Discover Your True North

Discover Your True North

by Bill George
Released August 2015
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781119082941

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Book description

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.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Best-Selling Books by Bill George
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Preface The Remarkable Legacy of Warren Bennis
  7. Foreword
  8. Introduction
    1. Your True North
    2. The Rise of Authentic Leaders
    3. The Leadership Transformation
    4. Discover Your True North
  9. Part One: Your Journey to Leadership
    1. Chapter 1: Your Life Story
      1. Howard Schultz's Leadership Journey
      2. Your Life Story Defines Your Leadership
      3. What Is Your Life Story?
      4. The Journey to Authentic Leadership
      5. Phase I: Preparing for Leadership
      6. Phase II: Leading
      7. Phase III: Generativity
      8. Exercise: Your Life Story and Journey to Authentic Leadership
    2. Chapter 2: Losing Your Way
      1. The Tragedy of Rajat Gupta
      2. Why Leaders Lose Their Way
      3. Derailing: Losing Sight of Your True North
      4. Exercise: Why Leaders Lose Their Way
    3. Chapter 3: Crucibles
      1. Daniel Vasella's Long Journey
      2. Crucibles of Leadership
      3. Post-Traumatic Growth
      4. My Crucibles Came Early
      5. Exercise: Your Greatest Crucible
  10. Part Two: Developing as an Authentic Leader
    1. Chapter 4: Self-Awareness
      1. Arianna Huffington: Redefining Success
      2. Becoming Self-Aware
      3. Peeling Back the Onion
      4. Vulnerability Is Power
      5. Reflection and Introspection
      6. The Importance of Feedback
      7. Opening up Hidden Areas
      8. Self-Compassion and Self-Acceptance
      9. Becoming a Mindful Leader
      10. Exercise: Knowing Your Authentic Self
    2. Chapter 5: Values
      1. David Gergen: Crisis Strengthened His Values
      2. Values, Leadership Principles, and Ethical Boundaries
      3. Testing Values under Pressure
      4. Setting Ethical Boundaries
      5. Values Challenges at Medtronic
      6. Exercise: Practicing Your Values and Principles
    3. Chapter 6: Sweet Spot
      1. Warren Buffett Finds His Sweet Spot
      2. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations
      3. Avoiding the Trap of Extrinsic Motivations
      4. Build on Your Strengths
      5. Chuck Schwab's Journey to His Sweet Spot
      6. Exercise: Your Sweet Spot
    4. Chapter 7: Support Team
      1. Tad Piper's Support Team in His Crisis
      2. Building Support Teams
      3. The Power of Sharing Openly
      4. Mentoring: A Two-Way Street
      5. Building True Friendships
      6. True North Groups
      7. Exercise: Building Your Support Team
    5. Chapter 8: Integrated Life
      1. John Donahoe: Choosing to Live Fully
      2. Blending Careers with Family Life
      3. Managing Dual Careers
      4. An Integrated Life Makes You a Better Leader
      5. Making Choices and Trade-Offs
      6. The Buckets of Your Life
      7. Staying Grounded by Integrating Your Life
      8. Prioritizing Your Family
      9. Staying True to Your Roots
      10. Finding Time for Yourself
      11. Measuring Your Success
      12. Integrating All Aspects of Your Life
      13. Exercise: The Integrated Leader
  11. Part Three: Your True North Meets the World
    1. Chapter 9: I to We
      1. Nelson Mandela: Seeking Reconciliation, Not Retribution
      2. From Hero's Journey to Leader's Journey
      3. Challenges in Making the Transformation
      4. Crucibles Help Make the Transformation
      5. My Defining Leadership Experience
      6. Taking the I to We Journey
      7. Exercise: Your Transformation from I to We
    2. Chapter 10: Purpose
      1. Ken Frazier: Medicine for the People
      2. What's the Purpose of Your Leadership?
      3. Turning Purpose into Action
      4. Aligning Your Organization and Shared Purpose
      5. Keeping Your True North and Purpose in Sync
      6. Exercise: The Purpose of My Leadership
    3. Chapter 11: Empowerment
      1. Anne Mulcahy: Empowering People in Crisis
      2. The Engaged Leader
      3. Mutual Respect: The Basis for Empowerment
      4. Creating an Empowered Culture
      5. Empowerment Is Accountability
      6. Your Leadership Style
      7. Exercise: Empowering Other Leaders
    4. Chapter 12: Global Leadership
      1. Paul Polman: Transforming Unilever's Global Leadership
      2. Challenges of the Global Context
      3. Developing Global Intelligence (GQ)
      4. Increasing Your GQ
      5. Emerging Global Leaders
      6. The Future for Global Leaders
      7. Exercise: Developing GQ
  12. Afterword Stakeholders in Society
    1. Jack Ma: China's First Global Leader
    2. The Purpose of Business
    3. Becoming Stakeholders in Society
  13. New Leaders Featured in Discover Your True North
  14. Participants from the Original Research for True North
  15. Where Are They Now?
  16. References
    1. Preface
    2. Introduction
    3. Chapter 1
    4. Chapter 2
    5. Chapter 3
    6. Chapter 4
    7. Chapter 5
    8. Chapter 6
    9. Chapter 7
    10. Chapter 8
    11. Chapter 9
    12. Chapter 10
    13. Chapter 11
    14. Chapter 12
    15. Afterword
  17. About the Author
  18. Acknowledgments
  19. Index
  20. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Discover Your True North
  • Author(s): Bill George
  • Release date: August 2015
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119082941