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CEOs of family businesses, as do CEOs of publicly-held businesses, face a challenge of continuous economic and technological change. According to authors Jay Abraham and Carlos Dias, only about 5% of CEOs devote significant time and effort to strategic thinking. Most CEOS devote most of their time to internal, operational issues, "fighting fires."

Joining the 5% by adopting strategic thinking can create an enormous competitive advantage. In order to survive and grow in the long term, more time and resources must be devoted to individual development, intelligence gathering, strategic planning and training team members.

In a changing world, CEOs can't rely on their past experience and training. They must adapt. Too many of them are lazy and "go with the flow." They rely on opinions and assumptions that don't accurately portray the facts of what is happening in the world.

An example of an important development to consider is the BRICS+ group of emerging nations. The current members are Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia. The purpose of the group is to create a counterweight to Western influence in global institutions, such as the World Bank, the Group of Seven (G7) and the UN Security Council. The group intends to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar and to create an alternative finance system, the New Development Bank and Contingent Reserve Arrangement.

Most of the world's economic growth is happening in these emerging nations, since their starting points were much lower than for the United States and Europe. Comparatively lower economic growth is happening in the United States and Europe. This means most of the opportunity for economic growth is in the emerging nations.

According to the authors, executives should read a lot more in order to be effective. In addition to good business books, they need news sources that provide more accurate information than traditional media. Although the internet is a great resource, there is a lot of "fake news" to sift through.

Executives need to reexamine and confirm their beliefs to assure their thinking accurately conforms with reality. They should participate in internal and external masterminds to get honest feedback and input about whether their strategic thinking ideas are accurate. They need to recognize that problems can be opportunities in disguise. They need to get intelligence about what is happening outside of their industry for new ideas they can apply. For example, Federal Express applied the hub and spoke method for clearing checks to its delivery system.

They need to get for themselves and their employees the training they need to keep up with current developments in management, operations and marketing.

Today, executives are dealing with unexpected changes that are happening faster than ever. Reading and applying the ideas in The CEO Who Sees Around Corners can help them respond more effectively.

Buy it on Amazon: The CEO Who Sees Around Corners.

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