Pragmatism is great, but it has its place and limitations. Unlike some of your peers, stories of the past don’t enthrall you or even add that much value. You even find that conversations about the day-to-day can put you to sleep if they aren’t leading to something greater.
What’s the point of today if it isn’t leading to something fantastic tomorrow?
You have a vision of the future that is quite detailed and most often purposeful. You find that, without skipping a beat, you can paint a picture of what could be for any situation. Though you may acknowledge there is value in what’s happened in the past, you feel a focus on the past does more harm than good.
What you need to focus on is the future. You have the strength of Futuristic.
The Benefits of Foresight
As a leader, being able to see an end-game is an extremely valuable thing. You can’t lead people unless you are leading them somewhere, right? In the hectic, fast-paced work environments we all experience, it’s easy to lose sight of “where we’re going.” Your Futuristic strength allows you to always keep the end goal in the forefront of yours and your team’s mind.
Whenever someone asks, “Why am I doing this”, you’ll be able to point them to the future.
For you, especially if you aren’t your own boss, it’s important that whatever vision of the future you are painting is in line with the business goals and objectives. It’s easy with this strength to paint very elaborate and beautiful pictures and get carried away with them. You also want to make sure you set time aside to think using Futuristic. The more you think about the future, the sharper and more detailed your ideas will be – ultimately, this will make you more persuasive to others.
With this in mind, any time you’re invited to the “round table” to discuss the future of the company and where it should go, don’t be afraid to share your vision.
You may see possibilities others can’t. And, if you’ve taken time aside to think it through, you may have a very compelling case. Any time you can stretch your role to a more entrepreneurial setting, you’ll be able to utilize this strength and stretch it to its full potential.
Getting People to Follow
Though you may not love detail, make sure you use as much of it as possible when you are presenting your ideas of the future. Those that follow you may not be as quick to connect the dots, or even believe what you’re saying is viable.
People with strengths like Context, Analytical and Deliberative will need more information than “Trust me” to follow along. Not to mention, they can help ground your vision and make it a reality.
Turning Dreams into Reality
As any deep thinker can attest to, thinking about something isn’t doing something. Big, beautiful visions of the future are great, but will mean nothing if actions aren’t taken to put them in motion.
- Utilize people on your team with Execution strengths to help you turn your thoughts into action.
- Enlist a strong Activator to get the ball rolling, someone with Discipline to create a structure, and pass the to-do list off to an Achiever to ensure things are getting completed.
- There are an infinite number of Strengths in combination that will help you reach your goal – just be sure to delegate and leverage them where you can!
As a leader with Futuristic, how do you utilize this strength in your day-day responsibilities? Do you find that people find it hard to follow your train of thought sometimes? How do you relay your visions to those without Futuristic? Do you take time to think about the future purposefully? Do you find your ideas are more fully developed with more time spent thinking? I would love to hear your thoughts!
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Alexsys “Lexy” Thompson is Managing Partner at Fokal Fusion
She helps building Strong Leaders through Strong People Strategy
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