In this five-part series, I'm not going to give you a definition of leadership. I'm not even going to try to come up with one on my own, because your idea of leadership is exactly that, YOURS. My only hope is that my ideas can help you better understand your idea of leadership.

Part 4: What is forward thinking, and what does it have to do with leadership?

I don't believe that we need Google to help us come up with a general definition of forward thinking. In fact, I would say that the idea of "forward thinking" is quite self-explanatory. The idea that you must actively think about the future is forward thinking. It is ubiquitous. It permeates every aspect of your life, whether you wish to think about it or not.

Each day, you use forward thinking to accurately and adequately plan your life. Maybe you check tomorrows weather, in hopes that you don't get caught without an umbrella (again). Or possibly you make a list of necessary ingredients for that lovely dinner you plan to make. I would argue that all of these things involve forward thinking.

We actively engage in thinking about the future so that when we arrive there, it's not so much of a surprise.

Checking the weather allows us to mitigate the surprise of a sudden deluge. Making a list of ingredients allows us to purchase the necessary ingredients before cooking that delicious meal.

In these analogies, you may think forward thinking only has to do with the result. The sudden thunderstorm or the finished meal. However, I believe that forward thinking is more concerned with the process which leads to eventual success.

Try this little thought experiment. Imagine you have a nice job in your field of choice. You come to work every day, day in and day out, working hard in hopes that someday soon you will receive a promotion. Forward thinking is what keeps your mind focused on the goal, a promotion. Forward thinking is also what sets your path toward that goal. Without knowing your goal, you would have no reason or means to work toward that it.

Forward thinking is the mentality of progress.

Keeping your thinking pointed solidly in the direction you wish to go is an integral part of leadership. Without some idea of where you want to end up, how do you know what to do today? Keeping your "eye on the prize" as they say, allows you to also focus on what you need to do in order to attain that prize.

In terms of leadership, I believe this is also somewhat self-explanatory. As I have said in previous parts of this series, a leader must know where he or she wants to go. Forward-thinking informs that thinking in a different way. Discipline, achievement, and responsibility all help you attain the goal, but forward-thinking helps to set the goal.

Imagine you are working in a small team. Your boss gives you a timeframe and somewhat vague idea of what you need to accomplish as a team. Without forward thinking, your timeline is worthless. But you are a team of forward thinkers. You work together to set a clear goal for the future and you think about what needs to be done, the steps that need to be taken, to accomplish that goal. The ability to think ahead as a team and plan accordingly is what will make you successful.

Regardless of your profession, forward thinking is key to success. Success on its own is a product of forward thinking. One cannot dream of or envision success without having thought about the future. The whole idea of success stems from the idea that today is better than yesterday, and that tomorrow will be better than today.

The problem is, that's not always true. Sometimes today sucks, and you already know that tomorrow is shaping up to be even worse. Regardless of these short-term setbacks, keeping your eye on the horizon will allow any situation to improve over time. Whether in a corporation, a small team setting, or on your own, forward-thinking will allow you to remain steadfast in the accomplishment of your goals.