Leading with the Futuristic StrengthsFinder Talent

Futuristic StrengthsFinder TL;DR

The futuristic StrengthsFinder talent means you aren’t only focused on today or even just tomorrow. You look to or even beyond the horizon, imagining what’s possible. 

You’re a fustorian, telling the stories not of the past but of the future.

But it’s not just for imagination's sake. You’re inspired to make dreams become a reality. By casting a compelling vision of the future to others, you motivate them to realize what’s possible.

If you’re already familiar with StrengthsFinder, you can skip over the next section.

How do you lead well with futuristic in your StrengthsFinder top 5?

So you’ve taken the StrengthsFinder assessment, received your results and found futuristic in the list. Now you’re wondering how to grow or leverage this strength in your leadership. 

I love to imagine what could be and explore future possibilities. I've also helped many teams translate those future possibilities into actions for today.

These are three strategies I’ve seen leaders with futuristic strength use to translate future possibilities into the actions and choices of today.

1. Permission to daydream.
2. Translate to today.
3. Tell stories of the future.

Permission to daydream.

Daydreaming often gets a bad rap, probably because a lot of us used it to escape the mundaneness of classrooms during our younger years.  

But daydreaming can also be used to cultivate your awareness and insight into what could be but isn’t yet.

You look to or even beyond the horizon, imagining what’s possible.

Give yourself the freedom to explore possible future scenarios. Daydreaming takes you beyond the simple goals or plans written on a whiteboard, allowing you to envision the future in full color. What does it look like and feel like? Who is there, and what is the experience like?

A robust view of a possible future will be a solid guide to help you navigate the complexities of your current reality.

I’m talking more about focused daydreaming, but some free-flowing daydreaming is ok too.

Daydreaming can also be used to cultivate your awareness and insight into what could be but isn’t yet.

My one caution is not to use it as an escape strategy. This is a very real temptation, and choosing to escape to the future handicaps your ability to engage well in the present.

Translate to today.

Seeing a possible future is inspiring, and translating it back to today is empowering.

You’ve seen the destination. Now it’s time to draw out the map of how to get there. 

Take what you imagine for the future and walk it back to what must be done in the present to get there. Identify critical milestones along the way and highlight what will need to be true for those milestones to be reached.

Invite your team to this process. They will share your future vision and develop the present focus needed to get there. 

Tell stories of the future.

You’re a fustorian, telling the stories not of the past but of the future.  

As you communicate with your team members, describe the future in vivid, concrete, tangible terms. Help them experience it as you do. 

Look for reference points from past experiences that help them imagine something new. A great example is when Steve Jobs described the iPod as having 1,000 songs in your pocket. It made concrete a concept and possibility that was yet visible to people. 

Seeing a possible future is inspiring, and translating it back to today is empowering.

Learn to ask good questions to draw out your team’s own vision of the future. Let them co-author the story with you. Not only will that have greater ownership, but it will also likely be a better story.

As you learn to lead using your futuristic strength, you can bring others with you from today to tomorrow and beyond. 

Imagine if your whole team shared the same vision of the future. What could be accomplished if your organization's budgets, priorities and efforts aligned with a shared future reality?

No more getting stuck maintaining the status quo of today.

Those with the futuristic strength can struggle with an antipattern of escaping. Learning the streangths antipatterns will allow you to continue growing as a healthy, intentional leader. 

You are on an extraordinary journey to living and leading from your strengths. You can explore the list below to learn about the rest of your top 5 strengths.