Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World

Bob Johansen

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• Grounded in the most recent ten-year forecast by the prestigious Institute for the Future
• Identifies the new skills needed to thrive in the next decade
• Provides tools, examples, and advice to help develop your expertise in each of the ten future skills

Some leadership skills are enduring. But to be successful in the future, leaders also need an emerging set of skills uniquely suited to dealing with the challenges of the threshold decade we are entering. Today’s businesses and organizations are operating in a world characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Though they already seemed stressed to the breaking point, Johansen reminds us that we are also more connected than ever before in our history, but we must fully realize the benefits of that connectivity. In the next decade, leaders will not just see the future—they will make it! But they will not be able to do it alone.

Institute for the Future has been developing ten-year forecasts for some of the world’s top organizations for forty years—it is the only futures group to outlive its own forecasts. Bob Johansen draws on IFTF’s latest forecast (included in this book) to introduce skills that will help leaders see connections in the larger systems of which they are a part, embrace shared assets and opportunities, and cut through the chaos to make a better future. Separate chapters focus on each skill, identifying the new circumstances that make it necessary and providing examples of the skill in action. How adroit are you at dilemma-flipping—turning problems that can’t be permanently solved into opportunities? What is your level of immersive learning ability—the ability to dive into very different physical and online worlds and learn from them? Do you know what a smart mob is and how to organize one? Johansen provides role models, tools, and advice to help you develop these and seven other skills.

We are facing times of unprecedented challenge. Combining research-based forecasts, real-world examples, and his own astute analysis, Bob Johansen helps you identify and acquire the abilities you need to thrive in this difficult world.

Bob Johansen was president and CEO of the Institute for the Future from 1996 to 2004 and is now the IFTF Distinguished Fellow, as well as serving on its board. He is the author of six books, including GlobalWork: Bridging Distance, Culture, and Time.

	List of Figures	xi
	Preface	xiii
	INTRODUCTION: leaders need new skills to make the future	1
1	Maker Instinct	17
2	Clarity	30
3	Dilemma Flipping	41
4	Immersive Learning Ability	56
5	Bio-Empathy	72
6	Constructive Depolarizing	88
7	Quiet Transparency	101
8	Rapid Prototyping	113
9	Smart Mob Organizing	125
10	Commons Creating	135
	Conclusion: Readying Yourself for the Future	148
	Appendix	167
	Notes	169
	Bibliography	177
	Acknowledgments	181
	Index	185
	About the Author	193
	About IFTF	194

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