Summary Of True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership

The Book True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George was a compilation of tidbits, pieces of advice, and interviews with famous leaders. These leaders were gathered from all over the place, massive corporations, politics, NPO’s, leaders in education, medicine, and many more areas. A majority of the leaders mentioned a turning point in their life, a traumatic event that occurred, or a difficult situation, something that showed them their real purpose, their True North. Obviously they didn’t all of a sudden become the successful leaders they are today, but this event or situation they experienced set them on a path of transition into who they are today. Bill George refers to this transition as going from “I to We”, recognizing that leadership is not about the “I” of gaining followers, but instead about the “We” of a larger more important group movement.
Bill talks about the Leadership Crisis we are experiencing in our country today. According to Gallop polling, less than 25% of people would say they trust our business
leaders, and much less trust our political leaders. This is not only a problem, it could be a potential for catastrophe. When we think of leaders, we think of someone at the top, this obsession with powerful leaders is the reason we are in a leadership crisis. Too often we select the wrong people to lead, and have given them too much power, which they usually abuse. Many times, the leaders use their power to help themselves instead of serving the people to whom they should be aligned.
The Authentic Leaders Bill interviewed all said that their leadership was cultivated from their own life story.
The leaders did not identify any specific leadership character traits, or skills that lead them to their current positions. They believed that by constantly challenging themselves, and looking back at their life stories, they uncovered their real purpose for leadership. When looking back at their lives, they realized that leadership was not about success or the various perks that come with success, but rather about elevating other people and empowering them to lead. All people could be generalized as either leaders or followers, but there are also two types of leaders, those who lead to serve themselves, and those who lead to serve others. Leaders who lead to serve themselves, never find their true north, and never make the transition from “I” to “We”. Therefore they rarely gain the respect and trust of their
followers.
Everyone has their own moral compass. The challenge is figuring out what direction your personal True North is, in this always changing crazy world we live in. That is the key to discovering your true purpose for leadership. Once you orient the true north of your own moral compass, you will not be lead astray by offers of temptation or seduction. You will be more focused on empowering your followers to be leaders themselves rather than your own personal gain. Discovering your authentic leadership is a life long journey which requires you to always accept challenges, know yourself at the deepest level, you must be able to look in the mirror and respect the person you see. As long as you follow your own moral compass, you will be able to overcome any obstacle life can throw at you.