How To Lead Authentically In Today’s Workplace

Seven years ago, Bill George wrote True North, a favorite of mine. So, you can imagine how delighted I was to read George’s and Zach Clayton’s new book, True North, Emerging Leader Edition.

In this new book, the authors offer practical strategies and techniques to become an authentic leader and reveal how you can navigate your own path to success. The book is filled with dramatic stories of how successful leaders overcame great challenges to build highly successful organizations.

These stories reflect more than 222 interviews with leaders–172 leaders interviewed for the original True North book, and more recently 55 interviews for the new book.

George and Clayton explain that their new book is a calling to emerging leaders of the next generations—Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z—to step up and lead authentically by discovering your True North.

And, what exactly is True North? “Your True North is the moral compass that guides your actions, derived from your most deeply held beliefs, your values, and the principles you lead by,” share George and Clayton. “It is your internal compass, unique to you, that represents who you are at your deepest level.”

“Discovering your True North requires introspection, support, and feedback from family, friends, and colleagues. Ultimately, however, you must take responsibility for your own development,” add the authors.

In addition to what is meant by True North, George and Clayton offer these additional definitions:

Values: A person’s standards of behaviors; one’s judgement of what is important in life.

Leadership Principles: A set of standards used in leading others, derived from your values. Principles are values translated into action.

Moral Courage: The courage to take action for moral reasons despite the risk of adverse consequences.

Ethical Boundaries: The limits placed on your actions, based on your standards of ethical behavior.

As you read the book, you’ll also learn these key takeaways:

Leadership is not a destination—it is a long journey with many stops along the way.
Everyone has a life story that shapes them and provides the basis for their leadership.
Everyone faces challenges on their journeys. Those challenges shape your character, which defines your leadership because leadership is character.
By processing your stories, you find meaning in the setbacks and craft narratives about your story that shapes your leadership.
While you do not control the circumstances and events of your life, you do control the narrative you create about it.
Self-awareness is the most essential determinant of your effectiveness as a leader.
Leaders build self-awareness through both feedback and introspection on a regular basis.
Being clear about your values, leadership principles, and ethical boundaries is essential to becoming an authentic leader and following your True North.
When leaders make the transition of I to We, they move from thinking that leadership is about them and their personal needs to seeing themselves as serving others by bringing out the best in them.

Finally, the authors recommend you think of leadership by using the acronym COACH:

Care: Build understanding and trust.

Organize: Get people playing as a team.

Align: Unite people around a common vision.

Challenge: Summon people’s best.

Help: Engage with your teams in solving problems.

And, remember to bring out the best from teammates, authentic leaders COACH them to succeed through strong relationships, providing constructive feedback on their work, and establishing stretch goals.

True North, Emerging Leaders Edition, is a timely, compelling and grounding read full of wisdom for all current and aspiring leaders no matter where they are in their leadership journey.

Bill George is an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, where he has been a Professor of Management Practice and Senior Fellow teaching leadership since 2004.

Zach Clayton is founder and CEO of Three Ships, which owns a collection of digital marketplace businesses that enable brands to efficiently connect with consumers and help them buy with confidence.

Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

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