Discover Your True North

by Bill George

True North is your orienting point—your fixed point in a spinning world—that helps you stay on track as a leader. It is derived from your most deeply held beliefs, your values, and the principles you lead by. It is your internal compass, unique to you, that represents who you are at your deepest level.

When you follow your internal compass, your leadership will be authentic, and people will naturally want to associate with you.

Although others may guide or influence you, your truth is derived from your life story. As Warren Bennis said, “You are the author of your life.”

Some days will be better than others, but as long as you are true to who you are, you can cope with the most difficult circumstances life presents.

The world may have very different expectations for you than you have for yourself.

If you are guided by an internal compass that represents your character and values, you're going to be fine. Let your values guide your actions and don't ever lose your internal compass. Everything isn't black or white. There are a lot of gray areas in business.

I have often thought that the best way to define a man's character would be to seek out the particular mental or moral attitude in which…he felt himself most deeply and intensely active and alive. At such moments there is a voice inside which speaks and says: “This is the real me!”

The hierarchical, directive leadership style so prevalent in the past century is fading fast in favor of today's collaborative leaders, who believe in distributed leadership at all levels. The old notion of leaders as the smartest guys in the room—as Enron CEO Jeff Skilling typified—has been replaced by leaders with high levels of emotional intelligence (EQ).

the hardest person you will ever have to lead is yourself. Once you are fully comfortable with who you are—and feel good in your own skin—leading others authentically becomes much easier.