Toward What is Ahead: Elements of an Anticipatory Leadership Model

December 3, 2025

Toward What is Ahead: Elements of an Anticipatory Leadership Model

Joseph M. Davenport, III | 2019

Abstract

The art of leadership is as old as the existence of humanity on the planet and yet the challenges that modern leaders face appear to be richer, faster-paced, and more complex than ever. While many leaders find that merely keeping up with the demands of these leadership challenges is enough, premier leaders find ways to anticipate and avoid the problems that plague lesser practitioners of the art, rather than spend their precious hours developing remedies to situations that seem to have evolved out of thin air.¹

This book opens with the age-old debate concerning whether managers or leaders better utilize the anticipatory tools essential to modern organizations. We take a look into existing models available to contemporary leaders, exploring their strengths and weaknesses and the commonalities between the models that allow leaders to “see” the future. The exploration continues laying out the framework for the development of the individual as an anticipatory leader.

The second section of the book focuses on the internal organizational forces which impact anticipatory leaders and their ability to apply anticipatory leadership. The third section explores external factors impacting the anticipatory leader, including a detailed look at the Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA) environment and ways the anticipatory leader can meet and thrive its impact on corporate operations and strategies.

The book concludes with the framing of all three elements as they best fit the anticipatory leadership model, using a systems view of the anticipatory leadership model to provide the leader a visual for further insight into the systems thinking mode and demonstrate the interactions among elements in the model. As with any art, flexibility and adaptability remain indispensable for maximum model efficiency within the context of your organization.

¹Steven C. Harper, “Timing-The Bedrock of Anticipatory Management” Business Horizons 43, Issue 1 (January-February 2000): 75-76.

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