leaders are true to themselves and to what they believe in. They engender trust and develop genuine connections with others. Because people trust them, authentic leaders are able to motivate them to achieve high levels of performance. Rather than letting the expectations of others guide them, they are their own persons and go their own ways. As servant leaders, they are more concerned about serving people than about their own success or recognition.
This is not to say that authentic leaders are perfect. Far from it. All leaders have weaknesses and are subject to human frailties and mistakes. Yet by acknowledging their shortcomings and admitting their errors, their humanity and vulnerability come through, and they are able to connect with people and inspire them.
Discover Your True North is written for anyone who wants to be an authentic leader and discover his or her True North. It is for leaders at all stages of their lives, from students aspiring to lead to those at the top of organizations. You are never too young, or too old, to take on leadership challenges and lead authentically. Discover Your True North is grounded in the hundreds of years of experience of the authentic leaders we interviewed as well as my own 50 years in leadership roles. For you, the reader, it is an opportunity to learn from authentic leaders and to create your own development plan to become an authentic leader.
The bottom line is this: You can discover your True North right now.
• You do not have to be born with the characteristics or traits of a leader.
• You do not have to be at the top of an organization.
• You can step up and lead at any point in your life.
As CEO of Young & Rubicam Ann Fudge said:
All of us have the spark of leadership in us, whether it is in business, government, or as a nonprofit volunteer. The challenge is to understand ourselves well enough to discover where we can use our leadership gifts to serve others. We're here for something. Life is about giving and living fully.
Discovering your True North is hard work. You may take many years to find it, as was the case for me.
This book does not contain six easy steps to discover your True North or other simple formulas. It takes the opposite approach. Discovering your True North requires you to maintain your individuality and retain your authenticity. This requires introspection, support, and feedback of friends and colleagues. Ultimately, you must take responsibility for your own development. Like musicians or athletes born with great abilities, you must devote yourself to a lifetime of development to realize your potential.
Part I of Discover Your True North examines the journey to authentic leadership. It begins with the leaders' life stories, which are unique to them and more powerful than any set of characteristics or leadership skills they possess. Next, the three phases of the leader's journey are dissected, looking at key steps in each phase of the journey. During their journeys, many leaders lose their way. To understand how derailment happens, we analyze five types of leaders who see themselves as heroes of their own journeys. Finally, by exploring the crucibles and life-changing experiences leaders have had, we see how they overcame setbacks and built the resilience to become authentic leaders.
Part II offers five elements of your internal compass that help you develop as a leader and get back on track when you are at risk of losing your way. This section provides you the insights to stay true to who you are as you confront challenges in the world around you. It includes five key areas of your development as a leader: self-awareness, at the center of your compass, and at the four points, your values and principles, sweet spot, support team, and integrated life (see Figure I.2).
Figure I.2 Book Map: Part I, Part II, and Part III
Part III describes your transformation from an I leader focused on yourself to a We leader focused on serving others. Only when you make this transformation will you be ready to discover the purpose of your leadership and empower people around a shared purpose. Finally, as the world becomes truly global, you can develop the special qualities required to be an authentic global leader. In the afterword, we challenge leaders to serve society by making capitalism a force for solving the world's most challenging problems.
After each chapter, you will find a series of exercises that you can use to build your leadership development plan. Better yet, purchase the companion workbook, The Discover Your True North Fieldbook: A Personal Guide to Finding Your Authentic Leadership, written with my colleagues Nick Craig and Scott Snook, which contains in-depth exercises corresponding to each chapter in this book.
By dedicating yourself to discovering your True North, you will become an authentic leader who can make a positive difference in the world and leave a legacy for others to follow.
PART ONE
YOUR JOURNEY TO LEADERSHIP
In our interviews with leaders about their development, the most striking commonality was the way their life stories influenced their leadership. Your life story is your foundation. It shapes how you, as a human being, see the world. And in leadership, the most human of all endeavors, it can propel you forward or hold you back.
In Part I we examine three topics:
1. How you frame your life story. Your journey through life will take you through many peaks and valleys as you face the world's trials, rewards, and seductions. Reflection and introspection will help you understand your life experiences, and in some cases reframe them.
2. The risk of losing your way. Everyone experiences pressures and difficulties in life, and all of us have to deal with fears and uncertainties. In your life journey, you will be confronted with seductions that threaten to pull you off course from your True North. We will examine five archetypes that can cause you to lose your way.
3. The role crucibles play in shaping your leadership. The way you deal with your greatest adversities will shape your character far more than the adversities themselves. Much like iron is forged by heat, your most significant challenges and your most painful experiences present the greatest opportunities for your personal growth.
As you gain greater clarity and insight about your life's journey, you will discover the focus of your True North.
1
YOUR LIFE STORY
The reservoir of all my life experiences shaped me as a person and a leader.
The journey to authentic leadership begins with understanding yourself: your life stories, crucibles, and setbacks. This knowledge gives you the self-awareness to discover your True North.
In the winter of 1961, 7-year-old Howard Schultz was throwing snowballs with friends outside his family's apartment building in the federally subsidized Bayview Housing Projects in Brooklyn, New York. His mother yelled down from their seventh-floor apartment, “Howard, come inside. Dad had an accident.” What followed has shaped Schultz throughout his life.
He found his father in a full-leg cast, sprawled on the living room couch. While working as a delivery driver, Schultz's father had fallen on a sheet of ice and broken his ankle. As a result, he lost his job – and the family's health care benefits. Schultz's mother could not go to work because she was seven months pregnant. His family had nothing to fall back on. Many evenings, Schultz listened
