"Jack Welch did it. So did Carly Fiorini. And of course, there's Donald Trump. The list is extensive — top executives who have written books about their brand of leadership and success and how you can be like them too.
At their best, these CEO books give insights into the real difficulties in running a major organization today. Often, they sound like another karaoke chorus from the song "I did it my way." Besides, is there really room in the world for more Donald Trump clones?
So it comes as a refreshing change to read the latest book by Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic. In "True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership," George, along with co-author Peter Sims, suggests that your best guide to becoming a leader is to know yourself. Emulating someone else's style or methods of leadership too often means you will fail on your own journey.
Locating and following "the internal compass that guides you successfully through life," is the true means of finding your own way, George tells us. He then gives us practical tools and inspired examples for doing just that.
Part of the strength and uniqueness of this book is the extensive set of interviews that are at its heart. There are 125 interviews with top managers, given with a candor and honesty that is often missing in discussions about leadership. To be sure, there are the usual stories of success, but there are also frank discussions about personal challenges, tragedies and failures.
This is perhaps the most diverse group of top leaders ever interviewed for one book. The remarkable list of men and women who share their leadership journeys would alone make this book worth space on your business bookshelf. Included are FORTUNE 500 CEOs from nearly every industry, ranging in age from 20 to 70.
These candid personal stories of some of the world's most effective leaders highlight a new — and truly successful — leadership paradigm. As the authors explain in their opening remarks, "When you follow your internal compass, your leadership will be authentic, and people will naturally want to associate with you. Although others may guide or influence you, your truth is derived from your life story and only you can determine what it should be."
Which is not to say that there isn't a great deal that can be learned about leadership. But during the past 50 years, more than 1,000 studies on leadership have failed to produce a clear profile of the ideal leader. The reality, the authors tell us, is that "no one can be authentic by trying to be like someone else."
The book is divided into three parts. The first describes the Journey to Authentic Leadership and how leaders have either been successful or lost their way. Leaders, many with great passion, discuss their life stories and how these motivated them to become leaders. Among the leaders profiled is Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, who explains how an accident at work left his father disabled and the family in dire straits. Schultz went on to found Starbucks as the first American company to provide access to health coverage for employees who work as few as 20 hours a week.
The second section of the book is a guide to discovering your authentic leadership. To maintain your "True North," the authors give the useful tool of a compass with five major areas for development as a leader. The areas to be considered are: self-awareness, values and principles, motivations, support team and the integrated life. An important point here is that because your circumstances and the world constantly change, you will need to constantly calibrate your compass.
The final section deals with empowering people around you. Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy describes her experience in changing that company from one that faced the risks of bankruptcy to being empowered around a common successful mission. "I get things done by identifying with the people in the company and by trusting them," she said. "I care most about building a good team to lead the company."
"True North" also contains leadership exercises for each chapter. The focus is on your individual development as an authentic leader. While you may have confronted some of these questions before, the careful ordering and design of these exercises make them valuable in seeking your own leadership experience.
However, "True North" is not a how-to book designed to give steps to climb the leadership ladder. Instead, it is an inward journey with a sole destination: to help you discover yourself as a leader.
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