David Roberts: "Exponential leaders don't try to change the world. They change themselves."

journeys to Mars, real virtual reality, slowing down the ageing process or flying cars? These possibilities still seem distant to us, but David Roberts guarantees that they may even be about to become a reality. The founder of Global Inspiration Goals spoke about the great potential of exponential technologies, which have already started to make their way and will not be stopped.

The SU expert stressed that technological developments can make our lives easier, but there is the possibility that they can also create new problems.

"One thing is certain: we are about to become truly powerful, very quickly. And here's the big question: we can become very powerful, but not very kind, thoughtful, caring or compassionate. Technology is exponential, but we are not."

But how can we ensure a better world or use these technologies to solve humanity's great problems? According to the American speaker , "everyone wants to change the world, but few have the courage to change themselves", often because they believe they will not be able to make any difference.

"How do we make a difference? First we have to realise that we can make a difference. If we think we can't make a difference, then we will never try to make a difference," because people who change the world "don't have any superpowers, other than characteristics like courage, integrity and humility. In other words: they change themselves. That is their superpower".

"Exponential leaders don't try to change the world. Theychange themselves and then the world starts to change around them," he said, ensuring that the goal should not be to create followers of a particular idea or movement, but rather to train new leaders, to extend the network of influence. This is how you make a difference in the world. "This is truly exponential. It only takes one person in a company to totally change that organisation." The one indispensable and vital element to change reality, according to David Roberts, is moral courage, "a rare commodity, rarer than bravery on the battlefield or a brilliant mind".

"I told you about exponential technology, but the truth is that we are potentially the exponential thing. The technology is only so because we made it to be so."

David Roberts attended the SingularityU Cascais Lisbon Chapter Exponential Generation at Nova SBE last Wednesday and was guest speaker at the SingularityU Lunch Câmara Municipal de Cascais & Enterprise Ecosystem and CEO Council the following day.

Did you already know our speaker? Learn more about the career path of David Roberts, an expert in Technology, Disruption and Exponential Leadership, here.