as NASA, Accenture, CNN, PNC Bank, SPANX, Hugo Boss, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. You can contact Bill at btreasurer@giantleapconsulting.com, and follow him on Twitter at @btreasurer.

A personal note from Jesse: This week marks the launch of Bill’s excellent new book, Leaders Open Doors: A Radically Simple Leadership Approach to Lift People, Profits, and Performance. It’s a simple, yet powerful, easy read, packed with helpful advice and illustrated with charming stories. Not only is this book a valuable resource, but when you purchase it, you will be “opening doors” for children with special needs – because Bill is donating 100% of the royalties to charities that support them. Check out this inspiring 2 minute video that explains why he is doing this.

Visualize a picture of the end-result. Create a picture in your mind of the future you desire. Close your eyes and see it . . . → Read More: Go For the Gold! 8 Tips to Create The Future You Desire]]>

Positive thinking can do wonders for your attitude. But it’s not enough to get you where you want to go. Instead of thinking positively about being great, imagine what great looks like.

Visualize a picture of the end-result. Create a picture in your mind of the future you desire. Close your eyes and see it happening right now.

If you’re concerned about giving a speech, it helps to imagine giving the speech successfully. But the real power is in visualizing the end result— see yourself getting a standing ovation at the end of your speech, or if you’re an athlete, see yourself standing on the podium receiving the gold medal.

The power is in picturing the end result. The process for achieving it, the path, will not necessarily be clear.

My first experience with the power of picture took place in a fifth grade classroom. My first job was teaching reading to children with learning disabilities. Most children learn to read the same way they learn to walk and talk. They get a little support from an adult, but they pick it up naturally. When it doesn’t come naturally, it’s really hard for them to learn.

By the time they are 10 years old, they are discouraged by years of failure, watching other children pass them by. One day it occurred to me that the children were so discouraged they probably couldn’t even imagine they could enjoy reading a book.

I had been reading about how mental imagery made a huge difference in the 1976 Olympics. The USSR had stunned the world by walking away with most of the gold medals. The Soviets had discovered that when competitive skiers supplemented their practice through visualization, not only were they better prepared to ski in a variety of conditions, but their motivation and self-confidence also increased.

So I tried an experiment with the children. Every day we spent ten minutes in a relaxed guided meditation. We began imagining going into the library, finding a cozy spot and curling up with a great picture book.  By the end of the year, they were imagining going into the library reading long books with no pictures. I didn’t change anything else about the way I was teaching. I just added the relaxed visualization. That year the children’s progress increased, we had more fun in the classroom, and they started reading library books on their own.

Was this a real scientific experiment? No. But it made me aware of the power of creating a mental picture of what you desire, and it sparked my interest in vision.

How to harness the power of picture.

Over the years, studying vision and helping leaders in a variety of settings I learned that the real power comes when you focus on what you desire. Proactively focus on what you want, not reactively on your problems. While you might remove a specific problem, you are likely to discover another problem awaits, and you will move from one crisis to another. Instead of focusing on problems, picture the results you desire.

For example, if you want to lose weight, obviously you need to eat less. However, if you frequently think about the chocolate you can’t eat, it’s difficult to maintain motivation over the long term. Instead, picture what you’ll look like in your new jeans whenever your thoughts turn to chocolate.

Eight tips for creating a picture of your desired future:

1. Be proactive, not reactive. Move toward what you want rather than away from what you do not want.
2. Be creative and playful. Give yourself permission to explore, to dream.
3. Do not let your fears and concerns limit your thinking.
4. Visualize the end result, not the process for getting there. See yourself standing on the podium receiving the gold medal.
5. Focus on what really matters to you. Ask, What do I want to do? not What should do?
6. See it actually happening. Close your eyes and imagine what it looks like.
7. Put yourself in the picture. Imagine what you are doing and what the quality of your relationships look like.
8. Don’t waste your time imagining someone changing. The only one you can change is yourself.

Don’t stop here.

In our book Full Steam Ahead: Unleash the Power of Vision, Ken Blanchard and I say “Vision is knowing who you are, where you’re going, and what will guide your journey.”

Knowing where you’re going means having a picture of your destination in your mind. A picture is not the same as a vision, but it IS one of the three critical elements of a compelling vision, and it has a tremendous power. To create a compelling vision, remember the other two elements: Knowing who you are means being clear on your purpose, and what guides your journey are your values. Know what you stand for and live your values consistently.

  Most of us know what Supervising Closely looks like. It’s doing things like:

And most of us know what Delegating looks like:

Guest Post by Jennifer B. Kahnweiler

I am delighted to host this guest post by my colleague Jennifer Kahnweiller in celebration of the launch of her excellent new book Quiet Influence: The Introvert”s Guide to Making a Difference.  Jennifer is recognized world-wide as the “go-to” expert on the power . . . → Read More: Introverts: 6 Ways to Maximize Your Natural Strengths]]>

Guest Post by Jennifer B. Kahnweiler

I am delighted to host this guest post by my colleague Jennifer Kahnweiller in celebration of the launch of her excellent new book Quiet Influence: The Introvert”s Guide to Making a Difference.  Jennifer is recognized world-wide as the “go-to” expert on the power of introverts following the success of her first book The Introverted Leader.

Who gets their voice heard in the office? Now more than ever, it’s not the ones shouting to make themselves known.  It’s the highly effective quiet influencers:  introverts who use their natural strengths to make a big difference without making a lot of noise.

If you tend to be more reflective than talkative, more into writing than presenting, or more into listening than selling, here are six ways to use your natural strengths to an advantage:

1) Take quiet time: Introverts prioritize periods of solitude that provides them with a powerful source of creativity and self-awareness.  Tip:  Schedule quiet time on your calendar. Dim the lights, turn off the radio and reduce distractions from technology to get inside your head.

2) Prepare:  Introverts increase their confidence to influence others by increasing their knowledge, creating a strategy and rehearsing.  Tip:  Prepare on two levels. First, focus on content by researching your topic and getting your facts in order. Then, prepare yourself through visualization, role-playing and positive self-talk.

3) Listen:  This innate introvert talent helps Quiet Introverts establish rapport and mutual understanding – especially when they observe body language, ask questions and serve as a sounding board for others.  Tip: Slow down and get face-to-face when you can. Take the time to paraphrase what you are hearing to check your understanding.

4) Focus the conversations: Introverts excel at the serious, purpose-driven, one-on-one or small group interactions vital for problem solving, working through conflicts, and winning people over.  Tip:  Turn e-mail chains into conversations by picking up the phone or walking down the hall to see a colleague. You’ll make an impression and give yourself a better opportunity to use your strong listening skills.

5) Write:  Introverts use this skill to influence others through deep, authentic, well-developed arguments that motivate others to action.  Tip:  Think of writing as your craft. Pay attention to words, build logical and persuasive arguments, and proofread to avoid distracting errors. 

6) Use social media: Introverts naturally use social media in a thoughtful and more effective way to develop and grow relationships, achieve visibility, and mobilize people—even those far across the globe.  Tip:  Don’t stress yourself out by trying to participate in every new social media technology. Instead, go back to the plan you developed in your preparation phase. Match the social media you use to your intended audience and influencing goal, and then use that one tool well instead of diluting your efforts. 

By tapping into these strengths of quiet influence, extroverts and introverts alike can better benefit themselves and their organizations by effectively communicating insights and innovative ideas.

Interested in learning more about what kind of influencer you are? Go to JenniferKahnweiler.com and take a quiz to determine your tendency towards Quiet Influence. 

About Jennifer Kahnweiler. Jennifer is a workplace and career expert, international speaker and executive coach whose clients include General Electric Co., AT&T Inc., The National Center for Disease Control and Prevention and NASA.

Her new book, Quiet Influence: The Introvert’s Guide to Making a Difference (Berrett-Koehler, 2013) further establishes her as a “champion for introverts” and follows on from her 2009 hit, The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength (Berrett-Koehler, 2009).  You can follow Jennifer on Twitter @JennKahnweiler and find her on Facebook. For more information please visit www.jenniferkahnweiler.com.