Fit For the Future

Gihan Perera
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We have never faced us much uncertainty as we do now, and have never needed strong leadership as we do today. Navigate this fast-changing world with ideas and insights for leading through crisis, recovery, and growth, and being fit for the future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 3일 전

    Beyond ChatGPT

    You probably use generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot to boost productivity, but 2026 offers new opportunities – but it comes with risks. AI agents are now live and can work autonomously behind the scenes, which opens up massive potential. It’s tempting to jump into this, but you need to do it with care. It’s not just about what AI can do – it’s about what it SHOULD do, and how much control you’re willing to give up. As a leader, you need to be sharp, strategic, and thoughtful to harness this power. https://swiy.co/go-beyond-chatgpt What are you doing – or planning to do – with AI in 2026? People and organisations are at different levels of the AI journey: some still haven’t started, most have a reasonably good grasp of generative AI, and a few are racing ahead and looking at what else AI can do now. Right now, AI agents – which can act autonomously on your behalf – are all the rage. A few years ago, when clients asked me about what’s coming after generative AI, I told them about AI agents, which weren’t a thing at the time, but were the obvious next phase of AI. With an AI agent, instead of you sitting there typing away and getting a response, you instruct your AI agent to go off and do work behind your back – autonomously, automatically, and without your intervention. Now, in 2026, AI agents are a reality. They’re at your fingertips – literally in ChatGPT and Copilot. A client recently asked me about this: “Well, what you said back then is true. Should we go all in on this?” The simple answer is: No, you shouldn’t! You should be very, very careful. At least with generative AI, when you type something in, you get a response, and can then apply your human intelligence to assess that response, to edit it, to tailor it, and then use it. In other words, AI is an intelligent assistant, not an autonomous agent. But with AI agents operating independently of you, you face potential risks. Security risks. Privacy risks. Data risks. It’s like letting untrained staff loose on your files, database, and customer experience. Even worse, these AI agents can operate faster and in more complex ways than humans can. And in “unintelligent” ways - like placing a million orders in a second, agreeing to sell high-value items for a few dollars, or being tricked into exposing private medical data. So, yes, AI agents are powerful – but their power can also be dangerous. This is just one of the ways that AI has changed in the last year. Because of these changes, I’m running an online presentation soon about what’s new for AI in 2026 – the do’s and don’ts. It’s free, public, and open to all, so please register and invite others in your team and network. Register for the virtual masterclass: https://swiy.co/go-beyond-chatgpt Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    4분

  2. 2월 3일

    Skills That Matter Now – And What You Can Let Go

    You’re constantly told your team needs to “upskill” – but what does that actually mean today? In a world where AI, automation, and information overload are the norm, it’s time to rethink what skills are essential, so you strike the right balance between deep expertise and broad, transferable capabilities like collaboration, attention management, and embracing diversity. https://swiy.co/go-skills-that-matter-now As a leader, how are you developing the skills you and your team need to be ready for the future? I was approached recently to be a guest on a business podcast, and the host asked me to talk about building a future-ready workforce. One of her questions will be: “What skills are essential for the future, and which ones do we not need anymore?” I always think most skills have value in specific circumstances and certain situations, but some are lower priority now. For example, “doing maths in your head” and “learning times tables” used to be highly valuable skills, but they aren’t anymore – because we all have access to calculators, Google, spreadsheets, and AI. One friend argued that as a skilled business negotiator, he still valued doing mental maths because he was perceived as more competent. Fair enough – for THAT particular narrow role, times tables and mental maths are important. But we don’t need to teach them to everybody. And that’s the point. Every job, profession, role, and area of expertise has its own need for “deep expertise”. I mean, if you need brain surgery, would you rather have the crotchety old surgeon who’s very successful with decades of experience behind them, or the less-skilled surgeon who’s a great “people person” who gets along well with the rest of their team? Of course, you’d rather have the first one, right? Well, that’s a bit of a trick question! The research shows that deep expertise is important (naturally!), but medical mishaps and mistakes are reduced when the whole operating team gets along well. And that starts with the surgeon engaging the rest of her team. The same is true of airline safety. Again, research shows that when pilots treat co-pilots as equals, it reduces the incidence of problems. So, even with deep expertise, you need wide skills. These wide, broad skills apply across different areas, jobs, and professions. I’m sure you know some of the usual suspects: collaboration, embracing diversity, AI literacy, managing information overload, and adaptability. These skills MATTER! For yourself. For your team. And for your organisation, community, and family. For more, download my new report about future-ready skills for 2026 and beyond. I have identified twelve key skills for you to be future-ready. If you have any comments or questions after you read it, please drop me a line. I’d love to have a chat! Download the worksheet: https://swiy.co/go-skills-that-matter-now Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    5분

  3. 1월 27일

    Internal Sensemaking

    When you’re looking for solutions and planning for the future, it’s tempting to look outward – to trends, consultants, or customer data – but some of your most valuable insights are already in the room. Tap into skills, perspectives, lived experience, and wisdom of everybody, even the most junior staff. Listen, reflect, learn, share and make sense of the future together. https://swiy.co/go-internal-sensemaking I’ve been working with the leadership team of an organisation that’s looking ahead to 2030 and beyond. They invited me to kick off their strategic leadership offsite with half a day getting them to expand their thinking and look bigger, broader, and wider. I love working with groups like this, who know they need to do things differently. They were motivated, excited, and eagerly looking forward to understanding what’s happening outside their organisation and industry. But I started with an exercise that wasn’t about the future. In fact, it was very much about the past. I call it “First Job”. In a nutshell, it goes like this: 1. Each person recalls their very first paid job – often a casual job they did after school to earn a bit of money. It could be a babysitter, working at a checkout in a supermarket, mowing the lawn for neighbours, or whatever. 2. They then identify the skills they learned from that job. 3. They then pair up, each share a real problem or challenge they’re facing right now, and the other person shares advice they learned from their first job that could help. So, for example, person A says: “One of the board members is constantly asking us to write unnecessary reports about XYZ, and it’s taking up way too much of my time.” And B replies: “Hmmm ... When I was a babysitter, I had one couple who kept phoning me every few minutes to check on their daughter. What I did was ...” Try this with your team! It’s a fun exercise, it gets people laughing, reminiscing about their career, thinking creatively, and often they find – to their surprise – some practical, useful ideas they can use in their job now. But that’s not the real reason I do this exercise. In fact, when I asked the group what value they got from the exercise, the CEO said, “The thing I learned is that when I’m talking to ANYBODY in the organisation, I should listen more because they could have something valuable I could use.” Yep, she nailed it! All the other reasons are valid. But THAT’S my goal. Because often, when people – especially senior leaders – are looking at the future, they look outside. They ask customers. They do scenario planning. They (gasp!) engage a futurist. All good things (especially the last, ha ha), but sometimes you’ll get the most valuable insights from people within your organisation. That’s why diversity matters – with different generations, genders, ages, ethnicity, nationality, and more. Everybody brings their own experience, expertise, insights, and perspective. So when you’re looking at the future, don’t only look outside. This is all part of the skill of sense-making, which is an essential skill for the future. Join my online presentation to find out more, and invite others in your team and network as well. I’ll see you in the future. Register for the virtual masterclass: https://swiy.co/go-internal-sensemaking Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    5분

  4. 1월 20일

    Make The First Move

    Of course it’s a challenge dealing with uncertainty, but what about the certainties right in front of you? Sometimes it’s not the unknown that disrupts you, but rather the things you know are coming (like regulatory changes or major shifts in technology). The best leaders get ahead of this change by acting now rather than waiting to be disrupted. If you can see what’s coming, what are you doing about it – NOW? https://swiy.co/go-make-the-first-move As a leader, what CERTAINTY are you facing in the next year? You might think that’s an odd question! I often ask, “What uncertainty might you be facing?” And, of course, we’re all facing uncertainty, disruption, change, and sometimes total chaos. But also, some disruption is comes from certainty, not uncertainty. I’m working with the senior leadership team of an organisation in this situation. They work in an industry that’s very heavily regulated (like many others). The federal government has already flagged major changes coming in the near future. The leaders in this organisation, rather than waiting for that regulation, are already thinking ahead, proactively planning for the change before it’s forced on them. That’s exactly what they should be doing, but I see many leaders and organisations who don’t think this way. They KNOW the change is coming, they know it will cause stress and disruption, and they know it will be much easier if they started changing now. But, too often, they just sit on their hands and do nothing – waiting for the inevitable tsunami of change. I often say disruption and innovation the same, because they are both about change. It’s just disruption when the change happens to you, and innovation when you make the change yourself. Some disruption is difficult to predict, so you have to make changes based on what MIGHT happen. But there are many other situations where you can reliably predict the change. It’s not just government regulation, which is often flagged months or years in advance. It could be ... the growth of AI and its impact on work and the workplace customers demanding digital and online communication channels Generation Z employees expecting different things from work Even if you don’t know exactly how these scenarios will play out, if you know they will have a big impact, start thinking about them now. What are YOU doing to manage the certainty that will create uncertainty? This is part of the skill of sense making, which is about understanding what’s happening in the world, figuring out how to respond, and being able to communicate that with others. I’m running an online presentation soon about sense making, where I’ll give you some practical things you can do to build and strengthen that skill for yourself and your team. It’s free, public, and open to everybody. So, if you’re interested, please register – and invite others in your team and your network. Register for the virtual masterclass: https://swiy.co/go-make-the-first-move Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    4분

  5. 1월 14일

    Leadership Is Sense-Making

    As a leader, your role is to help others make sense of the world. It’s about filtering the noise, choosing what really matters, learning how to adapt to external shifts, and then sharing those insights in a meaningful and engaging ways. Your ability to create clarity and purpose shapes how you, your team, and others succeed. https://swiy.co/go-leadership-is-sense-making As we start a new year, and you reflect on your role as a leader, what do you think is your most important role? I’m not talking about making New Year’s Resolutions, setting goals for the year ahead, or creating a 2026 strategic plan. What about YOUR role as a leader? As a futurist, I know one of my most important roles is to be a sense-maker. Whether I’m speaking on a conference stage to a large audience, running a workshop with a smaller group, or facilitating a group of senior leaders in a boardroom, everybody’s looking to me to help them make more sense of the world. They want to understand what’s going on, and want me to help them filter it and choose what’s most relevant for them. Then, they figure out how they can learn, adapt, and adjust what they do to fit with what’s happening externally. And finally, they want me to share that in engaging and meaningful ways — for themselves, the team, and the organisation. And you know what? This is not just a crucial role for me. This role — which is the skill of sense-making — is essential for everybody. Especially for leaders and managers, but for everybody else as well. To summarise the three parts: 1. Choose: Understand what’s happening in the world and filter it to choose what matters most. 2. Learn: Based on what’s happening externally, determine what we need to do internally to be able to operate effectively in that world. 3. Share: Communicate what you have learned in meaningful and engaging ways, so that they inspire action. If you want to know more about this, I’m running an online presentation very soon. It’s my first one for the year, and it’s about sense-making. I’ll share with you some practical, useful things you can do to understand more about the world, to learn how to adapt, and most importantly, to share it with your team and other stakeholders. If you’re interested, it’s free, it’s public, it’s open to everybody — so you’ll find a link to register here. And feel free to share it with your team and network as well. Register for the virtual masterclass: https://swiy.co/go-leadership-is-sense-making Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    4분

  6. 2025. 12. 07.

    Learning Out Loud

    If you’re serious about staying relevant and building future-ready skills, start sharing what you learn. You don’t need to become a professional podcaster or YouTube influencer, but having a platform – even a simple one – gives you the discipline to take in information, make sense of it, and communicate it clearly. That habit (which is the skill of sense-making) sharpens your thinking beyond just passive learning. https://swiy.co/go-learning-out-loud What does your learning plan for the future look like? I was speaking recently at the Financial Advisers Association of Australia National Congress, helping advisers remain relevant and fit for the future. In the Q&A segment, somebody asked me a question about podcasting: “I want to start a podcast, but I’m really new to it. How can I get over that fear of thinking that other people will dismiss it, and how can I build confidence – and then go on to build an audience?” In the moment, I gave a response along the lines of: “Just get started! Everybody starts off from that place, and with practice, you’ll gain confidence and build that audience.” I still stand by that, but let’s take that a bit further. If you plan to turn your podcast into an income stream, then, yes, focus on building your audience. But if you’re not, use your podcast as part of your professional learning network. In other words, whether you’re podcasting, blogging, publishing a YouTube channel, or regularly posting valuable content on LinkedIn, these are valuable activities in their own right. Not just to share learning and ideas with others, but for your own learning as well. When you start to invest in these activities, you’re making a commitment – even if just to yourself – to learn. You have to: absorb information ask questions filter what’s relevant package it for others make it relevant and engaging and share it with others. All of that makes you a better learner, not just a better content creator. This is part of the future-ready skill of sense-making. Sense-making is about examining our complex world, choosing what’s important, absorbing it, and sharing it. It’s once of the most valuable future-ready skills you can have – at work, at home, and in your community. So what are YOU going to do? To be a sense-maker, you don’t need a podcast, blog, YouTube channel, or other outlet. It might just be sharing regularly on a Slack channel at work or presenting regularly at staff meetings. Whatever you choose, commit to doing it now And to REALLY get value from it, commit to doing it regularly. That’s because you’re investing not only in the content, but the platform. And that makes it easier to do it next time. And the next time. And the next time. It’s like building a railway. You make a big commitment to get the first train on the track (because you first have to build the track!), but then every other train takes less effort. If you don’t have a platform like this already, set that as a goal for 2026. And if you’d like to know more about sense-making and other future-ready skills, join my free online presentation TOMORROW. Register for the virtual masterclass: https://swiy.co/go-learning-out-loud Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    6분

  7. 2025. 12. 02.

    Letting Go

    It’s easy to keep doing what worked in the past, but that comfort can quickly become irrelevance. Look at libraries — which where once silent spaces for reading, but are now vibrant community hubs full of energy, events, and connection. They didn’t change just for the sake of it; they changed because the world changed around them. And, to their credit, they reinvented themselves to stay relevant and useful. Is that true for you, your team, and your organisation? If you’re still operating with yesterday’s mindset and behaviour, you’re falling behind. https://swiy.co/go-letting-go As we're coming up to the end of the year and looking ahead to 2026, can you truly say your business or organisation — maybe even your industry or sector — is fit for purpose for the future? I was in Melbourne last week, running a workshop for a group of libraries about how to build a culture of change and innovation. I told somebody about this a few weeks ago, and he said, “Libraries? Why do libraries have to be innovative?” And I said, “Have you been to your local library recently?” Libraries are so different from the way they were when I was at school and uni! You might remember those days, when you had to be completely silent in a library. Even a whisper earned you an angry “Shhh!” from a librarian or another patron. Now, libraries have completely transformed into community hubs. People can speak, shout, and run around. Students go in for study groups. Pre-school kids have fun activities and sing-songs. Guest speakers run presentation for the community. My local library recently invited students from a local school to sing Christmas carols. So, yes, libraries have changed. But not just because they felt like it. It's because the world changed. In the past, when libraries – and books – were a key source of information and knowledge for their community, it was important to be quiet so you respected other patrons. Now, books are still relevant, but they are no longer the main source of information for most people. So, libraries have evolved to provide other services for the community. Because of that change, libraries today are still relevant, valuable, and attractive to their customers. Is that true of YOU as well? I see so many organisations – and even entire sectors – still operating in a way that worked in the past, but is no longer fit for purpose for the future. When the world was changing more slowly, what you knew in the past would serve you well going forward. But increasingly, that’s no longer true. I’m not saying everything in the past is irrelevant, but everything in the past is not AUTOMATICALLY relevant. One of the most important future-ready skills we need is the skill of letting go. It's not just about learning, but “unlearning” as well. In your personal life, in your professional role, and in your workplace. I’m going to talk more about this in my upcoming online presentation about future-ready skills. It’s free, it’s public, and it’s open to everybody. Please register, and invite others in your team and network as well. I’ll see you in the future. Register for the virtual masterclass: https://swiy.co/go-letting-go Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    5분

  8. 2025. 11. 25.

    Snakes Under Rocks

    When uncertainty rises, performance often drops – but it’s not just about risky, it’s about whether you feel in control. A surprising psychology study using electric shocks and virtual snakes shows that people are more stressed when they can’t predict outcomes, even if the danger doesn’t increase. That means building mental agility and a sense of agency are key to staying resilient in unpredictable environments. https://swiy.co/go-snakes-under-rocks Last week, I was speaking at the Financial Advisers Association of Australia National Congress, talking about being fit for the future – especially about being able to manage uncertainty and still perform well. It’s obvious that people do worry about their future, and also that it affects their performance. But you might be surprised to know what contributes most that stress. In 2016, researchers conducted an experiment to measure the relationship between stress and uncertainty. They designed a computer game where participants were asked to turn over rocks on the screen, and were given a mild electric shock if there was a snake under a rock. The researchers could change the game in two ways: Increase the danger by placing snakes under more rocks, or increase the uncertainty by moving the snakes between each turn. As you would expect, participants felt more stressed when there were more snakes. But they felt even more stressed if they didn’t know whether a “safe” rock might have a snake under it next time. They would rather face a dangerous environment with more snakes, as long as they felt confident they could eventually determine their location. In other words, they were more stressed by uncertain outcomes than predictable negative outcomes. This is true for all of us. We’ve been through a lot of disruption and change – five years ago, it was COVID, now it’s AI. Tomorrow? Who knows? One of the key skills for the future is the ability to be adaptable and flexible. Like it or not, that IS our future. And we need to manage a world full of change, uncertainty, crisis, and chaos. I’ll be talking about that, and other future-ready skills, in my upcoming online presentation. It’s free, public, and open to everybody. So please register – and invite your team and network as well. I’ll see you in the future. Register for the virtual masterclass: https://swiy.co/go-snakes-under-rocks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    4분
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소개

We have never faced us much uncertainty as we do now, and have never needed strong leadership as we do today. Navigate this fast-changing world with ideas and insights for leading through crisis, recovery, and growth, and being fit for the future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

정보

  • 제작진
    Gihan Perera
  • 방송 연도
    2007년 - 2026년
  • 에피소드
    377
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    전체 연령 사용가
  • 저작권
    © Copyright Gihan Perera
  • 웹사이트 보기
    Fit For the Future