Great Leaders Play the Long Game — Lessons from Visionary Urban Planning

In a world hypnotised by the short-term, great leaders persist in playing the long game.

In the course of my travels last week, I met with Saravanan Sugumaran, an urban development specialist who advises governments on how to overhaul the urban planning of some of the world’s largest cities.

“If you want to create amazing cities, you have to visualise where you want to be in 50-years.

Most political leaders only think 1-3 years out. But we can’t achieve anything meaningful in that time frame.

Of the 80 countries my firm has advised, only one country – other than Singapore – thinks beyond 10-years. Do you want to guess which country it is?”

“China?”, I guessed.

“Precisely, these two countries know the power of thinking long-term.” Australia, Europe and the United States – take heed.

Western democracies need to figure out a way to think long-term or they will be out-performed by single-party states.

What is true of countries, is true also of individuals.

The more clearly you envisage your long-term vision, and the more steadfastly you adhere to it – the more likely you are to meet with unusual success.