A phrase continues to run through my head: “The future called. It’s waiting to see what you do before it happens.”

It’s an interesting moment to be involved with the long-term future – a moment when most people are too traumatized to see past the next few days. My next book is about the psychology of the future – not just how to study the future, but why most leaders do not. A concept I am exploring is the two levels of fear in organizational thinking.

The first level of fear occurs when the status quo is threatened. This might be exemplified by the events of mid- to late September, when the first banks started to buckle due to the subprime mortgage fiasco. Then, people started to worry about their stocks, their retirements, their home values – they were worried, in general, that if we changed too far from the current system, it would do them harm. People become more likely to rally around current institutions, defend them from fundamental change, because there is potential, undetermined harm on the other side of that shift.

If things get worse, we encounter a deeper, more interesting second level of fear. This occurs when people sense their institutions themselves are the problem, and there is much greater probability of harm from doing nothing. Now, people are much more likely to seek new structures, new intellectual frameworks, new rules. This is when leaders can take action and improve – or dramatically worsen – a situation.

This brings me to a lovely moment this past Tuesday, where I had the pleasure of speaking before the International Association of Corporate and Professional Recruiters. These are the people who seek out the leaders of tomorrow’s organizations, often interviewing and selecting potential CEO candidates for their clients. Their international meeting was in Manhattan, on 48th and Park Ave. Next to Wachovia, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, etc. The mood is grim, shocked, calm, worried, and in many cases, angry.

This emotionally and intellectually charged atmosphere led to one of my favorite speaking events of the year. It was a great opportunity to speak before people who were interested in hearing about the challenges of the future, AND about what they could do to pick leaders with the appropriate mentality for those challenges. I could tell these executive recruiters, not to mention most of New York City, was open and willing to see how our institutions could realign with the future, to create a more just, prosperous humane world.

All this, followed up by world-class restaurants and guitar shops. Despite the crisis, I STILL love New York.

Think about the leaders we need for these challenges. Then, be those leaders. Or at least think like them.