Harvard Business School

Executive Education Fellow

True North by Bill George

Author

Harvard

Professor and Senior Fellow

Medtronic

Chairman and CEO

Honeywell

Executive Vice President

Litton

President, Litton Microwave Cooking Products

United States Navy

Special Civilian Assistant to the Secretary of Navy

United States Department of Defense

Assistant to Assistant Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)

Bill George is an Executive Education Fellow at Harvard Business School, where he was a Professor
of Management Practice and Senior Fellow teaching leadership from 2004-2022. He is
the former chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic. He joined Medtronic in
1989 as president and chief operating officer, was chief executive officer from 1991-
2001, and board chair from 1996-2002. Earlier in his career, he was a senior executive
with Honeywell and Litton Industries and served in the U.S. Department of Defense.

Bill is the author of: True North: Emerging Leader Edition and True North Fieldbook:
Emerging Leader Edition; Discover Your True North and The Discover Your True North
Fieldbook; Authentic Leadership; True North and Finding Your True North, 7 Lessons
for Leading in Crisis and True North Groups.

He has served on the boards of Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Novartis, Target, and the
Mayo Clinic. He is a life director of the Guthrie Theater, and is an executive committee
and board member of YMCA of the North. He has served on the board of World
Economic Forum USA, and board chair for Allina Health System, Abbott-Northwestern
Hospital, United Way of the Greater Twin Cities, and Advamed.

In 2014, the Franklin Institute awarded him the Bower Award for Business Leadership
and he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2012. He was named one
of the &quot;Top 25 Business Leaders of the Past 25 Years&quot; by PBS; &quot;Executive of the Year-
2001&quot; by the Academy of Management; and &quot;Director of the Year-2001-02&quot; by the
National Association of Corporate Directors. Bill is a frequent contributor to CNBC,
Fortune Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal and makes frequent appearances on
television and radio.

He received his BSIE with high honors from Georgia Tech, his MBA with high
distinction from Harvard University, where he was a Baker Scholar, and honorary PhDs
from Georgia Tech, Mayo Medical School, University of St. Thomas, Augsburg College
and Bryant University. During 2002-03 he was professor at IMD International and Ecole
Polytechnique in Lausanne, Switzerland, and executive-in-residence at Yale School of
Management.

He and his wife Penny reside in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

General George Marshall is one of the greatest American leaders who never became president. The Marshall Plan restored former enemies and brought us global peace for 70 years.

Bill George

Bill George is an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, where he was a Professor
of Management Practice and Senior Fellow teaching leadership from 2004-2022. He is
the former chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic. He joined Medtronic in
1989 as president and chief operating officer, was chief executive officer from 1991-
2001, and board chair from 1996-2002. Earlier in his career, he was a senior executive
with Honeywell and Litton Industries and served in the U.S. Department of Defense.

Bill is the author of: True North: Emerging Leader Edition and True North Fieldbook:
Emerging Leader Edition; Discover Your True North and The Discover Your True North
Fieldbook; Authentic Leadership; True North and Finding Your True North, 7 Lessons
for Leading in Crisis and True North Groups.

He has served on the boards of Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Novartis, Target, and the
Mayo Clinic. He is a life director of the Guthrie Theater, and is an executive committee
and board member of YMCA of the North. He has served on the board of World
Economic Forum USA, and board chair for Allina Health System, Abbott-Northwestern
Hospital, United Way of the Greater Twin Cities, and Advamed.

In 2014, the Franklin Institute awarded him the Bower Award for Business Leadership
and he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2012. He was named one
of the &quot;Top 25 Business Leaders of the Past 25 Years&quot; by PBS; &quot;Executive of the Year-
2001&quot; by the Academy of Management; and &quot;Director of the Year-2001-02&quot; by the
National Association of Corporate Directors. Bill is a frequent contributor to CNBC,
Fortune Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal and makes frequent appearances on
television and radio.

He received his BSIE with high honors from Georgia Tech, his MBA with high
distinction from Harvard University, where he was a Baker Scholar, and honorary PhDs
from Georgia Tech, Mayo Medical School, University of St. Thomas, Augsburg College
and Bryant University. During 2002-03 he was professor at IMD International and Ecole
Polytechnique in Lausanne, Switzerland, and executive-in-residence at Yale School of
Management.

He and his wife Penny reside in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Supply Chain Specialist at Costco Wholesale Corporation - At 30K max connections, please follow!

George C. Marshall walked into the Oval Office on April 29, 1948, carrying a folder filled with reports that terrified him. Europe was starving. Governments were collapsing. Communist parties were growing in every direction. Congress wanted to cut funding. Marshall placed the folder on Truman’s desk and said the line that would alter world history. “If we do not help them now, we will pay for it later.” He was not bluffing.
George C. Marshall never looked like the architect of a global rescue plan. He was calm to the point of severity, a soldier who believed emotions belonged in private and decisions belonged in clarity. During World War II, he rebuilt the U.S. Army from under 200,000 men to more than 8 million. He oversaw every major strategy meeting with Roosevelt. But the moment the guns fell silent, Marshall saw a danger no one wanted to face. Europe was collapsing faster in peace than it had in war.
He kept cables, field reports, and letters in a drawer in his State Department office. One from Greece listed entire towns without bread. Another from France warned of coal shortages so severe that factories would shut down for the winter. A dispatch from Berlin reported infant mortality reaching numbers that horrified even hardened commanders. Marshall underlined one sentence in blue pencil: “People are choosing between hunger and extremism.”
In June 1947, at Harvard University, Marshall gave a speech that took twelve minutes and changed a century. He didn’t speak in slogans. He delivered receipts. Tonnage of food shipments. Miles of destroyed rail lines. Financial gaps that could topple democracies. He challenged Europe to cooperate across borders and told the United States to provide resources without controlling politics. It was the opposite of empire and the opposite of isolation. It was stability through responsibility.
Congress fought the proposal for months. Opponents called it charity. Isolationists wanted domestic focus. Marshall traveled to committees with his folder of evidence. He testified with the same precision he used planning wartime campaigns. Behind the scenes, he told senators something he rarely said out loud. “We are not buying friends. We are preventing wars.”
The plan passed. Over four years, the Marshall Plan delivered more than 13 billion dollars in aid. It rebuilt factories, stabilized currencies, reopened schools, and revived entire economies. Western Europe rose from ruin without falling into authoritarianism. Even critics later admitted the policy prevented a geopolitical disaster.
When Marshall received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953, he refused to treat it as personal glory. He said only one sentence that explained his code. “The world’s problems are man-made, and man can solve them.”

Executive Education Fellow at Harvard Business School, former Medtronic CEO, and Best-selling Author | True North Emerging Leader Edition available now!

Jim Wallis founded Sojourners in the early 1970s as a faith-based social organization with the mission of “Putting faith into action for social justice.”

He makes a sharp distinction between climbing the career ladder and pursuing your vocation, explaining, 

“Career is climbing the ladder of success. Vocation is discerning your gifts and your calling, your North Star."

Your vocation is where the world’s crying needs intersect with your gifts. Rather than looking for opportunities to ascend, ask what you’re called to be. 

The difference between career and vocation is central to your leadership—what you’re doing every day in your work and relationships. 

When people ask how to find their North Star, I say, 'Trust your questions and follow where they lead.'

What gifts do you have that you could use to help others?

#AuthenticLeadership #TrueNorth #EmergingLeader

For all of Target’s current problems, many of them self-induced, CEO-elect Michael Fiddelkeis laying the groundwork for its revival when he takes over in February - refocusing what makes Target unique. 
Bravo! We all want Target to be successful.

Authentic Leadership is not just destined to survive in the AI-dominated world; it will be essential. 

In the latest edition of my newsletter, I shared that the new leadership equation is EQ × IQ, meaning future winners will integrate AI’s analytical power with their own judgment and empathy to organize people around a shared purpose. To remain relevant, you must shift your focus from tasks to impact and commit to developing the one capability AI can never match: your humanity.

Read the latest edition of my Emerging Leaders newsletter to learn more: https://bit.ly/4pugsrp 

#AuthenticLeadership #AI #EmotionalIntelligence #EmergingLeaders #TrueNorth

Boeing is coming back, thanks to the leadership of Kelly Ortberg and new board members. After 5 failed CEOs in a row, the Boeing board finally recognized it needed a leader who understood the aerospace industry and who lived in Seattle, rather than working remotely. Ortberg has tackled Boeing's problems one-by-one and is getting good results.
Now to have a new single aisle aircraft to replace the 737 Max.

https://lnkd.in/e6tnYqtK

Bravo to Christian Pulisic for getting winning goal in AC Milan’s upset 1-0 win over Inter.

Here are my thoughts on why Authentic Leadership becomes much more important - not less - in a world of AI.

Authentic Leadership is not just destined to survive in the AI-dominated world, it will be essential. 

Your greatest value as a leader lies in your Emotional Intelligence (EQ), which provides the human powers of compassion, intuition, and courage. The new leadership equation is EQ × IQ, meaning future winners will integrate AI’s analytical power with their own judgment and empathy to organize people around a shared purpose. To remain relevant, you must shift your focus from tasks to impact and commit to developing the one capability AI can never match: your humanity.

Read the latest edition of my Emerging Leaders newsletter to learn more:

#AuthenticLeadership #AI #EmotionalIntelligence #EmergingLeaders #TrueNorth

This article from Fortune highlights the increasing trend of activist investors orchestrating CEO "decapitations" for short-term gain. 

This is a dangerous cycle, as Jay Lorsch and I have argued, because these initiatives, often pushing for high-leverage financing and quick profits, can severely weaken a company’s competitive position and put its long-term future in jeopardy. 

Authentic Leaders must recognize that true value creation is a long-term commitment guided by purpose, not a short-term trade based on the whims of a few investors.

https://lnkd.in/epyQ7VND 

#AuthenticLeadership #CEO #LongTermValue #ActivistInvestors #TrueNorth

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