Bill George is the author of two books, True North and Authentic Leadership. He is the former CEO of Medtronic
Tom Gardner: You mentioned Howard Schultz leaving and then returning to Starbucks
Bill George: Well, both of these people, as well as Steve Jobs, are founders, and so they are certainly in a different category than I was, where I was working as an employee of the company. I didn't found it. I think succession planning is absolutely critical, and I think if you want to look at a company, and whether it is going to be a good long-term investment, look at how effective they are at succession planning. Look at Johnson & Johnson
GE's
Gardner: Bill, here's my final question: Do you feel fully utilized in the world today as an authentic leader?
George: Ha-ha! Do I?
Gardner: Yes.
George: Well, I am in phase 3, as I wrote in my book, Tom. I am in that post-primary leadership role, where I am now hopefully in a period of generativity, where I am able to share my leadership with a number of different organizations on whose boards I serve, like ExxonMobil
Gardner: So you have written two books, Authentic Leadership and True North. And you also have the workbook version of True North. Can I get that on Amazon?
George: You can get it on Amazon. You can get True North and the personal guide. The personal guide has about 60 exercises in it to help lead people through discovering their own leadership and their true north and what they really want to do with their life.