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2 Future-­Ready Leadership Deloitte’s ­people and change practice. I take a deep breath. “Well,” asks Jim, “how would you advise Mr. Schultz ­ under ­these circumstances?” This ­ isn’t a dream about a job interview gone awry. This is a glimpse of the ­ future of work. Every­thing in this scenario is technologically pos­si­ble ­today: from the smart, connected AI-­powered coffee shop, to the use of augmented and virtual real­ity technologies for interviewing and training. Although ­there are plenty of unknowns about artificial intelligence and the fourth industrial revolution, one certainty surrounds the ­ future of work: future-­ready leadership ­ will be more impor­tant than ever before. If you want to successfully lead your organ­ization forward into the ­ future, then you need to understand the new rules of leading in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). In this book I explain leadership’s role in building organ­izations of the ­ future. It’s a book about how to prepare the ­ people in your organ­ization to work ­toward a shared purpose and a shared ­ future. At their core, future-­ready leaders have deep levels of ­human intelligence that is made up of mindful, critical, and strategic thinking skills, change leadership know-­how, collabo- ration and coaching skills, and sound ethical judgment. In their simplest form, the five demands of future-­ready leadership are: presence, agility, collaboration, development, and discernment. What makes future-­ready leaders ready is that they understand and can leverage what makes them fundamentally ­human to achieve results in the age of digitization, uncertainty, and emergent change. Future-­ready leaders and teams realize that their ­human capacities ­will allow them to overcome the per- ils and maximize the possibilities of 4IR changes at work and in life. The tools, frameworks, and resources in this book ­ will help individual lead- ers and their teams deepen their understanding of what it takes to meet the demands of leading in smart, connected organ­izations and communities. ­ These resources are designed to be practical and to empower leaders to take action and begin the pro­cess of future-­proofing their organ­izations, communities, institutions, and/or workplaces. In addition, the resources in this book are intended to help educators, coaches, and ­human resources (HR) professionals start developing the next generation of leaders around the five demands of future-­ready leadership. AI, robotics, and the workplace of the ­future are new to every­one. Therefore, ­ whether ­you’re 25 or 75 years of age, this book offers insights and advice to help you make sense of and decide how your organ­ization should approach fourth industrial revolution challenges. The tools and recommended actions provided in each chapter are designed to spark dialogue, discussion, and debate among the ­people in your community or organ­ization, resulting in action that generates prosperous shared futures.­ Creating a future-­ready organ­ization is a strategic pro­cess with a set of capa- bilities that help leaders reduce the risks and maximize the potential of 4IR mega trends such as AI, 3-­D printing, and digitization. The future-­proofing