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

May 6, 2022
Wall Street Wrap-Up: May 6, 2022

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