Future Shaper Book Summary - Future Shaper Book explained in key points

Future Shaper summary

Name: Future Shaper
Rating: 4.2 (72 reviews)
Author: Niamh O'Keeffe

Niamh O'Keeffe

How Leaders Can Take Charge in an Uncertain World

Listen to the first key idea

Key idea 1 of 8

00:00

4.2 (72 ratings)

23 mins

8 key ideas

Audio & text

What is Future Shaper about?

Future Shaper (2020) describes the challenges leaders face in an increasingly fast-paced and technologically driven world. It’s the ultimate manual for leaders seeking to improve their leadership skills, embrace new ideas and innovations, and prepare for the future.

About the Author

Niamh O’Keeffe is a leadership advisor with over 25 years’ experience in strategy consulting, head-hunting, and executive coaching. In 2004, she founded First100, a leadership and performance-acceleration consultancy. She’s also the author of First 100 Days: How to Make Maximum Impact in Your New Leadership Role.

Table of Contents

Key idea 1 of 8

We live in an uncertain world, and businesses are under threat.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but the world we live in is increasingly unstable. At times, it can feel overwhelming just watching the morning news, with its headlines about climate change, corruption, terrorism, populism, and other global ills.

Compounding this unsettling instability, rapid advances in technology are changing – well – everything.

Here’s the key message: We live in an uncertain world, and businesses are under threat.

Global society is entering the fourth industrial revolution – an age defined by new scientific and technological breakthroughs. These breakthroughs include artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain technology, and precision medicine, each of which is transforming our world in a number of ways.

For starters, these new technologies are disrupting industries. For example, the emergence of digital banks in the financial industry has forced traditional banks to upgrade their online services in order to compete.

Then, there’s AI – self-driving cars, for example – which is challenging and changing how we live and work.

While the digital revolution promises endless opportunities for businesses, it’s also created a feeling of global instability. Technology is unsettling territory: it poses new risks, raises ethical concerns, and serves as a reminder of the future’s unpredictability.

That’s why being a leader in 2020 is tougher than ever. CEOs and management teams are on what the author calls “constant threat alert,” where they have to anticipate changes, be creative, and constantly pivot to keep their companies afloat.

For instance, many brick-and-mortar shops have made their merchandise available online to accommodate their customers’ digital shopping habits. And those shops that haven’t may soon find themselves out of business.

The problem is, if you’re a leader on constant threat alert, you’ll never have the time to step back and learn the leadership skills that will help you navigate today’s relentless, ever-changing business environment.

For businesses to survive these uncertain times, they’ll need their leaders to take control, empower their teams, and be steadfast in the face of overwhelming challenges.

To be a future-shaping leader, you need to define your long-term vision.

Let’s begin with a story about a great leader in history.

In the early 1960s, American president John F. Kennedy had a vision. In a simple sentence, Kennedy communicated what he wanted to achieve: “To put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.”

The best way to figure out your goals is to ideate without limits.

Imagine you’re an artist sitting in front of an easel. Before you is a blank canvas and, to your right, is a collection of paints and brushes. In this moment, there are no rules: you can paint whatever you like. It’s this freedom – the boundless potential of that blank canvas – that enables artists to be creative.

Like artists, future shapers seeking creative solutions also need freedom. In fact, when figuring out what your vision is for the future, it’s best to let your imagination run wild – and to set aside your concerns for how you will implement it.

To earn support, leaders must communicate a clear vision and provide a roadmap for how to get there.

In the early 1990s and the decades before that, the world of business looked much different than it does today. Back then, it was typical for business leaders to sit at the head of a long boardroom table, giving out instructions and assigning tasks. Leaders were king – or queen – of their corporate domain.

This model has changed entirely. Today, the old “command and control” style of leadership no longer works. There are two reasons for this. First, employees are more empowered, educated, and autonomous than ever before. Second, traditional corporate hierarchies have been flattened. In other words, companies function less like monarchies and more like democracies.

Build a creative and resilient team via diversity and inclusion.

Imagine two teams. One is diverse. It consists of men and women, black people and brown people, younger people and older people. The other team is homogeneous – a group of men, most of them white, all about 40. Some people might find this surprising, but the diverse team consistently outperforms the homogenous team, despite its members having far fewer commonalities. Why?

Here’s the key message: Build a creative and resilient team via diversity and inclusion.

Cultivate connections to establish your platform.

Meet Sanjay. He’s a senior commercial lending manager in a bank, and he’s had a brilliant idea. Sanjay has observed that his bank is comfortable lending money to bigger businesses, but it’s unwilling to fund entrepreneurs. Fully aware that Apple and other major global businesses began as scrappy start-ups in need of capital, Sanjay decides that he wants to incubate an “entrepreneurial bank for entrepreneurs.”

But then Sanjay encounters a problem – a platform problem.

Being a happy and energized leader creates an optimal atmosphere for great work.

As a leader, you’ll always have a team of people depending on you for direction. If you’re lackluster about your goals, it won’t only affect your own level of motivation, but that of your employees, too.

Employees, whether consciously or unconsciously, tend to copy the mood and behaviors of their leader. For example, if you walk into the office with a thunder cloud above your head, it’s likely your employees’ moods will turn gray, too. On the other hand, if you can put your worries aside and be consistently motivated and energized, your team’s productivity will be positively affected as a result.

Be persistent to survive today’s volatile business environment.

Steve Jobs. His name has become synonymous with success, innovation, stylish design – all the things that businesses yearn to achieve. But a major chunk of his career was defined by failure.

In 1976, he started Apple, which got off to a good start. But after an unsuccessful product launch in 1985, he got kicked out of his own company. Then he founded a new company called NeXT.

Want to see all full key ideas from Future Shaper?

Key ideas in Future Shaper

More knowledge in less time

Read or listen

Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.

Find your next read

Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.

Shortcasts ^New

We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

Who should read Future Shaper

Business leaders stuck in a traditional way of thinking
Novice entrepreneurs wanting to learn the ins-and-outs of leadership
Future leaders entering the business world on the cusp of the digital revolution

Categories with Future Shaper

Technology & the Future Management & Leadership

Books like Future Shaper

Management Mess to Leadership Success

Scott Jeffrey Miller

30 Challenges to Become the Leader You Would Follow

Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter

A Practical Guide to Leadership That Matters

What Every Leader Needs to Know

How Bold Leadership Changes the World

28 min

4.4

From Start-Up to Grown-Up

Alisa Cohn

Grow Your Leadership to Grow Your Business

24 min

4.3

Simple Truths of Leadership

Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley

52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust

20 min

4.7

The Nine Types of Leader

James Ashton

How the Leaders of Tomorrow Can Learn from The Leaders of Today

27 min

4.3

The Power of Giving Away Power

Matthew Barzun

How the Best Leaders Learn to Let Go

19 min

4.3

Mastering Leadership

Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams

An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results

18 min

4.3

What our members say

Sven O.

It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

Thi Viet Quynh N.

Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

Jonathan A.

Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

Renee D.

Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

Start growing with Blinkist now

25 Million

Downloads on all platforms

4.7 Stars

Average ratings on iOS and Google Play

91%

Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*

*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers

Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

Start your free trial

Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club

by Robin Sharma

Future Shaper summary

Listen to the first key idea

What is Future Shaper about?

About the Author

We live in an uncertain world, and businesses are under threat.

To be a future-shaping leader, you need to define your long-term vision.

The best way to figure out your goals is to ideate without limits.

To earn support, leaders must communicate a clear vision and provide a roadmap for how to get there.

Build a creative and resilient team via diversity and inclusion.

Cultivate connections to establish your platform.

Being a happy and energized leader creates an optimal atmosphere for great work.

Be persistent to survive today’s volatile business environment.

Key ideas in Future Shaper

We live in an uncertain world, and businesses are under threat.

To be a future-shaping leader, you need to define your long-term vision.

The best way to figure out your goals is to ideate without limits.

To earn support, leaders must communicate a clear vision and provide a roadmap for how to get there.

Build a creative and resilient team via diversity and inclusion.

Cultivate connections to establish your platform.

Being a happy and energized leader creates an optimal atmosphere for great work.

Be persistent to survive today’s volatile business environment.

Who should read Future Shaper

Categories with Future Shaper

Books like Future Shaper

What our members say

Discover the Blinkist catalogue

Popular titles

Most popular categories

Trending Collections