About seven years ago, I attended a presentation about the “future of work”.  The year was 2015.  Globally, businesses were all very focused on the future of work.  Were the bots really coming to take our roles?  What would be the impact of artificial intelligence on roles and industries? Would we suffer another global financial crisis?  A potential pandemic – well we didn’t focus on that.  We thought the most significant threat to the way we worked would be technology related, not a biological hazard.

At this presentation, I was in awe of the presenter.  What a great title- A Workplace Futurist.  The Futurist title has so much appeal.  Particularly for a big picture strategist!  How amazing would it be to work on future trends, analysis and research and then use that information to shape workplace strategy?   I wanted to be a Workplace Futurist. 

At the time I was a Human Resources Director.  The People and Culture (P&C) vernacular had not yet become ubiquitous.  Fast forward seven years, I now realise, I already was the Workplace Futurist.  I was setting a strategy for the organisation I was working in, with a five-year horizon in view.  I was working to align the Business strategy to the People Strategy, and my focus was mainly outside of the business I was working in.  I needed to have this predominantly external view so I could be the Futurist.  An internal view would not have given me the vantage point I needed to see what was coming, assess, measure, strategize and plan.     

Sometimes what we want to be, is where we already are but in a different form. 

The path for the P&C professional often looks like this:

I had taken a path from generalist to futurist throughout my career, however, I hadn’t recognised it. I had not realised that as I took on particular roles, I assumed an identity with the role.  As we move through this path, we can consider the steps along the way to be identities.  In other words, the identity we take on when we are in particular roles, or at a certain level.  Seeing these steps as identities along the way can help us to focus on the mindset that will support our performance in the role. 

If you are aspiring to get to the next level, there’s a good chance you may already be part way there.

Rita Cincotta coaches, facilitates and speaks on individual and team performance, leadership development, resilience and new ways of working. She works with organisations to develop human centred solutions that help people and businesses to thrive.