True North


Book Description

True North shows how anyone who follows their internal compass can become an authentic leader. This leadership tour de force is based on research and first-person interviews with 125 of today’s top leaders—with some surprising results. In this important book, acclaimed former Medtronic CEO Bill George and coauthor Peter Sims share the wisdom of these outstanding leaders and describe how you can develop as an authentic leader. True North presents a concrete and comprehensive program for leadership success and shows how to create your own Personal Leadership Development Plan centered on five key areas: Knowing your authentic self Defining your values and leadership principles Understanding your motivations Building your support team Staying grounded by integrating all aspects of your life True North offers an opportunity for anyone to transform their leadership path and become the authentic leader they were born to be. Personal, original, and illuminating stories from Warren Bennis, Sir Adrian Cadbury, George Shultz (former U.S. secretary of state), Charles Schwab, John Whitehead (Cochairman, Goldman Sachs), Anne Mulcahy (CEO, Xerox), Howard Schultz (CEO, Starbucks), Dan Vasella (CEO, Novartis), John Brennan (Chairman, Vanguard), Carol Tome (CFO, Home Depot), Donna Dubinsky (CEO/cofounder, Palm), Alan Horn (President, Warner Brothers), Ann Moore (CEO, Time, Inc.) and many others illustrate the transitions that shape the type of leaders who will thrive in the 21st century. Bill George (Cambridge, MA) has spent over 30 years in executive leadership positions at Litton, Honeywell, and Medtronic. As CEO of Medtronic, he built the company into the world’s leading medical technology company as its market capitalization increased from $1.1 billion to $60 billion. Since 2004, he has been a professor at the Harvard Business School. His 2004 book Authentic Leadership (0-7879-7528-1) was a BusinessWeek bestseller. Peter Sims (San Francisco, CA) established “Leadership Perspectives,” a course on leadership development at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and cofounded the London office of Summit Partners, a leading investment firm. Their Web site is www.truenorthleaders.com.




Finding Your True North


Book Description

Based on Bill George’s bestselling book True North, this personal guide offers leaders a comprehensive method for identifying their unique “True North.” The book offers methods for personal reflection and includes targeted exercises that help leaders hone in on the purpose of their leadership and developing their authentic leadership skills.




The Discover Your True North Fieldbook


Book Description

A personal guide for becoming an authentic leader Whether you are just starting your leadership journey or leading a large organization, The Discover Your True North Fieldbook will help you find your leadership purpose, that internal Compass that provides direction and keeps you oriented—your True North. Through a series of reflective exercises, this Fieldbook helps you become a better leader by learning to be a more authentic one. This Fieldbook both personalizes and unlocks the central lessons of its companion book, Discover Your True North by Bill George. It shares the most powerful insights that coauthors Nick Craig, Bill George, and Scott Snook have learned from helping more than 10,000 leaders discover and live up to their fullest potential. Each chapter contains potent exercises that help you mine your life story for deep insights and important patterns. As you work your way through these reflections, you will gain a clearer sense of who you are and why you lead—the essence of an authentic leader. We offer an identity-based approach to leader development. Rather than telling you how to lead, the Fieldbook guides you through an intimate process of personal discovery. By understanding your life story and sharpening your personal narrative, you will discover the unique leader you were meant to be. On the way, you will work through the same lessons taught to MBA students at Harvard Business School, as well as senior executives in many Fortune 100 companies. The Discover Your True North Fieldbook will help you: Become more self-aware and self-accepting Locate that sweet spot at the intersection of your passions and strengths Identify and lead from your core values when it matters most Build a robust support team to guide you through difficult times Discover your leadership purpose, the essence of who you are, your True North Stay grounded by integrating all aspects of your life Grow as a global leader Help others become authentic leaders To help you actually live your True North, this Fieldbook concludes by offering a rigorous, step-by-step process that generates a customized, behaviorally anchored Personal Leadership Development Plan. This plan not only summarizes and integrates everything you've learned completing this Fieldbook, but does so in a way that supports immediate action and impact. Welcome to your journey toward authentic leadership. Welcome to your True North. Visit www.DiscoverYourTrueNorth.org to learn more.




True North, Emerging Leader Edition


Book Description

A Clarion Call to Emerging Leaders: Step Up and Lead Now! In True North: Emerging Leaders Edition, renowned leadership expert Bill George and Millennial tech entrepreneur Zach Clayton issue the challenge to emerging leaders—from Gen X to Millennials and Gen Z—to lead their organizations authentically through never-ending crises to make this world a better place for everyone. Emerging leaders do so by discovering their “True North”—who they are—and then finding their “North Star”—their leadership purpose. To navigate today’s complexities, George and Clayton show emerging leaders how to lead with their hearts, not just their heads, with passion, compassion, and moral courage by being true to their values to reach their full potential as they take on great challenges and navigate complex issues. Harvard professor Bill George, with four best-selling books to his credit including the timeless classic True North, is the former CEO of Medtronic who established authentic leadership in 2003. He teams up with Zach Clayton, an emerging leader still amid his own leadership development journey, to give emerging leaders the definitive guide for leading in today’s complex world. The Emerging Leader Edition is filled with dramatic stories from successful leaders such as Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Merck’s Ken Frazier to PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi and General Motors’ Mary Barra, and emerging leaders like OneTrust’s Kabir Barday and Kanbrick’s Tracy Britt Cool of how they overcame great challenges to build highly successful organizations. The book offers concrete suggestions for: Becoming an authentic leader, equipped to lead inclusively with moral clarity through challenges and crises Cultivating regular introspection to ground yourself with self-awareness, live your values, and use your unique strengths Integrating all aspects of your life—including who you are at home, at work, and in the community Understanding how Millennials are leading more effectively in today’s world Being an inclusive leader prepared to take on fraught issues like stakeholder challenges, racial and sexual equality, and sexual misconduct Knowing when—and how—leaders should speak out on today’s complex public issues The Emerging Leader Edition of True North is the classic guide for every current and aspiring leader to reach their full, authentic potential.




Discover Your True North


Book Description

“One of the 25 Best Leadership Books of All-Time.” – Soundview The Leadership Classic, Discover Your True North, expanded for today's leaders Discover Your True North is the best-selling leadership classic that enables you to become an authentic leader by discovering your True North. Originally based on first-person interviews with 125 leaders, this book instantly became a must-read business classic when it was introduced in 2007. Now expanded and updated to introduce 48 new leaders and new learning about authentic global leaders, this revisited classic includes more diverse, global, and contemporary leaders of all ages. New case studies include Warren Buffett, Indra Nooyi, Arianna Huffington, Jack Ma, Paul Polman, Mike Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg, and many others. Alongside these studies, former Medtronic CEO Bill George continues to share his personal stories and his wisdom by describing how you can become the leader you want to be, with helpful exercises included throughout the book. Being a leader is about much more than title and management skills—it's fundamentally a question of who we are as human beings. Discover Your True North offers a concrete and comprehensive program for becoming an authentic leader, and shows how to chart your path to leadership success. Once you discover the purpose of your leadership, you'll find the true leader inside you. This book shows you how to use your natural leadership abilities to inspire and empower others to excellence in today's complex global world. Discover Your True North enables you to become the leader you were born to be, and stay on track of your True North.




The Leadership Moment


Book Description

Are you ready for the leadership moment? “Gripping adventure and actionable advice.”—Fast Company Merck’s Roy Vagelos commits millions of dollars to develop a drug needed only by people who can’t afford it • Eugene Kranz struggles to bring the Apollo 13 astronauts home after an explosion rips through their spacecraft • Arlene Blum organizes the first women's ascent of one of the world's most dangerous mountains • Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain leads his tattered troops into a pivotal Civil War battle at Little Round Top • John Gutfreund loses Salomon Brothers when his inattention to a trading scandal almost topples the Wall Street giant • Clifton Wharton restructures a $50 billion pension system direly out of touch with its customers • Alfredo Cristiani transforms El Salvador’s decade-long civil war into a negotiated settlement • Nancy Barry leads Women's World Banking in the fight against Third World poverty • Wagner Dodge faces the decision of a lifetime as a fast-moving forest fire overtakes his firefighting crew.




The Heart of Business


Book Description

A Wall Street Journal Bestseller Named a Financial Times top title How to unleash "human magic" and achieve improbable results. Hubert Joly, former CEO of Best Buy and orchestrator of the retailer's spectacular turnaround, unveils his personal playbook for achieving extraordinary outcomes by putting people and purpose at the heart of business. Back in 2012, "Everyone thought we were going to die," says Joly. Eight years later, Best Buy was transformed as Joly and his team rebuilt the company into one of the nation's favorite employers, vastly increased customer satisfaction, and dramatically grew Best Buy's stock price. Joly and his team also succeeded in making Best Buy a leader in sustainability and innovation. In The Heart of Business, Joly shares the philosophy behind the resurgence of Best Buy: pursue a noble purpose, put people at the center of the business, create an environment where every employee can blossom, and treat profit as an outcome, not the goal. This approach is easy to understand, but putting it into practice is not so easy. It requires radically rethinking how we view work, how we define companies, how we motivate, and how we lead. In this book Joly shares memorable stories, lessons, and practical advice, all drawn from his own personal transformation from a hard-charging McKinsey consultant to a leader who believes in human magic. The Heart of Business is a timely guide for leaders ready to abandon old paradigms and lead with purpose and humanity. It shows how we can reinvent capitalism so that it contributes to a sustainable future.




Summary of True North by Bill George


Book Description

Discover your Authentic Leadership. How do you become an authentic leader? How is it that some people are born natural leaders while others struggle to make the right decisions? Well, Bill George interviewed 125 great leaders and learned that they all share one thing in common: they make the right decisions based on what’s important to them. This might seem vague, so let’s explain. Each leader follows their True North or their internal compass. Your True North represents who you are as a human being, it is the fixed point that helps you stay on track as a leader. It is based on your values, your passions, and your motivations. When you follow your True North, your leadership will be authentic, and people will naturally want to associate with you and follow you. So whenever you feel overwhelmed and as if the world is spinning uncontrollably around you, following your True North can put you back on track. As you read, you’ll learn how to become self-aware, how to set your leadership and ethical boundaries, and whether or not you fall into one of the five archetypal leaders. Do you want more free book summaries like this? Download our app for free at https://www.QuickRead.com/App and get access to hundreds of free book and audiobook summaries. DISCLAIMER: This book summary is meant as a preview and not a replacement for the original work. If you like this summary please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book on QuickRead and want us to remove it, please contact us at [email protected].




Getting the Right Things Done


Book Description

" ... Pascal will illustrate the method by telling the story of the imaginary (but very real) Atlas Industries as it switches from traditional planning methods to rigorous strategy deployment. He will explain in detail how you and your organization can get the right things done by applying the method consistently"--P. vii, foreword.




4-3-2-1 Leadership


Book Description

In 1976, armed with a college degree and a commission as an Army 2nd Lieutenant, Vinny Boles began his leadership journey. After 33 years of service, he has distilled this experience into his book, 4-3-2-1 Leadership: What America's Sons & Daughters Taught Me on the Road From Second Lieutenant to Two Star General. "Leadership is not a solo event, it is a team sport," Boles says. "And in the Army it's a team sport at the highest level. And I was truly fortunate to have great teammates in every one of these 33 years."