Discover Your True North Summary

Improved Essays
Discover Your True North, by Bill George describes the expectations for today’s leaders have drastically changed from traditional views. The financial crisis a few years ago occurred in part because leaders consumed themselves with fame, fortune, and power. These self-serving leaders ultimately did not benefit themselves or the companies they led, making today’s leaders take notice. A great number of today’s workforce is comprised of the Millennials, who have very different expectations for leaders. This generation is more socially connected and want their leaders to be transparent and collaborative, and balk at bureaucracy and excessive hierarchy. In today’s global economy, leaders are comprised of more diverse individuals than ever before. These challenges require leaders to be authentic and have a high emotional intelligence (EQ)- being self-aware and building authentic, open relationships. 1
The book states that to be an authentic leader you must be genuine and real. This will allow you to be the leader you want to be, which is guided by your true north - the internal compass that guides you successfully through life. 2 You have been shaped by events in your life, morals, values, and principles you
…show more content…
You will empower employees and create an effective organization while providing clarity and passion for the mission. No leader accomplishes greatness alone, it is vital to identify a support team to provide objective feedback and moral support. It is important for you to set aside personal time to relax, reflect, and recharge. Failing to do so may cause you to lose sight of your authentic self and you will veer of course from your true north. This book is truly inspiring with stories of other leaders and how they have transformed by finding and following their true

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    According to Avolio, Luthans, and Walumbwa (2004), authentic leaders refers to people who “are deeply aware of how they think and behave and others perceive them as leaders capable of adjusting to their own and others' values/moral perspective, knowledge, and strengths; aware of the context in which they operate; and who are confident, hopeful, optimistic, resilient, and high on moral character” (p. 4). Furthermore, Luthans & Avolio (2003), describe authentic leadership as “root construct that could incorporate charismatic, transformational, integrity and/or ethical leadership” (p.4), however, they argued that these theories were different from each other. In addition, the key to authentic leadership includes Self-awareness, openness, transparency,…

    • 245 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    RUNNING HEADING: A CRITICAL SUMMARY A Critical Summary of "Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance " by Taron Williams East Carolina University Introduction For any organization to grow and prosper it must have good leadership in place; a good leader is always able to accomplish goals by influencing their subordinates to buy into their vision and help them reach their overall goal. The type of leadership that is implemented in an organization will affect how well a company maximizes efficiency and accomplishes goal. The book Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance by Former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy is composed of a series of reflections and life experiences, which he hopes will help guide others, especially young men to a life of significance. In the book written with the help of Nathan Whitaker, Dungy talks about his belief that having certain character traits is the main ingredient to helping people achieve meaning in their lives and careers.…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Leading a Continuously Changing Organization “Leaders attract internally motivated people, inspire them with a mission, and initiate new ways of thinking (Keller, 1995). The result is new influence on the culture of the organization. Great leaders are willing to challenge the status quo while trusting and empowering their people. Not only do leaders use obstacles to create a positive future, they are willing to set an example of sacrifice for the good of the next generation”. (Banutu-Gomez, M. B. & Banutu-Gomez S. M. T., 2007).…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Steward Leadership Skills

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The leading of a team or group is not a simple task but involves real life skills that take time, thinking and commitment. The role of leadership is an essential aspect of an organization since it can determine the difference between success and failure. “Although leaders are gifted in different ways, with different personalities and varying skill sets, all leaders can grow, become more skillful, and become more competent so that they can achieve greater effectiveness” (Ledlow & Coppola, 2014, pp. 10). At times, leadership may seem overwhelming and complicated, but by concentrating on specific fundamentals they will find that they can guide the team with the assurance and competence. There no one style of leadership, in fact, there are several…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Candidness, elevated personal principles, respect, and consideration are some of the key traits of authentic leadership. Authentic leaders tend to show more compassion and parental style caring for their followers than other leadership styles. Charismatic leaders may get more from their followers, but authentic leaders give more back. While much of their leadership comes from the heart, there is still plenty of leadership from the head. They make decisions for the greater good, with all concerned in mind, even if it may be against their own personal beliefs.…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    “Key Qualities of Leadership” Individuals involved within leadership roles can “make or break” a company. Without key qualities of leadership, an individual cannot fully provide their customers or its employees with the experiences they deserve. Without proper skills and reinforcement, leaders cannot foster a positive workforce or support their employees. Without certain key factors a leader or manager becomes just another employee, and not the leader they are required to be. Having leaders with the skills such as honesty, accountability, the ability to inspire and to delegate, and basic communication skills are all necessary parts to becoming proven and respectable leaders within a business.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Successful organizations have strategic leaders who build flexible organizational cultures (Hughes, Beatty, & Dinwoodie, 2005). This paper unpacks this complex methodology for success by examining and articulating recommendations for the administrative team of Grace Church in Southern Pines, North Carolina. This paper includes an examination of the team in the context of strategic leadership, recommendations for improved strategic leadership, an examination of the team’s organizational culture, recommendations for improvement of the organizational culture, as well as an examination and recommendations for the team’s leadership in reference to the Kouzes and Posner’s model of leadership. Strategic Leadership Strategic leadership defined is “when they create the direction, alignment, and commitment needed to achieve the enduring performance potential of the organization” (Hughes et. al., 2005, pg. 11).…

    • 1936 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Leadership Kathy Dunlap Bethel University MOD 310 April 24, 2017 Kameke Payne Leadership No one theory of leadership has ever been accepted by all, but the common thought of leadership is that it is an influence process, occurs within a group, involves goals, and attainment. Some people think leaders are born with a trait that innately makes them leaders, while others theorize that it is a characteristic of an individual, but we have learned that leaders are a product of their development and life experiences. Leaders are concerned with understanding people’s beliefs and gaining their commitment. They function without focusing on the opinions of others, which allows them to think of new ideas and motivate others to develop these…

    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With that being said, module two, Leadership History states that researches have not yet reached an agreement regarding if “leaders are largely born or made” (Sharp, 2015). As researchers continue to debate over leadership characteristics, a look at leadership instruments may determine what characteristics are needed to become an effective…

    • 1304 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    When thinking about leadership in a business there are many different forms of leadership that you can see in your employees. I will be focusing on two types of leaderships and how as a senior manager you would model these leaderships and find these models in future leaders. The two models of leadership that I will define are authentic and servant leadership. Then I will focus on similarities and differences between authentic and servant leadership. I will describe as a manager how I would demonstrate these two models to my employees and other managers.…

    • 1736 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his book, True North, Bill George talks about what it means to follow your compass on the journey of leadership. He divides the leadership journey into three distinct pieces. These parts are distinct sections of one’s life. The first section is learning to lead where individuals learn the basic concepts of leadership. The second is the actual process of leading.…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When a leader is authentic by acting upon their true values, beliefs, and strengths, they are helping other to do the same. Authentic leadership promotes follower identification with in the organization and encourages their aligning of words and actions, thus making it easier to trust and identify with the leader as the organizational spokesperson (Leroy, Palanski & Simons, 2012). Weaknesses Leaders who are honest, transparent, and genuine are valued in relationships and organizations, unless their true selves are not positive. What comes naturally for some can be overly critical, rigid, non-communicative, judgmental, or harsh.…

    • 1095 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People in general are diverse and have distinct components which make them unique and sets them apart from the next person. Among all of our distinct characteristics and appreciations for various subjects, many of us bring assorted passions and expertise on different topics. Even in recognizing my own interests and passions, I have yet to fully carry out a business concept I created back in 2011 which is still not in existence today. Recognizing there is still a desire to pursue my idea, while feeling disappointment for not executing its existence, I’m intrigued with James Kouzes’ and Barry Posner’s ability to spearhead the concept of leadership and become experts on their passion for organizational leadership. I agree, meeting these…

    • 1667 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Am I Really A Leader? The case study “Am I really a Leader?” explores Sally Helgesen as she strove to maintain authenticity in leadership. The case study leads one to discover the paramount importance of authentic and transformational leadership in the past and even in this century as those displayed by Sally.…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Implementing more and better leadership as well as articulating the connections between new behaviors and organizational success will help anchor the change vision (Kotter, 1996). Companies must be proactive in developing leadership with the new approach in…

    • 1777 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays