In today’s world, it’s easy to get caught up in the immediate challenges and glimmering short-term gains. But how often do leaders like you take the time to raise your gaze and reflect? When do you take the time to gain a long-term perspective in your leadership?
If you want to understand how your business landscape will look in 3-5 years, consider looking 50 years forward and backward. As people, and busy business leaders at that, we often overestimate the speed and short-term impact of a major pivot in the market or in the tech landscape (e.g., Amazon, Internet, and now AI) while underestimating it in the long run, i.e., 10-20 years.
Having spent over 20 years at Centigo working with clients, I have particularly learned the importance of developing a truly long-term strategy, in our case it´s our 100-year strategy. This approach has helped us to stop and take the time to look deep into the past and the future and reflect on what we see before setting our 3-year goals and strategic themes. Here are the lessons I’ve learned from this practice.
Here’s what a 100-year perspective looks like:
Curious to hear your thoughts in the comments below on how adopting a long-term perspective has benefited your leadership journey! You can reach me at mattias.olsson@centigo.se.
If you want to understand how your business landscape will look in 3-5 years, consider looking 50 years forward and backward. As people, and busy business leaders at that, we often overestimate the speed and short-term impact of a major pivot in the market or in the tech landscape (e.g., Amazon, Internet, and now AI) while underestimating it in the long run, i.e., 10-20 years.
Having spent over 20 years at Centigo working with clients, I have particularly learned the importance of developing a truly long-term strategy, in our case it´s our 100-year strategy. This approach has helped us to stop and take the time to look deep into the past and the future and reflect on what we see before setting our 3-year goals and strategic themes. Here are the lessons I’ve learned from this practice.
Here’s what a 100-year perspective looks like:
- Safeguarding Wellbeing and Growth: A long-term perspective helps the organization to prioritize the wellbeing and growth of its people over short-term wins. This boosts people engagement, fosters a "can-do" culture, and develops win-win client relationships. Great people, great clients. Great clients, great people.
- Cultivating Long-term Client Relationships: It enables organizations to cultivate long-term relationships with their clients, discouraging a "quick profit at the expense of quality" mentality. As a result, exceptional delivery and long-term partnerships with clients become the standard, leading to sustainable growth.
- Considering All Stakeholders: It makes the organization consider all stakeholders today and future generations, optimize economic, social impact and environmental impact. This also fosters people and client loyalty, with 88% preferring socially responsible companies.
- Long-term perspective is part of our philosophy of Business Wellness. You can read more about it here: Business Wellness.
Curious to hear your thoughts in the comments below on how adopting a long-term perspective has benefited your leadership journey! You can reach me at mattias.olsson@centigo.se.
