Instructs educators on how to be future-focused leaders. Includes trends that will affect education; ways to scan the environment and the world at large; a plan for setting priorities based on probabilities; a 4-step issue management process; steps to developing plausible scenarios for guiding strategic planning; and activities that make up a future-focused communications system.

The leader as a connected generalist -- Guiding principles for future-oriented leaders -- The importance of being connected-internally and externally -- Trends: identifying and analyzing their impact -- Issue management -- More tools and techniques for scanning the environment -- Characteristics: identifying what we want to become -- Scenarios: "what if?" and "then what?" -- Strategic communication -- Getting the ball rolling.