#53 - The Transformation of the Chief Operating Officer role – The Chief Anticipation Officer with Cathy Ward

Today in The Sales Transformation Podcast Studio, we’re joined by Cathy Ward, Chief Operating Officer for Asian Pacific and Japan at SAP who talks about the interesting transformation that the Chief Operating Officer role is going through. Cathy describes that today’s business leaders need to build resilience and agility for the future, focusing squarely on how to serve customers, how to operate, and how to work amid disruption and change—all while keeping the business running right now. But there’s no one way to anticipate the changes the future will bring. Along with her team at SAP, Cathy is developing a future-focused movement towards the Chief Anticipation Officer. This moment in time is an incredible opportunity for businesses to look to the future across three critical areas: how people will work, how we will do business, and how we will operate our organisations which will be important in breaking away from traditional methods and driving new outcomes.Listen as Cathy and Phil discuss:[12:20] How to enable an organisation to adapt to where the future is[21:09] The work that was conducted with the Harvard Business Review that validates the need for C-suite leaders to have a Chief Anticipation Officer mindset[39:15] What the future of the Chief Anticipation Officer role looks likeConnect with Cathy WardConnect with Dr Philip SquireRead “Anticipating the Future for Growth and Innovation: Companies in Asia Pacific and Beyond Are Building Prescience into Their Plans” – Harvard Business Review  Make sure you're following us on LinkedIn and Twitter to get updates on the latest episodes! Also, take our Mindset Survey and find out if you are selling to customers the way they want to be sold to today.