Mapping a changing landscape — a leadership look at new life for big business.

Forbes anticipates that 2020 will be the most volatile year in history. More than trade wars, recent events have exposed deep market vulnerability and mass potential for malleability. Major disruption is likely to occur as burnt ashes give rise to fresh phoenix.

What that disruption will be is not for me to foresee, it is for you to anticipate and act accordingly — as preppers, ready for survival, securing yourself against the onslaught of threatening times.

In 2013, the Global Brainstorm predicted that many of the old ‘isms (sexism, ageism, racism) would return. People laughed — “you’ve won that battle Celia, give in...”

In 2017, the Global Brainstorm predicted that the UK was manufacturing the next global recession with its decision on Brexit — “…you’re fear-mongering, get over it.” — they jeered.

Now I see their fear, clearly. You can smell it too, if you sniff through the corridors of power but, there is a problem. From their perspective, its hard for them to see, let alone know what to do. They’re blinkered by the status quo and blinded by predictable history, comfortable in this deceptive security and so unchallenging of its presentation in reality. If you’re sitting comfortably, this could be you. Mind what you do.

When Forbes talks of volatility, what does this mean metaphorically?

Applying Whether System™ thinking and using weather metaphors, the outlook is a little like this:

High seas and hurricanes, stark storms, forest fires, tidal waves and tsunamis following earth shattering quakes and magnetic variations — meteors might even strike — travel is ill advised.

And yet, travel is exactly what we must do — and at speed too, if we intend to remain unscathed.

Anyone who has ever survived a natural catastrophe knows one certainty; in the aftermath of the event comes the realization that the landscape will never look the same. A seismic shift has shattered past paradigms and a new norm must now emerge. The shock eventually stabilizes to the tune of ‘before’ and ‘after’ stories but, what if you were sitting on the verge of such history? — Would you sound the warning? A storm is nearing! It has the potential to shatter your community — prepare, PREPARE!

This storm is not a local weather event — it is a global economic calamity.

To be clear, quelling fear, I’m exploring with imagination here. My warning is a forewarning to anyone leading anything, in the hope we may all better be aware and prepare. Even seemingly solid infrastructure is easily swept away in an instant, in such circumstances, indiscriminately and so, nobody sits outside this call to concern.

How do you prepare?

· You can’t protect your whole property, so you reinforce a secure base.

· You know where to find and quickly save your most valuable assets.

· You slash and burn with control, before the wild fire arrives.

· You construct fire roads and flood overflow infrastructure.

· You’re adaptable, active and ready to respond to changing terrain.

· You’re able to relocate and know where you’d go — with or against the flow?

· Ideally, you’ve prepared for every eventuality, making survival more comfortable — farming renewable food sources for instance, to sustain you, should other stocks go.

· Some survivors even thrive, keeping hope alive as pioneers of the new world.

Constructive preparation requires vision and wisdom — ‘Visdom’ as I like to call it — visionary wisdom; the highest use of imagination and the strongest asset in the greatest leadership.

More than new words will be needed.

People with ‘Visdom’ are pragmatic futurists with innovative aspirations. You are empathically actionary (rather than reactionary), responding compassionately, ahead of time. You make inevitable decisions early, manoeuvring accordingly, fuelling the fires and bellowing the winds of change with your higher order thinking and deep designing — navigating the unknown, learning as you explore and leaving a new map behind.

Hope for future leaders.

Fears cripple creativity, ignorance ingests innovation and worry wastes imagination so, without feeding the very monsters I aim to slay — this is a post of hope for the future and in our next generation of influencers and leaders.

As we wake up, in the aftermath of a catastrophe — as we anticipate doing so, using our imagination by way of brining such learning back to the present day and taking preventative measures to avoid the actual occurrence of any imagined likelihood — we have to get our bearing again. We are shell-shocked. We have suffered trauma. Our thinking and our perspective will be unrecognisable to our former selves. We must be aware of this is advance of actuality. Fight or flight responses kick in, instinctively. We’re on heightened alert and feeling threatened causes us to respond in unfamiliar ways. How you handle such pressure and tension will define you as a leader. How you act will encourage or dissuade others to help or follow. New power structures will form and all this will feel unfamiliar. Historical maps won’t help either. Regulation of revisited ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ will no longer apply when the appreciation of value has been redefined. Cartographers will need to get out their pens again; the landscape has shifted significantly, transforming where true north once was. It will all feel disorientating and destabilizing — it’s OK, it’s the new norm.

Knowing how to navigate the unknown.

Astronauts accept disorientation and destabilisation as part of the job — they train for it. So too, does a successful explorer — so too, should you as an innovator, influencer or entrepreneur. Buckle up New Leader — its times like this for which we must prepare.

· Will you burn your own platform before the wild fire does?

· Will you be the next big hurricane?

· Or will you get washed away in the floods that follow?

Your future is designed by your next decision.

Lend a hand — you never know when you’ll be the one who next needs it. Think laterally, think literally, listen intently and learn quickly. Regularly burn your own ideas to rebuild them more sustainable and better able to withstand the impact of time. Join forces, club together, support one another and say when you see a storm. Set the sensors and spot the signals. Don’t overly rely on your leaders. Enquire of your own accord and be prepared to act autonomously, if necessary. Remain open but build your own wall — guard your boundaries, guard your privacy and mind your mindset daily. Know your own weakness and trust your strengths. Protect what you hold dear. Love deeply and face your fear — test it, if you have an innovative idea. Its with authentic heart and open mind that ultimately, you’ll prevail — full sail — charting your own metaphorical landscape.