I take notes on leaders who impress me. One common skill is their ability to anticipate problems, reactions, scenarios. They appear to be surprised far less often than weaker leaders.
Some of this comes from experience. Their current situation is like past situations, so they can draw from a toolkit of what works, what to expect, what can be avoided.
Some comes from imagination. They’re playing chess, thinking 2-4 moves ahead, likely action-reaction combinations. They’re fusing the timelines of workstreams and can recognize resource problems before they happen. They think through what-if/and-then-what options.
Explicit planning helps. Getting input from different perspectives helps. Learning from the experiences of others helps.
Give some thought to how you can build anticipation power in your own leadership craft.
