“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X

In an economic environment that is in a state of constant flux and uncertainty, organisations and individuals are increasingly challenged to prepare for a future that is essentially unknown to them. And while change is a constant, the pace of change in the last decade has perhaps quadrupled – thanks to tremendous advances in the technology and innovation space.

Welcome to the ‘Future-Ready’ Age, where it is no longer enough to be relevant or current and where the true challenge lies in being able to anticipate change when one does not even know where the change may be coming from.

And while executives and business leaders across the globe formulate plans, beef up their innovation pipelines and turn to even more technology to help them evolve ahead of the change curve, the ‘human factor’ is one thing that technology cannot quite fix – the ability of the workforce to capitalize on change.

Yet, it is this same human factor that will distinguish the high-performing organisations from those that struggle to stay relevant.

While skills upgrading has been at the forefront of many discussions for the Labour Movement for years now, the discussion in recent years has shifted to focus on the PMEs (Professionals, Managers and Executives), which would form half of the 3.5 million-strong workforce. More importantly, they represent the ‘white space’ in the workforce because whatever positive changes that are made in this space will have a multiplier effect on the resilience and adaptability of the economy.

Thus the high-performing organisations of the future will be distinguished by a workforce of future-ready leaders not just at the C-level but all the way starting from the aspiring executive.

But this ‘future-ready leadership’ is unlike any paradigm that the business world has seen. It is a combination of ‘old-school’ values and principles that inspirational leaders have advocated for decades, with some new values that have come to the fore with the emergence of the new economy.

This article was written by Vivek Kumar, Director, NTUC U Associate and Future Leaders Programme, and was originally published by the Business Times on 4 June 2015.