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Cover design: Christopher Ayres
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available
ISBN 978-1-118-85356-6 (Hardback)
ISBN 978-1-118-98252-5 (ePDF)
ISBN 978-1-118-98253-2 (ePub)
This book is dedicated to my family. Without each and every one of you pieces of me would not exist and my thoughts and words would have less meaning. I love you all dearly.
To my parents, Robert and Marsha and my brothers, Evan and Joey
To my wife Elyse, son Cameron, and daughter Ella
The most important leadership characteristic to thrive in this ever-changing world is resilience. Resilience is the ability to fall, pick ourselves up from the floor quickly, learn, and continue with our journey. Behind resilience there is an inherent positive outlook on life based on unwavering faith in our purpose, our abilities, and the capability of the teams around us.
– Antonio Lucio
As global chief marketing and communications officer at Visa, I have been at the center of YouthNation's massive disruption to business and culture. Despite the fact that Visa, a brand of enormous scale, processes over 96 billion transactions in 200 countries during the past year, in many ways we are now forced to think and act like a nimble startup to ensure our long-term vitality.
I was deeply honored when Matt asked me to write the foreword for his first book. Matt has been an important thought partner and a key driver of change in our global organization. His electric passion for driving cultural change through social media and his deep knowledge of youth were key elements in Visa's marketing evolution.
The drivers of change below are not specific to the payments industry but have implications for businesses of all types in every corner around the world.
1. The over 2 billion smartphone users1 around the world have forever changed the way our world communicates and consumers transact.
2. The over 3 billion Internet users around the world now have real-time access to data, tools, and content on a 24-hour news cycle, forever impacting the ways we reach and influence them.
3. The pace of innovation in the marketplace has spawned a wave of millennial-inspired startups, which have reimagined our industry.
For Visa, as for all businesses today, the way in which we manage change will determine whether we will be future leaders in our industry, or another case study of a company that has been left in the dust.
I believe that digital natives will rule the world. Whether you are a global organization with thousands of employees like Visa or a local, family-owned business, your ability to understand the principals of YouthNation is now mission critical. There is simply no way you can replace the experience of being hardwired in the new reality we live in, as today's youth are.
