20/20 Foresight

Have you ever had 20/20 foresight?

Many years ago, we were on our way to a conference amidst a Nor’easter.  This is long before GPS, so no shortcuts here. 

As we were driving, there was traffic building up ahead, and we had two options from which to choose. Both could work, but the one building up traffic was normally much faster.  The longer option looked like the wise choice, but then we remembered a friend was headed to the same conference. And he was ahead of us. We called quickly and asked which way they went and how far ahead they were.  Turns out they went the faster way that looked bad from our side. They said about a mile up it was clear sailing.

We were off and running with 20/20 foresight from their 20/20 hindsight.

Why don’t we do this more often?

Aren’t there always people further down the road we’re on?

We only have to choose the road– family, career, marriage, health – someone we know or have access to is much further down that road.  Their hindsight can be our foresight.

Before my coaching and training business, I worked 16 years for a printing company. I had sales experience, but zero printing experience.  My first move? I found out who had worked in my capacity before me. It was a guy named Blaine.  He was highly successful and had moved on to work for a very larger printer for more opportunity.

I took him to lunch and asked dozens of questions, sought his advice and ideas. It was a no-brainer. Some of what he said helped me realize my goals within this new venture.

The answers are out there. John Maxwell, way before he was famous as a leadership expert, would invest his vacation time around taking successful leaders out to dinner. One of them was John Wooden.

Wooden become one of his greatest mentors and was a significant factor in John Maxwell’s leadership journey.

How he got these meetings I don’t know. Maybe he just asked!

Pick your road. Find someone significantly up ahead. And seek them out.

Who is your 20/20 foresight?