Bill George - Former CEO of Medtronic, Harvard Professor, Author and Master of Authenticity

Today I was super honored to speak with the Authentic Leadership legend Bill George on Executives After Hours. We never got to the Fast 5, or really much about his history. I mean, he was great a rattling it off, but not like I normally try. After listening to the podcast, I think I was just intimidated and I was aware he had limited time. Anyway, it was great and a huge help for me and the forthcoming book.

Georg is a senior fellow at Harvard Business School, where he has taught leadership since 2004. He is the author of four best-selling books: 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis, True North, Finding Your True North, and Authentic Leadership, as well True North Groups. His newest book, Discover Your True North, was published in August of 2015 along with its companion workbook, The Discover Your True North Fieldbook.

Mr. George is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic. He joined Medtronic in 1989 as president and chief operating officer, was the chief executive officer from 1991-2001, and board chair from 1996-2002. Earlier in his career, he was a senior executive with Honeywell and Litton Industries and served in the U.S. Department of Defense.

Mr. George currently serves as a director of Goldman Sachs and The Mayo Clinic. He has served recently on the boards of ExxonMobil, Novartis, Target Corporation and Minnesota’s Destination Medical Center Corporation. He is currently a trustee of World Economic Forum USA and has served as board chair for Allina Health System, Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, United Way of the Greater Twin Cities, and Advamed.

In April 2014 the Franklin Institute awarded him the Bower Award for Business Leadership. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2012. He has been named one of “Top 25 Business Leaders of the Past 25 Years” by PBS; “Executive of the Year-2001” by the Academy of Management; and “Director of the Year-2001-02” by the National Association of Corporate Directors. Mr. George is a CNBC Contributor and has made frequent appearances on television and radio.