Anticipate

About the Author

Rob-Jan de Jong is an influential thought leader in the realm of strategic leadership and future thinking. A faculty member at Wharton’s flagship executive program "Global Strategic Leadership," he has an extensive background in helping leaders and organizations navigate complex futures. His work spans notable clients like Philips, ING, HCL, and Total Oil, among others. With his profound insights into vision development and leadership, Rob-Jan de Jong has become a sought-after speaker and consultant, inspiring many to look ahead and prepare strategically for the future.

Main Idea

The main idea of Anticipate: The Art of Leading by Looking Ahead is to emphasize the critical importance of visionary leadership. De Jong posits that vision is not a rare, unattainable quality but a skill that can be developed. The book delves into two primary skills necessary for developing vision: the ability to see things early and the ability to connect the dots to create a compelling narrative about the future. These skills, when mastered, can significantly enhance a leader's capacity to inspire and mobilize their team toward a shared future.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Visionary Content: The Groundwork
3. Visionary Practices: Developing Your Visionary Capacity
4. Visionary Self: Your Visionary Self
5. Visionary Communication: Igniting Your Followers

Visionary Content: The Groundwork

Creating a Vision

Creating a vision requires ideas that are intriguing and refreshing, ideas that trigger people’s interest, curiosity, and excitement. It’s about engaging your imagination and thinking outside the box. Vision can be a powerful tool to influence others, but it must be framed properly. A compelling vision provides direction, stretches the imagination, challenges the status quo, and energizes and mobilizes people.

Purposes of a Vision

According to de Jong, a powerful vision serves at least four fundamental purposes:

• Shows the Path Forward: A vision provides guidance and direction about where an organization is headed.
• Stretches the Imagination: A potent vision takes us beyond the obvious into the unknown, stretching the boundaries of conventional thinking.
• Challenges the Status Quo: A well-developed vision can provide new and previously unseen opportunities.
• Energizes and Mobilizes: A powerful vision can galvanize those you lead, inspiring them to put their best effort into the cause.

Core Ingredients of a Vision

A compelling vision combines rational direction setting with emotional engagement. Followers need to feel touched emotionally to spark their enthusiasm. De Jong emphasizes the importance of unconventionality and connection to a noble cause to elicit emotions such as curiosity, excitement, desire, optimism, pride, belonging, willingness, passion, nobility, warmth, empathy, and trust.

Aristotle’s Threefold Description

De Jong refers to Aristotle's concepts of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos as essential for creating engagement: