The Future-Proof Workplace: Six Strategies to Accelerate Talent Development, Reshape Your Culture, and Succeed with Purpose - Hardcover

by Linda Sharkey (Author), Morag Barrett (Author), Marshall Goldsmith (Foreword by)

Face the future on the crest of the wave while the rest are pulled under

The Future-Proof Workplace is a survival guide for the new realities of business. The future is no longer some far-off destination; it is here, right now, and already changing the way we work. Historically, the sea-changes have advanced humanity and inspired us to reach even further; from the Dark Ages to the Age of Enlightenment, from agrarian to industrial societies--and today is no different. But only those who are ready for the changes will come out thriving. This book highlights the changes already taking place around us: the transition from skills to knowledge, the neuroscience approach to leadership and motivation, galloping technical advances, and more. Whether you're a CEO, a leader or manager, or just trying to survive the chaos, this invaluable guide is your wake-up call--the future is now.

The new forces emerging must be understood now if your organization is to succeed. This book details the transformation every business must make to turn upheaval into opportunity.

• Discover how emerging technologies and neuroscience research are already impacting the way we work
• Learn how yesterday's biases are being replaced by modern values, culture, and relationships
• Consider the "heart" of your organization, and whether it can stand up to the purpose-driven paradigm of the future
• Find new achievement in the new organizational structure, and examine models that are already emerging

Everyone knows that changes are needed--and fast. The question is: which changes, and how? The Future-Proof Workplace maps the transformation, and gives you an itinerary for each step of the way.

Front Jacket

PRAISE FOR THE future-proof WORKPLACE

"By anticipating the future we thrive in it. Linda and Morag do an outstanding job of helping us see what is coming and then making both organization and personal choices to live and work better. Their ideas are insightful, stories captivating, and recommendations useful."
--Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor of Business, University of Michigan Partner, The RBL Group

"The Future-Proof Workplace provides the insights you need to ensure your organization is prepared today for the changes that are already upon us."
--Margaret M. Keane, Chief Executive Officer of Synchrony Financial

"Linda and Morag share their clear thinking regarding the future-proof workplace. It's a new day in the work world, and to stay alive and competitive, employers and employees must understand and appreciate the myriad factors affecting the workplace at an alarming rate. Staying abreast of how globalization, demographic shifts, and technological advances impact our world are the keys to success."
--Dale Mason Cochran, President, Concourse Ventures, Inc.

"The Future-Proof Workplace is a home run! It challenges us to embrace the most important discussion every leader must be having--how to future-proof their organization."
--Jason Jennings, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Think BIG-Act Small, The Reinventors, and The High-Speed Company

"The Future-Proof Workplace highlights a subject other management texts avoid--that the nature of work has changed and yet our approach to work, in many cases, has not. This book is packed with stories and practical approaches and solutions to future-proof your organization."
--Jean Elizabeth Lee, Principal, PwC Human Capital Consulting

"Recent business and technology shifts have created a workplace that is almost unrecognizable from that of two decades ago. And yet many of our approaches to leadership have remained unchanged. Sharkey and Barrett wake us up--crystallizing the changes and giving us new, values-driven tools for powerful, effective leadership."
--Jim Ludema, PhD, cofounder and director of the Center for Values-Driven Leadership at Benedictine University

Back Jacket

Nobody can really be sure what tomorrow will bring--what game-changing technology, history-shaping demographic shifts, or unanticipated market forces will emerge, or how they'll impact the way we work and lead. But what we do know for certain is that the future will be different from what we've known; it's already taking shape right before our eyes, and if we don't prepare for it now, we can surrender any hope of our organizations surviving or thriving tomorrow.

A rousing wake-up call and an essential survival guide, The Future-Proof Workplace is the distillation of award-winning leadership and organizational consultants and thought leaders Linda Sharkey's and Morag Barrett's extensive work with Fortune 500 organizations and CEOs around the world. Drawing upon their first-hand experiences, as well as the latest research, it offers you a proven formula for assessing, retooling, and reshaping your organization for tomorrow's challenges, today.

Packed with compelling real-world case studies and examples, it fills you in on the six critical factors that must be addressed if you hope to remain competitive in an increasingly turbulent, global marketplace: Leadership, Culture, Organizing Principles, Relationships, Diversity and Inclusion, and Technology. You'll also discover how emerging technologies and advances in neuroscience research are toppling twentieth-century organizational paradigms and transforming the way we work. And you'll find out how yesterday's biases are being replaced by tomorrow's values, culture, and relationships.

In addition, you will learn to look deep into the heart of your company to determine if it's ready and willing to adapt to the purpose-driven business paradigm of the future. You'll gain powerful insights into the new organizational models that are coming into being at the most successful, forward-thinking companies, worldwide. And you'll learn to identify and seize the bold, new opportunities that twenty-first-century organizational structures will offer.

With The Future-Proof Workplace as your guide, you'll be prepared to meet new challenges head-on and to grow your organization the day after tomorrow and beyond.

Author Biography

Dr. LINDA SHARKEY is a Founding Member of the Marshall Goldsmith Group, a premier executive coaching organization. Her clients include Boeing, GE, NetApp, Sodexo, Key Bank, Sanofi, and Lexis Nexis.

MORAG BARRETT is CEO of SkyeTeam, an international leadership development company. At last count Morag has worked with more than 3,000 leaders in 20 countries, including Google, Scholastic, Microsoft, DexMedia, Topgolf, Level 3 Communications, and Denver Art Museum.