3 Not-So-Ordinary Career Tips for Future Industry Leaders
By Alexus Mosley
Most career advice focuses on doing more. Acquiring more skills, more certifications, and productivity hacks. But future industry leaders aren’t just efficient workers. They’re also strategic thinkers. They pay attention to patterns, power shifts, and long-term trends that shape entire industries before those shifts show up on job boards.
Here are three not-so-ordinary career habits that help you think like a strategist, not just a worker:
1) Read the World Economic Forum (Yes, Really)
You don’t have to be a policymaker to benefit from the World Economic Forum. Browsing its reports and trend forecasts even once or twice a year gives you a macro view of where the world is heading, from emerging technologies to workforce shifts to sustainability priorities.
Industries don’t change in isolation. Business, fashion, media, and tech are all influenced by global economic and political forces. When you understand the big picture, you can make smarter micro-decisions about where to build your skills, what industries to enter, and which roles are likely to grow (or disappear).
Skim WEF’s annual reports and note three trends that could affect your field in the next 3–5 years. Let that inform your learning goals for the year.
2) Track a Few Diplomats or Policy Leaders
This one feels unconventional, but quietly powerful. Diplomats and policy leaders often signal where industries, investments, and international partnerships are headed long before mainstream media breaks the story.
Following a few key figures from your own country (or globally) through speeches, interviews, and social posts can help you spot early clues about regulatory changes, economic alliances, and geopolitical shifts that eventually impact business, tech, media, and even fashion.
Regulations and global relationships shape markets. If you understand where policy is moving, you can anticipate where opportunities and risks will emerge.
Pick 2–3 policy leaders to follow intentionally for a month. Notice recurring themes in what they talk about. Those themes often hint at what industries will be prioritized next.
3) Study How People Adapted to Past Tech Disruptions
History is one of the best career coaches. Entire professions have risen and fallen before, from milkmen to switchboard operators, as new technologies reshaped daily life. Studying how individuals and industries adapted during past technological shifts builds a muscle for foresight.
When dishwashers entered homes, domestic labor changed. When the internet arrived, entire media industries were rewritten. Today, AI and automation are creating similar inflection points. The people who thrive aren’t the ones who resist change; they’re the ones who reimagine their role within it.
Adaptability is a leadership skill. Understanding how others pivoted during major transitions helps you stay flexible, curious, and future-proof. Pick one historical tech shift (like the rise of the internet or mobile phones) and study how one industry transformed because of it. Ask yourself: how is today’s tech shift similar?