GOVERNMENT

Bob Johansen, an author and prominent social scientist with the Institute for the Future, an organization that has developed ten-year forecasts for some of the world’s top organizations since the 1960s, will give a lecture on new leadership skills today’s students and professionals will need to succeed in the coming decade.

Johansen’s lecture, “Leaders Make The Future: Ten New Leadership Skills For An Uncertain World,” will take place at LSU’s Life Sciences Annex, Room A101, at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4. LSU’s Center for Computation & Technology, or CCT, will host this event. Johansen’s lecture is free and open to the public.

In his lecture, Johansen will discuss the future as a “VUCA world -- volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.” He will predict coming changes, what this means for future leaders, and what kinds of skills and techniques people can develop to thrive and accomplish their goals.

Johansen is a forecaster, predicting the effects of technology on society and predicting the future for three to 10 years out. He has worked with the Institute for the Future since 1973, where he specializes in exploring the impact of new and emerging technologies, as well as religion and its impact on people, industry and culture. Johansen created the Institute for the Future’s Technology Horizons Program, where he was one of the first social scientists to study computational science and communications technology’s effects on people. He has worked with clients from major corporations in many different industries.

Johansen has held numerous roles with the Institute for the Future, including serving as its president and CEO from 1996 to 2004. He currently is a member of the Institute for the Future’s Leadership Team and serves on the Board of Directors.

Johansen is the author and co-author of six books, and he is a frequent keynote speaker at events throughout the world. He also has taught graduate and undergraduate students. He earned a bachelor of science degree from University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University. He also has a divinity degree in comparative religions from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School.