Product Description

In the wake of continuing corporate scandals there have been few, if any, CEOs that have stepped forward as models of "doing things right"—except the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, Bill George. George has become the unofficial spokesperson for responsible leadership—in business, the media, and academia.

In Authentic Leadership Bill George makes the case that we do need new leaders, not just new laws, to bring us out of the current corporate crisis. He persuasively demonstrates that authentic leaders of mission–driven companies will create far greater shareholder value than financially oriented companies. During George′s twelve–year leadership at Medtronic, the company′s market capitalization soared from $1.1 billion to $460 billion, averaging 35% per year.

George candidly recounts many of the toughest challenges he encountered –– from ethical dilemmas and battles with the FDA to his own development as a leader. He shows how to develop the five essential dimensions of authentic leaders—purpose, values, heart, relationships, and self–discipline. Authentic Leadership offers inspiring lessons to all who want to lead with heart and with compassion for those they serve.

Bill George helps readers answer vital questions such as: What should I do when my personal values conflict with company business values? How do I make trade–offs between the needs of my customers, my employees, and my company′s shareholders? Do I really want to devote my talents to business? Authentic Leadership provides a tested guide for character–based leaders and all those who have a stake in the integrity and success of our corporations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #193219 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
“…even sceptics will like the book’s balanced tone...” (Management Today, Feb. 2005)

George candidly recounts his experiences as chair and CEO of Medtronic, a medical technology producer, and makes a case that we need new, authentic business leaders. The five essential dimensions of "authentic" leaders are purpose, values, heart, relationships, and self–discipline. In the scorched, post–Enron corporate world, this motivational how–to will help developing business leaders find the path to personal and business success. (Best Business Books 2003, Library Journal, March 15, 2004)

George, a former Medtronic CEO, sets the tone early in his book: "Somewhere along the way we lost sight of the imperative of selecting leaders that create healthy corporations for the long term." It would be wonderful if George then provided readers hungry for change with a blueprint for how this could happen; alas, such is not the case. George′s thesis – too many CEOs think only in the short term and of the stock price, eventually losing a company′s focus in the hurtling pursuit of all Street validation – is not a bad one. His proposal: a call for "authentic leadership," that is, finding a leader who doesn′t try to emulate the greats, because such copycatting will never result in authenticity or honest leadership. It all gets a bit fuzzy at times, and George (who BusinessWeek recognized as a top–25 manager in 1998) relies far too much on his experience at Medtronic, a medical technology producer. Although George′s company seems a good example of what he′s talking about (he once made headlines by boldly declaring "Shareholders come third," after customers and employees), there′s not a rigor9ous enough attempt here to make that example universally applicable. Though superbly moral and inspiring, this volume is not as helpful as it could be. (Aug.)
Forecast: With appearances on Meet the Press and Talk of the Nation, George has a recognizable name in the media, and scheduled interviews on NPR and the Charlie Rose Show will only help with book sales. (Publishers Weekly, July 7, 2003)

"There is a great deal of valuable insight in Authentic Leadership. One can only wish that Mr. George had written it five years ago, before so many chief executives led their companies so badly astray." (New York Times, July 27, 2003)

From the Inside Flap
In the wake of continuing corporate scandals there have been few, if any, CEOs that have stepped forward as models of "doing things right"–except the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, Bill George. George has become the unofficial spokesperson for responsible leadership–in business, the media, and academia.

In Authentic Leadership Bill George makes the case that we need new leaders, not just new laws, to bring us out of the current corporate crisis. He persuasively demonstrates that authentic leaders of mission–driven companies will create far greater shareholder value than financially oriented companies. During George’s twelve–year leadership at Medtronic, the company’s market capitalization soared from $1.1 billion to $60 billion, averaging 35 percent per year.

George candidly recounts many of the toughest challenges he encountered–from ethical dilemmas and battles with the FDA to his own development as a leader. He shows how to develop the five essential dimensions of authentic leaders–purpose, values, heart, relationships, and self–discipline. Authentic Leadership offers inspiring lessons to all who want to lead with heart and with compassion for those they serve.

Bill George helps readers answer vital questions such as: What should I do when my personal values conflict with company business values? How do I make trade–offs between the needs of my customers, my employees, and my company’s shareholders? Do I really want to devote my talents to business?

Authentic Leadership provides a tested guide for character–based leaders and all those who have a stake in the integrity and success of our corporations.

From the Back Cover
“Bill George will be remembered as much, perhaps more, for this book, as for his extraordinary leadership achievements over the last four decades.” ¾from the Foreword by Warren Bennis

 Leading CEOs and Leadership Gurus Enthusiastically Endorse Bill George′s Authentic Leadership

 “Anyone interested in how to become an effective leader should meet Bill George, former CEO of one of America’s finest companies––Medtronic.”––Arthur Levitt, former chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

 “Authentic Leadership is a powerful call for genuine and ethical business leadership, made ever more persuasive by Bill George′s own extraordinary life.”––Walter Mondale, former vice president of the United States

“This is the best book by a business leader that I’ve ever read!”––John C. Whitehead, former chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs

 “Bill George is one of the most successful business leaders of all time.”––Richard M. Kovacevich, chairman and CEO, Wells Fargo

“In a time when ethical leadership has more value than ever, Bill George shows us the way with clarity and conviction.”––Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence and Primal Leadership

“Bill George has won a legendary reputation for success and integrity in American enterprise.  Read and grow!”––David Gergen, Center for Public Leadership, Harvard University, and author of Eyewitness to Power

“I had a wonderful opportunity to learn from Bill George in several business ventures.  Here, Bill gives a broader audience a chance to benefit from his wisdom.”––Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO, General Electric

“Authentic Leadership is a priceless dialogue with Bill George, unquestionably America’s preeminent steward of corporate integrity. This book is destined to be a classic.”––Harvey Mackay, author of Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive

 “In Authentic Leadership Bill George shows why he is recognized as one of the world’s best corporate leaders.”––Hank McKinnell, chairman and CEO, Pfizer

Customer Reviews

Very timely criticism of American values but not far enough
Let me start by announcing I have no doubt regarding Bill George’s own personal integrity and authenticity.

There’s plenty of good material in here about how to become an Authentic Leader and how to build an Authentic Company, but I don’t see this book as the panacea to all ills. It’s a timely criticism of American Values, but it doesn’t go far enough, because Bill is still a victim of his Culture.

When you open the book, you have to wade through no less than 33 advance reviews from other CEO’s and Academics – this is overkill – let me get at the book proper!. Also this book was published in July 2003, and so it is ironic that one of those acclaiming ‘authenticity’ is the former CEO of the NYSE.

Bill has a few good words to say about having a Balanced Life, but the USA is still on a different planet.

On page 46 he rightly criticises those people who ‘live for work’, and do 80 hours per week; but then he praises those who work 50-60 hours per week, and who in his opinion have achieved ‘a balance between their work and the needs of their families’. In my experience, the only way to see your kids weekdays as they are growing up, to read them a bedtime story or help them with their homework, is to try to never exceed 45 hours per week. Then on page 48 Bill talks more about the need for a Work-Life Balance, defining the problem, but then never discusses the solution. This 1-page is all you get, in a 200+ page self-help book?

All good stuff thereafter for the next 80 pages.

Then on pages 128-131 Bill describes an Ethical Challenge he experienced with a European subsidiary. No problems with what he did and why, but only with the principles he advocates in general. He was accused of being a typical American ‘trying to impose American values on Europeans’. He’s in favour of global principles, but only if they’re on the American model – a true hegemonist. Bill is in favour of ‘when in Rome...’ just so long as the Romans are Americans. Americans should try to learn the opposite – to import European values. Anyone found consistently working more than 50 hours a week should be investigated – they can’t be up to the job, or they are doing the job wrong – and that applies at all levels.

Bill never comments about the Minimum Wage, but since its now 'official' that if you're only paid the Minimum Wage you can't ever earn above the Poverty Level, its a shame he doesn't discuss what he think about the ethics of that?

In closing, before any American Reader refutes my claims, let’s just point out that the UK has (a) a higher Minimum Wage than the USA, (b) we work less Hours than the USA (48 hours max by law for most workers), (c) we have more Holidays/Vacation than the USA (20 days minimum by law, typically more than 30 days), and yet we have a lower Rate of Unemployment & a Lower Rate of Inflation. The higher standard of living in the USA is based upon working longer hours, and I’m afraid Bill isn’t proposing to challenge that regime.

Insightful!
Few companies got more marketing mileage out of their culture than Medtronic. Its former CEO, author Bill George, is proud of his company's squeaky clean corporate record. Despite all the clichés he may muster, despite his occasional preachiness, perhaps no CEO has written a more lucid or insightful series of reflections on the challenge of managing a corporation in twentieth century America. Read this book and you will learn some obvious lessons and some new ones: that leaders should be honest, that they will be tempted to cut corners in pursuit of short term profits but really ought to resist that temptation, that devotion to customers is at least as important as devotion to shareholders (provided you make your numbers every quarter) and that managers at Enron and WorldCom did the wrong thing, but we can learn a lesson from them. We acknowledge that Bill George may be as close as American executive ranks have come to producing a moral philosopher.

Find the gold nuggets, they're in there...
In the acknowledgments on page 207, Bill George states that "[he] decided to write this book entirely [himself] and without the benefit of a ghost writer." While fully in keeping with the book's main tenet - to be true to yourself as a leader, I think Bill George's message might have been even better served with stronger writing.

Post Enron et al, the points he makes are very timely and important, but don't reach their full impact due to the narrative's loose structure and prose which has a self-serving "writing as catharsis"-feel about it. That is unfortunate because Authentic Leadership contains many leadership insights from a highly practical point view and as such is definitely not some other theoretical construct. It addresses for instance through his personal examples how to deal with ethical dilemmas and takes leadership challenges in running a growth company head on. Early on, the book helpfully visualizes (on page 36) Bill George's own leadership model. He speaks from the heart, has strong opinions - which he is not afraid to voice - and offers his experience, having more than earned the right to speak.

In short, I highly recommend this book despite stylistic shortcomings.