Latest / Lead With Clarity: Practical Insight for Senior Leaders / Skate to Where the Puck Is Going to Be
Transcript
- Blake Holman: Welcome to Lead with Clarity. This is a space for leaders who want to grow without losing themselves in the process. Each episode is a short reflection on leadership, influence, and the inner work that shapes how we show up for others. It's not hype, not noise, just clear thinking for the journey of leading well. Today is our 60th episode and it's entitled, Skate to Where the Puck is Going to Be. Here we go. There's a question I've been sitting with a lot lately, not just for myself, but for every leader and every young person I work with. And the question is simple. Where's the game going? Not where it's been, not where it is right now today. Where is it going? That question is at the heart of one of the most quoted lines in all of sports. Wayne Gretzky, arguably the greatest hockey player to ever lace up skates, was once asked about the secret to his success. And his answer was not about speed or strength or even raw talent when he said, skate to where the puck is going to be. Think about that for a moment. Not where the puck is, where it's going to be. That single idea unlocks something essential about leadership in this moment. Because right now, we're living through one of the most significant shifts in the history of work. And most of the conversation around it is focused entirely on the wrong thing. The headlines say jobs are going away, roles are being automated, entire categories of work are being redefined, and people are scared. It's understandable. Change of this magnitude tends to produce fear before it produces clarity. Here's the misread. And here's where I think most people are getting it wrong. They are skating to where the puck was. They're trying to protect a version of work that is already in transition. They are defending a job description instead of asking what the next version of that job will actually require. And that's a dangerous place to plant your feet. I talk with the leaders all the time. And one of the things I tell them consistently is this, do not prepare for the job that existed for the last 30 years. Prepare for the job that is taking shape right now. the one that will be in full demand five and 10 years from today. That requires a different posture. It requires foresight, not just awareness of change, but intentional preparation for what comes next. And this is where I want to reframe the conversation because foresight is not a gift that some people are born with. It's a discipline. It's developed through observation, through asking honest questions, and through the willingness to challenge your own assumptions about where value lives. The leaders who going to thrive in this next decade are not necessarily the most experienced or the most credentialed. They're the ones who are paying attention. They are studying the direction of their industries, not just the current state of them. They are asking what problems will still need human judgment to solve. What will still require empathy, ethical reasoning, discernment, and relationships. Those things are not going away. If anything, they become more valuable as the routine, the transactional. and the repetitive get absorbed into technology. Here's the carry forward reflection I want you to sit with. If you were to map out the next five years in your field, honestly, where is value moving? Not where has it been concentrated, but where is it going? And are you positioned in front of that movement or are you still chasing a puck that has already left the corner? This is not about fear and it's not about abandoning what you've built. It's about having the clarity to see where the game is going. and the courage to move before the crowd does. Gretzky was not just fast, he was perceptive. He saw the game differently than everyone else on the ice. That kind of perception is available to every leader who's willing to develop it. Leaders who lead with clarity do not wait for the future to arrive and then react to it. They study it, they prepare for it. They position themselves to serve it well before it becomes obvious to everyone else. Skate to where the puck is going to be. This is not just advice for a hockey rink. It's a way of leading.