Bill George on Character and Leadership

During this episode on Character and Leadership, former Medtronic CEO, Bill George, now Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School, joins Dennis McCuistion for a frank discussion on ethics and business practices in corporate America.

Bill George is the author of several business books, which include: True North and 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis.

He tells us,“Leaders of my day, kids of the Kennedy era, were supposed to make a difference.  Yet, we destroyed big companies.” George asks, “What happened?”

Bill George believes many corporate leaders play for the short term, not the long term.  He believes that in business we are “playing up leaders who are playing for that short term… Business is too serious to be  about YOU… You can’t create anything in a quarter.”

In response to Dennis’ question: “Is corporate ethics an oxymoron?” Bill responds, “No- it isn’t. There’s a whole generation of leaders who are coming along.”

View the video for a discussion with Bill George on the qualities of effective leadership and the True North principles that guide them.

And as always, thanks for joining us as we talk about things that matter with people who care.

Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive Producer/Producer

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01.03.10 – 1811