Qualified to Lead Tomorrow – Part 2
July 6, 2009
“We argue that we may be heading for an ‘institutional Katrina’ – the final failure and collapse of key economic and political bureaucracies left behind from the industrial age.”
“The third wave wealth system is increasingly based on serving, thinking, knowing and experiencing.”
“The countries with the key economies in today’s world – are all heading for a crisis that none of them wants, that few political leaders are ready for…in all these countries, key public institutions are out of step with the whirlwind of change that surrounds them.”
– All of the above quotes taken from book by A&H Toffler, “Revolutionary Wealth”, 2006
“A revolutionary transition is ahead of us…Today, most of the public and their leaders have remarkably little knowledge about the future…We are driving at relentlessly increasing speed into an extraordinary future, but we are driving blindfolded.” – J. Martin, The Meaning of the 21st Century, 2007
In light of the theme of the above quotes, below are five qualities needed for tomorrow’s leader:
1. Tomorrow’s qualified leaders will lead in needed change. Company’s and/or communities will need to decide which side of the coming collision they want to be on – Driving and looking in the rear view mirror at what is fast approaching them – OR driving and looking out the front windshield figuring out the next move to go around the slow moving “car of policy” in the way of progress.
2. Tomorrow’s qualified leaders are Thought Leaders that keep companies and/or communities in the game of world class competition. Social influence has evolved from; “Cash is King”, to “Content is King”, and now to “Concept is King”.
3. Tomorrow’s qualified leaders know how to create significant collaboration. With the coming collapse of institutions as we have known them, new strategy and outcomes with new partnerships of relevant purpose are needed
4. Tomorrows qualified leaders show leadership in accurate anticipation. Thought Leadership is not only knowing what is “new”, but also what is “next”. We live in a world where what is next is moving towards us so fast, that what is new is obsolete before we can even understand it. What is “new” is what has already been developed. What is “next” is what is being thought about and imagined into reality. Thus, “new is old” and “next is transforming”.
5. Tomorrow’s qualified leaders find a new voice without losing their values. In his new book, “How The Mighty Have Fallen” (2009), Jim Collins says, “When people become arrogant, regarding success virtually as an entitlement…they lose sight of the true underlying factors that created success in the first place…overreaching better describes how the mighty fall.”
