How can managers and leaders keep ahead of the changing market demands, in your opinion?

To Quote Peter Drucker - You cannot be successful today with yesterday's tools and skills.

Keep up to date and forsee changes happening. You have to be ahead of others if you want to be a Manager or a Leader.

Gain the "Systems Thinking Skills" and "Engage front line people" in the BIG picture. 

Also, to create a work environment that nurtures innovation. 

A  leader should understand market thoroughly, and should upgrade himself in learning new technologies, and innovate himself,  and by doing trail and error method, he must move forward.

• Through constant learning and awareness of relevant industry dynamics
• Participation in industry 
• Be adaptive to change management  and cultures

by idwntifying precisly odentifying customer needs and wants through markering researxh

By answering the following questions:

• Is the corporate mission old fashioned because customer needs have changed?
• Can we change all the services that accompagnenet the material product to make the overall product attractive?
• How to achieve superior profitability than the average for the profession?
• Can we change the division of labor in the industry, subcontractor or taking control of whatever stage of production?
• What key issues must be identified and highlight to improve our competitive position?
• Can we find a competitive edge in a support function like data processing or distribution?
• It is essential to base the formulation of competitive edge in customer needs, and to ensure that the supposed advantage is really an advantage from the customer point of view.

The company should position itself on two dimensions:

1. The degree of differentiation
2. The magnitude of the focus

Hence three fundamental strategies, called generic strategies:

• The domination by costs
• The differentiation
• The focus

It is the same for everyone in (working) life; stay educated! That is what is meaned by ongoing development; follow education, seminars, read professional literature and websites, listen to college's, co-workers, employees, managers around you and dare to take changes if demanded. Also thank you for the other replies above; it is all part of the learning organization!!

Continue to invest in self - be a lifelong learner. Read, read, read. Go back to campus. 

Choose to be open to change. Do things not used to. Playing a game or a musical instrument. 

Do service, not merely cheque-book philanthropy. Go to the last mile and make a difference. 

Embrace technology

Leadership is more about people. Work on emotional quotient. 

Get a mentor, then a coach. Everyone needs a Coach. 

Adopt coaching also as a leadership style. 

Be passionate about ethics. 

Career is one part of the life. There are other important components. Family, health, wealth, legacy, charity/philanthropy, environment/social causes, hobby, travel, etc. Don't ignore family, especially parents, spouse and kids. That is perhaps the most important responsibility ( opportunity, blessings ) of our lives. Work-life integration is key to happiness & fulfilment. 

Try to move towards life-purpose. The more we are aligned with our life purpose at work, the happier we are. We will shine as a leader. 

when market is full of rivals, that moment sale will not matter if you dont have better service, for all managers and leaders they need to keep coordination with their team members and back up plans, new strategies to be implemented rather to imitate others. Most important to target the markets with high level transparent commitment and communications at the earliest.

While it is utterly important to keep up with ever changing dynamics of market parameters and technology, it is important for a manager to identify the most relevant challenges in his/ her core industry. With constant effort it is possible to identify and even envisage the big picture, though may not be very accurately. It is also important for leaders to be receptive enough so the subordinates can freely discuss and propose new strategies/ decisions. At the end of the day building up a Uber-communicative and impulsive team only can keep the organization ahead of the curve.

As my opinion,leader or manager have to analyse the market,what it want&then apply it to on product for example in India most people like herbal &natural products so patanjali made herbal product& its very successful now