Customer Reviews

Finding Your True North: A Personal Guide (J-B Warren Bennis Series)

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I am a PhD student very close to finishing my coursework with a specialization in Leadership (September 17, 2010) and found this book to be the best book I have read to date on leadership. The reason I feel it is "the best" is because it grounds you in traits and characteristics found in some of the best leaders in America that should help you find your own personal true north. True north, as described by the book, is a way for you to capitalize on your strengths and apply them in a way that not only helps you but also helps the organization and those around you. It helps you to reflect and look at your own flaws in leadership, correct them, and potentially avoid pitfalls of self-destruction.

Every single chapter has something to offer. Additionally, there is a lot of information about some people you would never have thought would have had any issues with their compass. There are exercises at the end of each chapter to help you along with self-discovery and reflection. It is VERY well written and should easily be understood by anyone who can read. It is not necessarily a book that requires even a high school education to understand.

The book entails numerous stories and interviews yielding revealing information about some of our most trusted leaders from students to large corporations to even a former White House employee. If you know of someone who is needing to be grounded in basic leadership skills, who has gone down a path of self-destruction who cannot take responsibility for their own actions, a power hungry climber, or even if you are lost yourself in what direction you going in leadership, this is the book you need in your personal library.

I am keeping my copy for not only future reference, but also to let others read it who either want to or who I feel need do in order to recalibrate their compass to point to their own true north.

Peter Drucker, the father of modern business management is credited with saying, "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." This simple yet profound quote embodies the spirit of the insightful book True North. Its author Bill George, who served as CEO for a successful medical device company for a decade, uses the illustration of a compass and how it always points north as a metaphor of how authentic leaders tend to do the right things more than others, while also being able to cope with adversity better than most. According to George's research and first-hand interviews with top leaders, the ability to do the morally, right thing cuts across nationalities, gender, religion, race and socioeconomics. Soundview recommends this book for the optimistic message it contains that each of us can discover the True North for ourselves, while also recognizing that it's a lifelong journey of learning and commitment but one that's well worth the trip.

It was one of my text books from the MOL program (Master of Organizational Leadership)at Biola University. It's a great book to help opening a new path to survey one's 'self.' the book shows me how to develop/improve my character up to the point that how to become an authentic leader. following by the guidances and applied to my daily life, I found my true north and gained more understanding of how to developed them and used them in a full benefit to others.

This will be a classic on leadership in time. Two things make this book a winner. One, Bill George has 35 years of impressive corporate experience culminated in a super impressive 10 year CEO tour with Medtronics. Second, he and his Harvard staff interviewed 125 CEO's nationwide to bring research for his leadership principles. This makes them very helpful to new and experienced leaders.

Bill George declares his mission at age 65 is to help produce the leadership that our nation must have in these uncertain times.