Lead from the Future: How to Turn Visionary Thinking Into Breakthrough Growth
Gold Medal Winner for Best Leadership Book in the 2021 Axiom Business Book Awards
Named one of the "Top Ten Technology Books Of 2020" — Forbes
Named one of the "10 Best New Business Books of 2020" by Inc. magazine
"Johnson and Suskewicz have raised a battle cry for the kind of leadership we need in these uncertain times." -- Sandi Peterson, Member, Board of Directors, Microsoft
We all know a visionary leader when we see one. They're bold and prophetic and at the same time pragmatic. They don't just promote change--they drive it, while inspiring and mobilizing others to do the same. Visionaries like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos possess a host of innate qualities that make them extraordinary, but what truly sets them apart is their ability to turn vision into action.
In Lead from the Future, Innosight's Mark W. Johnson and Josh Suskewicz introduce a new way of thinking and managing, called "future-back," that enables any manager to become a practical visionary. Addressing the many barriers to change that exist in established organizations, they present a systematic approach to overcoming them that includes:
- The principles and mind-set that allow leadership teams to look beyond typical short-term planning horizons
- A method for turning emerging challenges into the growth opportunities that can define an organization's future
- A step-by-step approach for translating a vision into a strategic plan that teams can align around and commit to
- Ways to ensure that visionary thinking becomes a repeatable organizational capability
As practical as it is inspiring, Lead from the Future is the guide you and your team need to develop a vision and translate it into transformative growth.
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Mark W. Johnson cofounded the strategy and innovation management consultancy Innosight with Clayton M. Christensen in 2000. His books include Dual Transformation (2017) and Reinvent Your Business Model (2018), both published by Harvard Business Review Press. He lives in Belmont, Massachusetts, with his wife, Jane Clayson Johnson, and their younger children. Josh Suskewicz is a partner at Innosight, where he leads consulting engagements in numerous industries, specializing in life sciences and medtech. He lives with his wife, Rachel, and their two children in Brooklyn, New York.
You can find the authors at:
Mark Johnson: innosight.com/team_bio/johnson-mark-w/, linkedin.com/in/markwilliamjohnson/, and twitter.com/mark_w_johnson?lang=en
Josh Suskewicz: innosight.com/team_bio/suskewicz-josh/ and linkedin.com/in/josh-suskewicz-64a44212/
Gold Medal Winner for Best Leadership Book of 2021 — Axiom Business Book Awards
Named one of the "Top Ten Technology Books Of 2020" — Forbes
Named one of the "10 Best New Business Books of 2020" — Inc. magazine
"6 Business Books You Need to Read to Level Up" — Success magazine
"The book is both a philosophical treatise on managing in a world filled with ambiguity and a practical step-by-step guide for what strategic planning should be." — CHOICE, the publication of the American Library Association
Advance Praise for Lead from the Future:
"A powerful manifesto for long-view thinking, Lead from the Future offers step-by-step guidance for leadership teams that want to let go of the past and seize a new future. I recommend it wholeheartedly to any manager who wants to become a visionary leader." -- Scott Cook, cofounder and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Intuit; Member of the Board, Procter & Gamble and eBay
"Lead from the Future shares invaluable examples of 'future-back' thinkers and companies that have exhibited long-term focus, sustained investments, and life-changing innovations. The book provides actionable insights and operating models to challenge your leadership teams to create a better tomorrow." -- Wendell P. Weeks, Chairman and CEO, Corning
"Not only does it make a powerful case for the need for long-term vision, Lead from the Future gives leaders the tools they need to set a new course for their organizations and navigate toward a better future." -- Admiral James Stavridis, U.S. Navy (Ret.), former Supreme Allied Commander, NATO; Operating Executive, The Carlyle Group
"Effective leadership today is about building an environment in which people are willing and able to cocreate a better future. Lead from the Future explains why that can be so difficult in large organizations--and it shows how barriers to breakthrough innovation can be overcome." -- Linda Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; coauthor, Collective Genius
"The next decade will be far too noisy for conventional present-forward strategies. Leaders must look back from the future but act now. Johnson and Suskewicz show us how to discover the present value of future-back thinking." -- Bob Johansen, Distinguished Fellow, Institute for the Future; author, Full-Spectrum Thinking
"Lead from the Future's central premise is deceptively straightforward but decidedly revolutionary. In short, before an organization can master its future, its leaders must think about it systematically--with vision and creativity, but also with discipline, rigor, and realism. The rest is sound management. Johnson and Suskewicz have raised a battle cry for the kind of leadership we need in these uncertain times." -- Sandi Peterson, Operating Partner, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice; Member, Board of Directors, Microsoft; and former Group Worldwide Chairman, Johnson & Johnson
