Kieran Flanagan - Forever Skills: The 12 Skills to Futureproof Yourself, Your Team and Your Kids

First published in 2019 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064

Office also in Melbourne

John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2019

The moral rights of the authors have been asserted

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design and front cover image (infinity symbol): The Impossible Institute

Front cover image (pen): NewFabrika/Shutterstock-pen

Back cover photo: Oli Sansom

Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the authors and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

To Gary and Darcy, my forever people,
and to Kerryanne, for being forever in my corner.

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON

Writing this book has only been possible because of the generosity of the hundreds of people we have worked with and interviewed over the past ten years, and most particularly over the past 18 months.

These extraordinary people have shared their time, their wisdom, their opinions and even criticisms and objections. All of this has helped this become a better book than it might have otherwise been.

To all of you, we say: Thank you. We are forever grateful.

A special thanks is also owed to a handful of people who went way above and beyond in helping us test our theories, ideas and thinking across different industries and countries, allowing us to pressure test the content of this book and ensure that it would resonate universally.

You have our deepest appreciation:

Dr Adam Fraser, human performance researcher, author, educator and consultant, Sydney, Australia

Adam Voigt, education expert, Melbourne, Australia

Alan Brodie, Alan Brodie Representation, London, England

Andrew Morello, Head of Business Development Yellow Brick Road, Sydney, Australia

Anouk Lagae, Duvel, Brussels, Belgium

Sir Antony Jay, writer, CVO, CBE, England

Bradley Trevor Greive, best-selling author of The Blue Day Book, Los Angeles, US

Brett King, Moven, New York, US

Bronnie Ware, author of The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, Sydney, Australia

Chip Bell, Customer Loyalty Authority, Greensboro, US

Chris Helder, international keynote speaker and author of best-selling books Useful Belief, The Ultimate Book of Influence and Cut the Noise, Melbourne, Australia

Cory Muscara international teacher and speaker on mindfulness, DrOz show regular, New York, US

Creel Price, Investable, Sydney, Australia

Dan Diamond, MD and resilience expert, Bremerton, US

David Bitton, Bitton, Sydney, Australia

Dermot Crowley, executive productivity expert and author of SmartWork and Smart Teams, Sydney, Australia

Frank Ribuot, CEO Randstad, Sydney, Australia

Holly Ransom, CEO Emergent and co-chair of UN Youth G20 Summit, Melbourne, Australia

Gabrielle Dolan, authority in business storytelling, founder at Jargon Free Fridays, author of Stories for Work, Melbourne, Australia

Gary Pittard, Pittard Training, Sydney, Australia

Captain Greg Laxton, Royal Australian Navy, Sydney, Australia

Irene Read, Director of Sales, BBC Worldwide

James Arvanitakis, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Graduate Studies) WSU, Sydney, Australia

Jamie Pride, technologist, entrepreneur and author of Unicorn Tears, Sydney, Australia

Janine Garner, expert in networking, collaboration and leadership, author of Its Who You Know, Sydney, Australia

Jason Forrest, CEO FPG, Fort Worth, US

Dr Jason Fox, arch-wizard of The Cleverness, once Keynote Speaker of the Year, leadership and motivation design pioneer, Melbourne, Australia

Jonathan Lynn, Director, Producer, Writer, Actor, Bath, UK

Jeffrey Hayzlett, C-Suite Network, New York and South Dakota US

Karen and Roy Merricks, MTA, Queensland, Australia

Layne Beachley AO, world champion surfer, Sydney, Australia

Libby Trickett OAM, Olympic swimmer and gold medalist, Brisbane, Australia

Lisa Messenger, Founder & Editor in Chief, Collective Hub, Sydney, Australia

Lisa ONeill, speaker, author, influencer, New Zealand.

Lisa Ronson, Tourism Australia, Sydney, Australia

Marion Farrelly, Absolutely Farrelly, Sydney, Australia

Mark Mathews, big wave surfer, Australia

Martin Mackay, Managing Director CA Technologies, Asia Pacific, Singapore

Marshall Goldsmith, Marshall Goldsmith Inc, Rancho Santa Fe, US

Matina Jewell, UN peacekeeper, Kingscliff, Australia

Matt Church, founder and chair of Thought Leaders and author of Thought Leaders, Amplifiers, Next and Think, Sydney, Australia

Michael Henderson, Cultures at Work, Auckland, New Zealand

Michael Smith, 2016 Australian Adventurer of the Year, proprietor of the Sun Theatre, Yarraville, Australia

Michelle Toft, Pink Lady Apples, London, UK

Natalie Field, Australia Post, Melbourne, Australia

Neil Hereford, Global Head of Environmental Markets Commonwealth Bank, London, UK

Neil Plumridge, Managing Partner Consulting PwC, Melbourne, Australia

Nick Cowdery, ret. public prosecutor, former barrister and acting judge, Sydney, Australia

Oscar Trimboli, author of Deep Listening and Breakthroughs, Sydney, Australia

Peter Baines, Hands Across The Water, Sydney, Australia and Thailand

Peter Cook, CEO, Thought Leaders Business School, Melbourne, Australia

Peter Sheahan, founder and CEO Karrikins Group, Denver, US

Phillip Di Bella, Di Bella Coffee, Queenstown, New Zealand

Richard de Cresigny, Pilot and author of QF32 and Fly!

Richard Field, Viva Africa Group, Port Louis, Mauritius

Scott Bales, Innovation Labs, Singapore

Shep Hyken, Customer Service Expert at Hyken, St. Louis, US

Stephen Koukoulas, economist and former economic adviser to the Australian Prime Minister, Canberra, Australia

Tony Harris, Tony Harris BSU, Sydney, Australia

Trent Innes, Xero, Melbourne, Australia

We would also like to thank the many clients and their teams we have the privilege of working with, the speaker bureaus who make it possible to share our message with audiences all around the world, the Thought Leaders community, the BBC and of course to our audiences who give us their time, attention and laughter.