Discover Your True North

323 Pages·2015·4.894 MB·English

by  Bill George, David Gergen

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Discover Your
True North
Expanded and Updated Edition
Bill George
WEBFFIRS 07/02/2015 3:57:52 Pageii
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData:
George,Bill(WilliamW.)
[Findingyourtruenorth.]
Discoveryourtruenorth/BillGeorge.-Secondedition,ExpandedandUpdatedEdition.
pagescm
Revisededitionoftheauthor’sFindingyourtruenorth,2008.
Includesindex.
ISBN978–1–119–08294–1(hardback);ISBN978–1–119–08297–2(ePDF);
ISBN978–1–119–08295–8(ePub)
1. Leadership. 2. Organizationaleffectiveness. I. Title.
HD57.7.G458142015
658.4’092-dc23 2015013574
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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This book is dedicated to my family. First to my wife, Penny,
whose love, passion for life, and counsel have enabled all the
Georges to discover our True North. And to our sons, Jeff
and Jon, and our daughters-in-law, Renee and Jeannette,
who are making important contributions to the world as
authentic leaders.
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BEST-SELLING BOOKS BY BILL GEORGE
Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value
(2003)
True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership (2007) (with Peter Sims)
Finding Your True North: A Personal Guide (2008) (with Nick Craig and
Andrew McLean)
7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis (2009)
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Contents
Preface The Remarkable Legacy of Warren Bennis vii
Foreword David Gergen xi
Introduction 1
Part One: Your Journey to Leadership 13
1. Your Life Story 15
LeadStory:HowardSchultz,ChairandCEOofStarbucks
2. Losing Your Way 41
LeadStory:RajatGupta,WorldwideManagingDirectorof
McKinsey
3. Crucibles 57
LeadStory:DanielVasella,ChairandCEOofNovartis
Part Two: Developing as an 77
Authentic Leader
4. Self-Awareness 79
LeadStory:AriannaHuffington,FounderofThe
HuffingtonPost
5. Values 103
LeadStory:DavidGergen,HarvardProfessorandPresidential
Advisor
v
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vi CONTENTS
6. Sweet Spot 123
LeadStory:WarrenBuffett,FounderandCEOofBerkshire
Hathaway
7. Support Team 142
LeadStory:TadPiper,ChairandCEOofPiperJaffray
8. Integrated Life 159
LeadStory:JohnDonahoe,CEOofeBay
Part Three: Your True North Meets the World 179
9. I to We 181
LeadStory:NelsonMandela,PresidentofSouthAfrica
10. Purpose 199
LeadStory:KenFrazier,ChairandCEOofMerck
11. Empowerment 219
LeadStory:AnneMulcahy,ChairandCEOofXerox
12. Global Leadership 243
LeadStory:PaulPolman,CEOofUnilever
Afterword Stakeholders in Society 265
LeadStory:JackMa,FounderofAlibaba
New Leaders Featured in Discover Your True North 275
Participants from the Original Research for True North 277
Where Are They Now? 279
References 287
About the Author 293
Acknowledgments 295
Index 297
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Preface
The Remarkable Legacy of
Warren Bennis
Warren Bennis was one of the great pioneers in the field of
leadership. Small in physical stature, he was a giant in his intellect,
his heart, and his spirit. Just as Peter Drucker was the father of
management, Bennis was the father of leadership.
Bennis transformed our understanding of what it means to be a
leader. He was the first scholar who said leadership is not a set of
genetic characteristics, but the result of a lifelong process of self-
discovery. Rejecting the notion that leaders are born with certain
traits,heopenedthedoortotherealsourceofleadership:withinyou.
He wrote:
The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born—that there is a
genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have
certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is
true. Leaders are made rather than born.
He showed how leaders develop through their life experiences,
are shaped by their crucibles, and emerge ever stronger to take on
responsibilities of leadership. He said unequivocally, “Leadership is
character,” adding,
Itis not just asuperficial question ofstyle, buthas to do with who we are as
humanbeings,andwiththeforcesthathaveshapedus.Theprocessofbecoming
a leader is much the same as the process of becoming an integrated human
being.
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viii PREFACE
Bennis’s early life was deeply influenced by his association at
Antioch College and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology with Douglas McGregor, author of The Human Side of
Enterprise. While in Cambridge, he connected with Abraham
Maslow (creator of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs), Peter Drucker,
PaulSamuelson,andErikErikson,whosetheoriesontheeightstages
of human development influenced Bennis’s own generativity in his
lateryears.Hewentontowrite30books.Manyoftoday’sinfluential
leadership authors, such as Tom Peters, Nitin Nohria, David
Gergen, Jim O’Toole, Bob Sutton, Jeff Sonnenfeld, and Doug
Conant are indebted to Bennis for their ideas.
As president of the University of Cincinnati, he realized his
personal truth, “I was never going to be able to be happy with
positional power. What I really wanted was personal power: having
influence based on my voice. My real gift is what I can do in the
classroom and as a mentor.” Following a heart attack in 1979, he
found his home at the University of Southern California.
Bennis’s influence on business leaders was widespread and
profound. Thousands of leaders who never knew him were inspired
by his writings and adopted his approach to leadership. Many chief
executive officers (CEOs) have told me personally what a profound
influence he had on their leadership.
Ifirstencounteredhiswritingin1989whenIreadOnBecominga
Leader. It was a revelation: Finally, I had found a philosophy of
leadershipIcouldresonatewith.ThroughoutmyyearsatMedtronic
and Harvard Business School (HBS), I have built on his philoso-
phies in my work and teaching.
WefirstmetattheWorldEconomicForuminthelate1990s.He
suffered from heart problems, and had recently had a Medtronic
defibrillatorimplanted.InDecemberof2000Iinvitedhimasaguest
patient toanannualMedtronic event, wherehegraciously thanked
the employees who designed and manufactured his defibrillator in
front of 10,000 people.
He was fond of saying he had Medtronic “in his heart” and then
describinghowhisdefibrillatorsavedhislifehalfadozentimes.Ionce