The New Leadership Literacies: Thriving in a Future of Extreme Disruption and Distributed Everything by Bob Johansen

Today’s turbulent business climate requires a new brand of leadership – one that gives leaders a “new literacy” to thrive amidst major disruption and distributed everything. Bob Johansen’s The New Leadership Literacies: Thriving in a Future of Extreme Disruption and Distributed Everything is an authoritative guide to leading effectively in an era of rapid change, providing readers with a comprehensive booklet of the ten key leadership litteracies needed to thrive in this age of digital transformation.

The book introduces readers to three distinct forces: disruption, decentralisation, and democracy which are baking together to form what Johansen calls the “New D3 Economy”. This economy is characterized by big data, platform business models, innovation, democratized working teams, digital-first organisations, and customer centricity - all shifts that require the leader to adapt their approach. To succeed, says Johansen, leaders must equip themselves with the new “literacies” of leadership.

In the book, Johansen explains the ten key literacy domains as he sees them: foresight, systems, networking, border agility, resilience, legacy, speed, trust, group acumen, and learning. Foresight allows leaders to anticipate and prepare for disruptive changes. Systems literacy helps leaders understand the interconnectedness of all objects, services, and people in the new economy. Networking literacy enables leaders to form productive relationships with individuals, teams, and businesses. Border agility and resilience are key skills needed to navigate today’s highly distributed working environments. Legacy literacy is the ability to capture and apply the knowledge, experiences and relationships of the past to tomorrow’s opportunities. Speed is essential for leaders to accelerate innovation to keep up with the constantly changing market. Trust encourages leaders to conduct business in a socially and ethically responsible way. Group acumen ensures working teams are empowered, collaborative, and productive. And learning literacy helps leaders remain curious and adaptive to change.

Johansen also delves into a range of everyday scenarios that appear in this era of extreme disruption and distributed everything. He provides real-world examples and practical approaches that address a number of business pain points caused by digital transformation. He dives into issues pertaining to customer engagement, fostering innovative culture, embracing fast feedback loops, when to use agnostic data versus targeted data, how to pivot suddenly and successfully, the role of storytelling and customer input, employee resource planning, the use of teams and networks for decision-making, plus many more.

The New Leadership Literacies offers powerful insights, tools and advice that can help leaders to more effectively tackle the ever-evolving business landscape. Leaders will be better able to chart success in the ‘New D3 Economy’ with the newfound knowledge and guidance it provides. With its comprehensive yet easily digestible advice, Johansen’s book serves as an invaluable guide for leadership, equipping readers with the new literacy of succeeding in the digital age.