If we could predict the future, we'd all be buying lottery tickets. But they do have value in getting executives to think about opportunities they can and should be considering as they attempt to accelerate their businesses. Here are some predictions worth considering:

Top 10 Retail Banking Trends and Predictions for 2018. "2018 will be known as the year of action. There’s been a lot of conversations, meetings, demos, plans, etc, but there is an urgency now to get projects planned and funded to create new customized engagement models and variety of products/services from which to choose for more personalized client experience.”

Forrester's Predictions 2018: A year of reckoning. "2018 will be a year of reckoning for those that have held on too long or tried to bootstrap their way through transforming their business. Simply put, the distance between customer expectations and the reality on the ground is becoming so great that a slow and gradual transition is no longer possible. Incrementalism may feel good, but it masks the quiet deterioration of the business. Whether CEOs in these companies start to use their balance sheet wisely, find new leaders, develop aggressive turnaround plans, or do all of the above, they and their leadership teams must aggressively get on track to preserve market share and market standing."

And 10 Predictions by Let’s Talk Payments. “With the increased familiarity and understanding of FinTech by banks’ senior management, expect many FinTechs to avoid innovation teams altogether and deal with the relevant business lines directly. As well as saving FinTech startups’ time and energy, this will continue to embed innovation as a mindset across the organization rather than having it limited to just the innovation team. Easier said than done.”

What CEOs get wrong about vision and how to get it right.

5 Guiding Leadership Principles:

1.     Find your own unique way

2.     Appeal to emotions often and vividly

3.     Describe changes that can be imagined

4.     Describe valued behavior, not values

5.     Be both firm and flexible

How to regain the lost art of reflection. “By reviving the art of reflection, leaders can reclaim their time, deploy their full cognitive powers to the increasingly complex challenges they face and, by inspiring the same behavior in others, liberate employees from the corrosive effects of information overload and incessant reactivity.”