True North
Discover your Authentic Leadership
Book Reviews:
From the New York Times (April 1, 2007):
“This is one of the most important books on leadership to come along in years, because it is based on so much up-close-and-personal observation. It is far more reality-based than the theories peddled by the bulk of management pundits.”
From Business Week’s "Top Story": "Getting To The Corner Office" (March 12, 2007):
“When top executives sit down to write a book, the result is often a celebratory memoir or an upbeat treatise on how you can elucidate their success. Bill George has chosen to produce neither, and readers are the luckier for it... At the heart of True North is a series of interviews with 125 managers. . . The stories illustrate True North's thesis: that there is no single way to become an ideal leader. The volume is both memorable and perceptive.”
From Fortune (March 19, 2007):
“Circuitous career paths are the norm, according to a new book by former Medtronic CEO Bill George. In talks with 125 business leaders, George found that most endured some daunting career twists and turns. Those who prevailed found an "orienting point" to help guide their decisions.”
From Chicago Tribune (April 16, 2007):
“. . . George, now a Harvard University management professor, is on a mission to document and promote a style of leadership that takes it cues from looking within and rejects the scramble for money and power. If that sounds impossibly high-minded, it is. But he uses research to back up his notion that a new crop of leaders of all ages is emerging to correct the excesses of the scandal-ridden 1990s.”
From U.S. News & World Report (April 15, 2007):
“In his new book, True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, former Medtronic CEO and Harvard Business School Prof. Bill George tackles the traits that make for a good leader.”
From USA Today (April 22, 2007):
“True North has a simple premise for leadership: understand your own life story. This transformation in thinking from "I" to "we" is "the most important process leaders go through in becoming authentic. . . Only when leaders stop focusing on their personal ego needs are they able to develop other leaders. They recognize the unlimited potential of empowered leaders working together toward a shared purpose."
From Shanghai Daily (June 9 , 2007):
George says: "Ethically grounded leadership is not only possible, it is often the most effective leadership of all." For leaders who are still vacillating between the temptations of short-term interests and their most cherished values and beliefs, the book by Bill George is most commendable.
From Toronto, Canada Globe & Mail (May 30, 2007): "Life lessons set the leadership Compass":
"Do you know what your life and leadership are all about? Do you know when you are being true to yourself - authentic - and when you are just giving in to outside forces and the seduction of power or money? Do you, in other words, know your True North?"
From Harvard Business Review (February, 2007):
"The ongoing problems in business leadership over the past five years have underscored the need for a new kind of leader in the 21st century: the authentic leader. Author Bill George, a Harvard Business School professor and the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, and his colleagues, conducted the largest leadership development study ever undertaken. They interviewed 125 business leaders from different racial, religious, national, and socioeconomic backgrounds to understand how leaders become, and remain, authentic."
From Gallup Management Journal (May 10, 2007):
“The Essence of Real Leadership”:
It's not what you do as much as what you leave behind, says one-time Medtronic CEO Bill George. He reveals the importance of self-awareness for leaders. He also warns of the danger of equating power with leadership; tells how to deal with sharks; and reveals some things about coping with leadership that they don't teach you in business school -- but should.
From Convene Magazine (July 2007):
"Leadership is not just Bill George's strong suit; it's his raison d'etre. His book, True North, [is] called by some a leadership Tour De Force...Everyone is born with a capacity to lead George says. He rejects the premise that some are born leaders and others are not. What successful leaders have in common, he says is substance and integrity, not just style and image...This is not a book of six easy answers to leadership. It is a guide to developing yourself as a leader."
From The Conference Board Review (March/April, 2007):
“Bill George, like many critics, thinks that many of today's leaders have failed us. But he has gone beyond criticism to develop a way of thinking about leadership - and what it means to be a leaders today - that may be in tune with our times and the generation of leaders to come...”
From Harbus News (Harvard Business School, April 23, 2007):
“Professor George argued that you can separate all leaders into two categories, those for whom leadership is about their success and those who are leading to serve others. The latter group finds inspiration in their life stories to make the transformation from "I" to "We." The former group never makes that transition."
