True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership (J-B Warren Bennis Series)
"Just as a compass points toward a magnetic field, your True North pulls you toward the purpose of your leadership. 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."
(True North Introduction)
True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership is a useful book for those who seek to develop themselves as leaders. As the above quote indicates, this book is about the leader him- or herself: how the leader develops, and how to identify and interpret the sources that give rise to the authentic leadership.
Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic and currently a professor at Harvard Business School, teamed up with co-author Peter Sims and two other researchers to interview 125 leaders ranging in age from 23 to 93. The leaders were selected on the basis of their reputations for authenticity and success. Twenty-eight percent of the interviewees were women, 8% were racial minorities, and 12% were born outside the United States. All were asked, "How does one become and remain an authentic leader?"
Based on those responses, True North tells the stories of the leaders, and in doing so provides illustrations of the sometimes-trying principles and episodes that underlie authentic leadership. The stories carry an impact that mere narrative rarely does. For instance, readers learn about Kevin Sharer, the GE wünderkind who left to lead MCI, where he exhibited arrogance in seeking to reorganize the company after just six weeks on the job. That move failed, largely because Sharer lacked credibility within the company. Unhappy and ineffective, Sharer wanted to return to GE, but Jack Welch (then-CEO of GE) responded, "Hey, Kevin, forget you ever worked here." Sharer recollects that he was first in denial about the scope of the problems he faced at MCI, then he turned defeatist and cyncial, and finally withdrawn and isolated. Finally, after a lifetime of being the "shooting star," he discovered the need to develop credibility among those he sought to lead, to learn from his colleagues, and to be patient. He later move to Amgen, where after seven years of study, he became a knowledgeable and authentic leader.
The theme of True North is that a leader must know or discover the "true north," the purpose for his or her leadership. Doing so requires self-awareness balanced and sustained by living one's values and principles, knowing one's motivations, building a support team, and creating an integrated life. Perhaps the most useful feature of True North lies in Appendix C, which presents leadership exercises to be completed after reading each chapter. The exercises require deep self-reflection and honesty, and working through them will undoubtedly strengthen one's leadership ability.
What's in it for lawyers? The language of True North is corporate-based. However, the principles transfer well to lawyer-leaders. Especially notable is the discussion of why having an integrated life matters in leadership, a topic easily overlooked in the stress of practicing law: "Real integrity results from integrating all aspects of your life so that you are true to yourself in all settings. Think of your life like a house, with a bedroom for your personal life, a study for your professional life, a family room for your family, and a living room to share with your friends . . . . When you can act the same in each setting, you are well on your way to living your life with genuine integrity. Living that way, you will be an authentic leader who leads a fulfilling life."