Discover Your True North
Synopsis
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.
Media Appearances
April 9, 2021
Authentically Leading with Blind Ambition
May 10, 2021
Wall Street Journal Forum: CEOs and Social Issues
May 13, 2021
HBS: The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism
April 17, 2020
CNBC: Former Medtronic CEO Bill George On Positive Remdesivir Trials
March 30, 2020
CNBC: CNBC: Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks On Development Of Coronavirus Therapies
March 18, 2020
CNBC: Merck CEO Ken Frazier On The Race For A Coronavirus Vaccine
January 27, 2020
CNBC: Caret Group’s Fred Hassan: I Expect A Coronavirus Vaccine Very Quickly
December 24, 2019
CNBC: Uber’s Kalanick Should Have Left The Board Two Years Ago: Former Medtronic CEO
November 4, 2019
CNBC: Why This Expert Says Steve Easterbrook’s Firing Is A ‘Tragedy’ For McDonald’s
October 21, 2019
CNBC: Boeing’s Board Has Done the Right Thing
October 10, 2019
CNBC: You’re A Public Figure, Everything You Say In Private Is Going To Become Public
April 9, 2019
CNBC: Expect A Fiery Hearing On Capitol Hill Today Over The Role Of Pharmacy Middle Men In Drug Pricing
April 4, 2019
CNBC: Elon Musk’s Behavior Will Hurt Consumer Confidence
February 11, 2019
CNBC: All Employees Should Be Shareholders, Says Former Medtronic CEO
January 28, 2019
CNBC: Howard Schultz Presidential Run
January 3, 2019
CNBC: Celgene Deal is a ‘Bold’ Move, Says Former Medtronic CEO
December 19, 2018
CNBC: Former Medtronic CEO on Health Care Changes
November 16, 2018
CNBC: Is An Economic Slowdown Imminent?
November 8, 2018
CNBC: The Future Of The Health-Care Industry
August 27, 2018
CNBC: Tesla Needs Experienced Automobile Experts
August 17, 2018
CNBC: Be Like Jeff Bezos and Educate Shareholders to Not Care About Quarterly Profits: Expert
August 15, 2018
CNBC: Senator Warren’s Bill has ‘Dangerous Potential of Channeling Karl Marx’: BET Founder
August 6, 2018
CNBC: Incoming PepsiCo CEO will continue Indra Nooyi’s vision: Expert
June 27, 2018
CNBC: Uncertainty and Tariffs Already Hurting Businesses, says Pro
June 22, 2018
CNBC: Resignation a Tragedy for Both Intel and Krzanich
June 5, 2018
CNBC: Howard Schultz has Tremendous Skills that Would Transfer to Politics
April 30, 2018
CNBC: What the T-Mobile Deal for Sprint Means for Wireless
March 22, 2018
CNBC: Fmr. Medtronic CEO: I’m Disappointed in How Zuckerberg Has Handled This
March 8, 2018
CNBC: Cigna Deal Feels Like 2 Jilted Lovers: Fmr. CEO Medtronic
February 23, 2018
CNBC: If You Have to Take a Position, Come Down on the Right Side
January 30, 2018
CNBC: We Need Employers to Step Up and Change Health Care
December 8, 2017
CNBC: Innovation is Key to Solving America’s Health-Care Problems
December 4, 2017
CNBC: CVS to Buy Aetna with New Model for Health Care
November 22, 2017
CNBC: Bill George on P&G Challenge: Bring Nelson on the Board
November 14, 2017
CNBC: GE Has Zero Transparency, and It’s a Tragedy to See It Like This
October 17, 2017
CNBC: Bill George: Trump is Right, Drug Prices are Out of Control
August 22, 2017
CNBC: The Business Economy Drives our Economy
August 16, 2017
CNBC: CEOs Do Not Fear This President: Bill George
August 14, 2017
CNBC: Bill George: Extremely Disappointed Trump Didn’t Agree with Frazier
August 8, 2017
NBR: Nightly Business Report – The Google Memo and Freedom of Speech
June 23, 2017
CNBC: Former Medtronic CEO: This Is Not A Health-Care Bill; This Is A Giant Tax Cut
June 21, 2017
CNBC: Uber Needs an Executive Who Can Take It to the Next Level: Bill George
June 12, 2017
CNBC: Bill George: Immelt Has Moved GE into The New World
June 6, 2017
CNBC: Economy Can’t Grow Without People Filling the Jobs: Pro
June 2, 2017
CNBC: Trump Exits Paris Accord, Is He Losing CEO Support?
June 1, 2017
CNBC: Trump’s Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord
April 26, 2017
CNBC: Bill George: The President is Distracted, Lacks Focus
August 25, 2016
CNBC: Bill George: Heather Bresch made a big mistake
November 21, 2016
CNBC: Bill George on Mylan CEO: Showed Very Little Empathy for Consumer
September 27, 2016
CNBC: Bill George: Don’t Know A Company That Will Bring Back Jobs Like Trump Wants
September 27, 2016
CNBC: Bill George On Drug Pricing: I Want A Market-Based Solution
October 12, 2016
Nightly Business Report: Bill George Discusses Samsung
October 12, 2016
CNBC: Squawk on the Street Samsung’s Recall Nightmare
October 14, 2016
CNBC: Bill George on Stumpf’s Wells Fargo Resignation
November 7, 2016
CNBC: Bill George � How This Election Will Affect Businesses
November 7, 2016
CNBC: New war on drugs: Pharma becoming ‘uninvestable’?
November 18, 2016
CNBC: What Do Big Businesses Want Trump To Focus On?
December 2, 2016
CNBC: Trump’s Changing Relationship with Business
December 2, 2016
CNBC: Time Warner and AT&T deal in jeopardy?
December 12, 2016
CNBC: George: I Don’t Know Rex Has Any Personal Friends In These Areas
December 29, 2016
CNBC: Trump Will Take Credit For Every Job Creation Opportunity
January 24, 2017
CNBC: Bill George: Good Politics, Bad Economics
February 9, 2017
CNBC: Risky For CEOs to Take Political Stances
February 10, 2017
CNBC: Japanese PM Abe Key Partner for US
March 1, 2017
CNBC: Economic Growth Can Only Cure Some Of Our Budget Problems: Pro
December 6, 2016
CNBC: Bill George: Trump will be an ‘activist president’
December 13, 2016
MSNBC: Fmr. ExxonMobil board member: “Tillerson is a patriot”
March 7, 2017
CNBC: GOP Plan Puts the Whole Insurance Market At Risk
March 23, 2017
CNBC: If AHCA Bill Passes, It Will Be Negative for Hospital Stocks
April 5, 2017
CNBC: The Trump CEO Playbook
April 11, 2017
CNBC: Oscar Munoz Keeps Digging the Hole Deeper
June 24, 2010
PBS Nightly Business Report
July 8, 2010
CNBC Kudlow Report – Obama White House & The Business Community Part 2
July 8, 2010
CNBC Kudlow Report – Obama White House & The Business Community
July 26, 2010
CNBC – Leadership in Corporate America Part 3
July 26, 2010
CNBC – Leadership in Corporate America Part 2
July 26, 2010
CNBC – Leadership in Corporate America
August 9, 2010
Kudlow Report: Why Isn’t Business Hiring?
October 1, 2010
CNBC Power Lunch: Elections & Business
October 1, 2010
CNBC Power Lunch: Leadership in Washington
November 2, 2010
CNBC Decision 2010 – Part 3
November 2, 2010
CNBC Decision 2010 – Part 2
November 2, 2010
CNBC Decision 2010 – Part 1
November 16, 2010
CNBC Squawk Box: Keeping America Competitive
December 6, 2010
CNBC Street Signs: Changes at the Top
January 7, 2011
CNBC Kudlow Report – Obama Retools Economic Team
January 18, 2011
Bloomberg TV – What’s Next At Apple
January 19, 2011
Repealing Health Care Not The Answer
February 7, 2011
Bill Grades President Obama on CNBC’s Kudlow Report
February 9, 2011
CNBC’s Street Signs: Nokia’s CEO’s Memo
February 23, 2011
Bill George Interview on Apple Board’s Succession Plan
March 31, 2011
Bill George Tackling Unemployment on CNBC
April 19, 2011
Kudlow Report – More Jobs Move Overseas
May 2, 2011
Political Victory for President Obama?
May 10, 2011
Microsoft’s Leadership Vacuum?
May 12, 2011
Do Reorganizations Work?
May 26, 2011
Time for Microsoft’s Ballmer to Leave?
June 13, 2011
Kudlow Report – Reaction to President Obama’s Jobs Council
July 19, 2011
News Corp.’s Board, Rupert Murdoch’s Future
July 25, 2011
Debt Deadline: The Blame Game
August 4, 2011
Kudlow Report – Stock Market and Jobs Report
August 5, 2011
CNBC’s Street Signs: Crisis of Confidence
August 8, 2011
CNBC – Markets in Turmoil
August 18, 2011
CNBC – View from the Corner Office
September 1, 2011
CNBC – Power Play: Obama vs. Boehner
September 8, 2011
CNBC – Preview of Obama’s Jobs Plan
September 16, 2011
Bill George and Doug Baker discuss True North Groups
October 4, 2011
Fox Business – Apple’s product launch and leadership of Tim Cook
January 3, 2012
CNBC – Leaders to Watch in 2012
January 9, 2012
CNBC – Sizing up the Tech CEOs
January 18, 2012
CNBC – Jerry Yang’s Resignation at Yahoo
January 20, 2012
CNBC – The Tech CEO Report Card
February 7, 2012
CNBC – HP Shareholders to Have More Say on Board Members
April 25, 2012
CNBC – The Wal-Mart Corruption Scandal
April 27, 2012
CNBC – The Squawk – Executives, Bribes & Scandals
May 6, 2012
WFAE: Energy Clusters
May 14, 2012
CNBC – Resume-Gate Leads to Yahoo CEO Exit
May 15, 2012
KSTP – Best Buy Shakeup
May 16, 2012
WCCO Chad Hartman Show – Best Buy
June 6, 2012
MN Bar Association Law Day Dinner
June 4, 2012
CNBC – Hey Corporate America: Stop Whining, Start Hiring
May 15, 2012
MPR News – Best Buy scandal brings lessons about corporate governance
April 13, 2012
MPR News – The business ethics behind Brian Dunn’s Best Buy resignation
June 21, 2012
Conscious Capitalism – Building and Sustaining a Culture of Love and Care
June 28, 2012
CNBC – US HealthCare Decision
August 21, 2012
Bloomberg TV – Looking for Wall Street Leaders
August 22, 2012
Bloomberg TV – The Battle Over Best Buy Intensifies
August 22, 2012
Marketplace – Your Paycheck and the CEO’s – Side by Side
October 2, 2012
CNBC – Would Steve Jobs Have Fired Tim Cook?
October 16, 2012
CNBC – Shuffling Up The Citi Deck
October 17, 2012
Rising to the Challenge: A Conversation with Robert C. Maybery and Bill W. George – Part 1
October 17, 2012
Rising to the Challenge: A Conversation with Robert C. Maybery and Bill W. George – Part 2
October 17, 2012
Rising to the Challenge: A Conversation with Robert C. Maybery and Bill W. George – Part 3
October 17, 2012
Rising to the Challenge: A Conversation with Robert C. Maybery and Bill W. George – Part 4
October 18, 2012
World of Business Ideas – 3 Questions to Improve Your Leadership
November 15, 2012
Michigan Radio – The Big Three Roar Back
November 20, 2012
CNBC Squawk On The Street – Autonomy Bombshell For HP
November 28, 2012
CNBC – Hewlett-Packard Autonomy Blame Game
December 14, 2012
CNBC – Best Buy Extends Bid Deadline
January 19, 2013
CNBC – Raising the Age for Medicare
February 1, 2013
World Economic Forum 2013 Annual Meeting – The Moral Economy
February 1, 2013
MPR News Friday Roundtable – How To Be A Leader
February 21, 2013
Bloomberg TV – Outlook for Hewlett-Packard & Dell
February 21, 2013
Bloomberg TV – Full Guest Appearance
March 19, 2013
CNBC – Will a Kinder, Gentler CEO Be More Effective?
March 20, 2013
Bloomberg TV – HP Board Has Lost Its Institutional Memory
April 2, 2013
CNBC – Apple’s CEO Apologizes to the Chinese
May 7, 2013
CNBC – ‘Microsoft Needs to Get Into the Game’: Pro
May 21, 2013
CNBC – ‘Berating’ CEOs Doesn’t Solve Tax Problem: Fiorina
June 17, 2013
Bloomberg TV – George Sees `Tradeoff’ in Surveillance, Security
July 5, 2013
CNBC – Obamacare: Too Much, Too Fast?
August 13, 2013
CNBC – When Good Companies Go Bad
August 13, 2013
Bloomberg TV – Bill Ackman Resigns From J.C. Penney Board
August 14, 2013
CNBC – AOL Sorry CEO
August 23, 2013
CNBC – Ballmer Retirement
August 28, 2013
Bloomberg – Ackman’s Sale of J.C. Penney Stake
September 12, 2013
Bloomberg – Verizon Bonds
September 12, 2013
Bloomberg – Dell Discussion
September 13, 2013
Bloomberg – Shareholder Activism
September 13, 2013
Bloomberg – State of Yahoo
September 13, 2013
Bloomberg – Financial Crisis Five Years Later
September 27, 2013
TPT’s Almanac – Mayo Clinic Expansion (From August 13, 2013)
October 1, 2013
Bloomberg – Medical Device Tax, U.S. Shutdown
October 31, 2013
CNBC Squawk Box – Cleaning Up the Affordable Care Mess
November 1, 2013
On Being Radio – Integrative Business: Executive Bill George On Reestablishing Trust With The 99 Percent
November 20, 2013
Nightly Business Report – Microsoft Challenge
November 20, 2013
CNBC – Obamacare won’t be solved by end of month
November 20, 2013
CNBC – Microsoft Needs Transformation
November 20, 2013
CNBC – Activist Shareholders
November 20, 2013
CNBC – General Motors Discussion
November 20, 2013
CNBC – Energy
November 20, 2013
CNBC – Economy Discussion
November 20, 2013
CNBC – Discussion with Michael Dell
December 9, 2013
McKinsey – Rethinking Capitalism
December 10, 2013
CNBC – General Motors First Female CEO
December 11, 2013
NBR – New GM CEO Mary Barra
January 10, 2014
CNBC – Outlook on Jobs in America
January 10, 2014
CNBC – Target Data Breach Nightmare
January 10, 2014
CNBC – Interview with Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove
January 13, 2014
CNBC – Jobs as Hot Button Topic at Davos
January 13, 2014
CNBC – Interview with PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi
January 31, 2014
Bloomberg TV – Microsoft Needs ‘Major Transformation’
February 4, 2014
CNBC – Bill George: Not Clear Who’s Running Microsoft
February 21, 2014
Bloomberg TV – Zuckerberg on Path to Mobile Dominance
March 4, 2014
Bloomberg TV – Andreessen Fires Back at Icahn Over Skype Claims
March 14, 2014
Bloomberg Market Makers – eBay Fights Against Icahn
March 14, 2014
CNBC Kudlow Report – Business Wary of Russia Sanctions
March 20, 2014
Bloomberg – Will eBay Back Down From Carl Icahn Feud?
March 27, 2014
CNBC Nightly Business Report – The Activist Shareholder
April 2, 2014
Fox Business – Will Satya Nadella Transform Microsoft?
April 23, 2014
Bloomberg – Bank Investors Starving for Activists, Mayo Says
April 23, 2014
Bloomberg – Valeant’s Pearson Making a `Big Bet’: George
April 23, 2014
Bloomberg – How Carl Icahn Met His Match in eBay’s Donahoe
April 24, 2014
HBR – Protect Your Company from Activist Investors
April 28, 2014
2014 Franklin Institute Awards – Bower Award for Business Leadership
May 12, 2014
CNBC – Samsung’s next-gen CEO
May 21, 2014
Bloomberg – Target Will Recover as It Keeps Customers
June 16, 2014
CNBC – Medtronic Acquisition of Covidien
June 16, 2014
Bloomberg – Medtronic Acquisition & Tax Inversion
June 28, 2014
Bloomberg – Making Work a Better Place
August 4, 2014
CNBC – President not leading, attacking on all sides
August 21, 2014
HBR Ideacast – How to Stop Corporate Inversions
August 26, 2014
Bloomberg – Activist Investors Seek to Shake Things Up
September 16, 2014
CNBC – Why Do People Lie On Resumes?
September 23, 2014
Bloomberg – Territorial Tax Is The Answer to Inversion Deals
September 24, 2014
CNBC – Public Perception of Corporations
October 6, 2014
Bloomberg – HP’s Potential Split
October 28, 2014
CNBC – Bezos: Genius or Aimless?
October 31, 2014
CNBC – Apple CEO Tim Cook Coming Out As Gay
November 3, 2014
CNBC – Google’s next big innovation: Itself?
November 17, 2014
Bloomberg – Actavis to Buy Allergan
December 4, 2014
CNBC – Jobs Crisis & Skills Gap
December 8, 2014
CNBC – Does Leadership Matter?
November 17, 2014
Bloomberg – Activists Go After America’s Best
September 24, 2014
MPR News – Inversion Crackdown
November 19, 2014
MPR News – Leadership & Business Ethics
December 29, 2014
CNBC – Time For Costolo To Go
December 29, 2014
CNBC – Sony Needs New Leadership
January 23, 2015
HuffPost Live – Mindfulness Is The Way…
January 29, 2015
CNBC – McDonald’s Leadership Shakeup
March 5, 2015
CNBC – Marketing to Millennials
March 5, 2015
CNBC – Fortune’s Best Places to Work
March 5, 2015
CNBC – Wayfair’s Marketing Investment
March 27, 2015
More Than Sound – Inner Work for Authentic Leadership
March 27, 2015
More Than Sound – Identifying Authenticity During An Interview
March 26, 2015
More Than Sound – Daniel Goleman and Bill George: The Dangers of Groupthink
March 26, 2015
More Than Sound – Daniel Goleman and Bill George: Stop Chasing Admiration
March 26, 2015
More Than Sound – Daniel Goleman and Bill George: Find Your Blind Spots
March 26, 2015
More Than Sound – Daniel Goleman and Bill George: Authenticity and Empathy
April 10, 2015
CNBC – Peltz’s Attacks on DuPont Threaten America’s Research Edge (Part 3)
April 10, 2015
CNBC – Peltz’s Attacks on DuPont Threaten America’s Research Edge (Part 2)
April 10, 2015
CNBC – Peltz’s Attacks on DuPont Threaten America’s Research Edge (Part 1)
April 12, 2015
CNBC – The New GE
April 30, 2015
More Than Sound – Daniel Goleman and Bill George: Crucible Moments as Opportunities
May 12, 2015
CNBC – Bullies in the Boardroom
May 13, 2015
CNBC – DuPont Wins Proxy Fight
June 10, 2015
CNBC – Top Business Headlines
June 12, 2015
CNBC – Trade Pact & Twitter Governance
June 17, 2015
CNBC – Target’s Transformation
June 17, 2015
CNBC – 2016 Election
June 18, 2015
NBR – Expanding Core Business
June 19, 2015
HuffPost Live – Finding Your True North As A Leader
July 1, 2015
HuffPost Live – Twitter’s Leadership Shift
July 8, 2015
More Than Sound – Daniel Goleman and Bill George: Hone Your Systems Thinking
July 14, 2015
CNBC – Jobs for Lost Generation, China’s Chip Takeover
August 18, 2015
HuffPost Live – Can Workaholics Have A Work-Life Balance?
August 19, 2015
CNBC – Authenticity The Gold Standard For Leaders
September 8, 2015
CNBC – Health Care’s Day of Reckoning
September 8, 2015
CNBC – How to Spot an Authentic Leader
October 7, 2015
Kare 11 – Penny George Institute for Health and Healing
October 7, 2015
CNBC – Dorsey Returning to Twitter; Ellen Kullman Stepping Down
October 19, 2015
CNBC – Should Companies Disclose CEO Health?
October 22, 2015
CNBC – United Airlines CEO Health
October 22, 2015
CNBC Squawk Box – Valeant�s Stock Drop
October 22, 2015
CNBC Power Lunch – Leadership Crisis at Valeant
November 11, 2015
CNBC: Where University of Missouri President Wolfe Failed
November 30, 2015
CNBC – Retail CEOs Under Pressure
December 2, 2015
CNBC – Zuckerberg’s Philanthropic Donation
December 17, 2015
CNBC – Federal Interest Rate Hike
January 21, 2016
CNBC: What CEOs Need To Ensure Companies’ Success
March 21, 2016
CNBC: Valeant Needs a Dramatic Change
March 24, 2016
CNBC: Grading Yahoo’s Board
March 29, 2016
CNBC: Alphabet’s CEO Problem
April 6, 2016
CNBC: Discuss Disney’s Succession Plan Shakeup
April 8, 2016
CNBC: The War On Business
April 14, 2016
CNBC: Bill George’s tax code solutions
April 20, 2016
CNBC – Bill George on VW: This is the price you pay…
April 27, 2016
CNBC: Theranos Under Fire
June 2, 2016
CNBC: Big Automakers vs. Disruptors
June 20, 2016
CNBC: Attracting Talent; Brexit & Banks
June 22, 2016
CNBC: Musk should stop dreaming so big: Bill George
August 25, 2016
CNBC: Bill George: The VC view on drug pricing
May 19, 2016
University of St. Thomas: The Forum on Workplace Inclusion – Day 3 Keynote
Speeches
December 24, 2018
Earl Bakken Celebration of Life
October 30, 2015
Georgia Tech Impact Speaker Series
September 25, 2017
PTV Healthcare Capital Keynote Address
November 21, 2011
Leadership Talk at Stanford Business School
November 2, 2017
Discover Your True North Talk at Google
November 25, 2015
Discover Your True North Book Launch Celebration in Raleigh, NC
January 28, 2009
World Economic Forum: Bill George
July 17, 2014
Wharton Business School Interview – Authentic Leadership and Letting Your Strengths Bloom
March 28, 2007
Highlights: We Need a New Kind of Leader
October 7, 2007
Highlights: Is there a list of leadership traits? ABA
October 19, 2007
Highlights: How do you develop leaders?
January 29, 2008
Highlights: Our Greatest Fear
March 6, 2009
David Gergen’s Introduction of Bill George at Willow Creek
June 9, 2009
Leadership Speaker Series: Bill George, Harvard
August 8, 2009
Highlights: What do you do under pressure?
August 8, 2009
Highlights: Bill & Penny on True North
June 4, 2010
Management Innovation eXchange
August 22, 2010
ASAE 2010 Annual Meeting
December 1, 2011
Highlights: December Speech at Whole Foods Headquarters
November 27, 2012
HBS Event – U.S. Competitiveness
September 13, 2013
US Naval Academy Speech (from January 2010)
June 30, 2014
David A. Rothenberger Lecture Series – Will Physicians Lead Us Through Health Care Challenges?
July 9, 2014
Stanford Graduate School of Business: Leaders Need High Emotional IQ to Succeed
October 20, 2011
ExecuNet Follow the Leader Interview with Bill George Part 1
October 20, 2011