Where to find the future

Category: Editorial

Richard Winfield - editor According to the winners of this year's Oxford Leadership Prize, tomorrow's leaders need to be far more willing to explain their decisions as organisations come under wider social scrutiny. The winner, 20-year old Sam Longair, who is studying history at Trinity College, interviewed various leaders, including former Conservative Party leader Michael Howard and the Chief Constable of Kent, Michael Fuller, to conclude that future leaders would become more accountable.

Runner-up, Alexander Baker, 21, who is studying philosophy at Lincoln College, examined the role of the Internet. He said: "The role of the Internet subverts traditional leadership forms and gives power to individuals who rely on information which the Internet itself provides."

The Oxford Leadership Prize was launched last year in response to leaders attending the University's Strategic Leadership Programme. "The leaders are almost entirely very senior international executives and they wanted to discover what today's youth - and tomorrow's leaders - were thinking", said Dr Marshall Young, Director of the programme.

Google took this strategy one step further. They launched their "Zeitgeist Europe" conference in the UK today with an address by a 12-year-old girl. The conference was to be attended by 250 top European executives, bringing together some of the most important thought leaders in the internet and communications arena. Google vice president for Europe, Nikesh Arora, said before the event "How the internet affects every business will be so profound in the next 10 years, so it will be fascinating to see what a younger person expects the future to look like.

We continue to develop the technology supporting the Brefi Network and I was discussing the introduction of a new facility that would require a level of technical expertise from members. My technical director commented "It doesn't matter, most people have children in the house."

As you survey the future, remember to draw on all the resources available to you!

USEFUL LINKS