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Purpose Over the last two decades Bill George has been researching the basic ingredients of authentic leadership through one of the most extensive empirical studies of leadership ever undertaken. He and his team have extended their research to include both international and rising generation leaders and parlayed their findings into a development process aimed at helping current and aspiring leaders to become both more authentic and effective. His latest book, True North: Leading Authentically in Today’s Workplace (Emerging Leader Edition), is co-authored with Zach Clayton. Design/methodology/approach Interview with authors Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic, and Zach Clayton, CEO of Three Ships, conducted by Brian Leavy, Emeritus Professor of Strategy at Dublin City University Business School, a Strategy &Leadership contributing editor and author of the S&L masterclass, “ Effective leadership today – character, not just competence. Findings Authentic leaders engender trust and develop genuine connections, which enables them to motivate people to achieve high levels of performance. Practical implications “I believe the hardest person you will ever have to lead is yourself.” -- Bill George Originality/value “The authors interviewed hundreds of CEOs and found that the self-awareness that they develop in the process of self-discovery is the most essential determinant of their effectiveness as a leader.”

Follow a pioneer's journey from factory floor to CEO Road to Power is the story of how Mary Barra drove herself to the pinnacle of a company that steers the nation's wealth. Beginning as a rare female electrical engineer and daughter of a General Motors die maker, Barra spent more than thirty years building her career before becoming the first woman to ever lead a global automaker. With $155 billion in sales and 200, 000 employees, GM is widely considered to be a proxy for the U.S. economy, making Barra's position arguably the most important corporate role a woman has ever held. This book describes the personal character, choices, and leadership style that enabled her to break through the glass ceiling. When 52-year-old Mary Barra was named CEO of General Motors in 2013, only people outside of the company were surprised. She had done everything from working on the factory floor to overseeing manufacturing, from improving union relations to paring down bureaucracy, and from running human resources to helping drag the company back from its 2009 bankruptcy. This book details each step of her career, and the lessons she learned along the way. * Learn how Mary Barra's willingness to take on diverse assignments helped steer her career trajectory * Examine the fine details of Barra's management style and her ability to relate to colleagues * Discover the qualities and experiences Barra had that drove her to lead this male-dominated profession * Study the valuable lessons Barra learned at each stage in her professional life, and why they stuck with her throughout her journey to the top Barra is most certainly a pioneer for women in business, but she's also a living lesson as to how far the right outlook, skills, and drive can take you in your career. Road to Power explores the talent and the mindset that got her all the way to the top.

The modern business environment is getting more dynamic and complex. This means that good leadership is not only about technical skill but also about objective, emotive, and inspirational abilities. Telling stories has become an increasingly powerful leadership tool. The given paper will focus on the ways in which narrative-based leadership can influence the motivation, cohesion, and performance of the team, particularly in the corporate environment in which the younger professionals are defining the new workplace requirements. The research design is qualitative, with a case-study approach, semi-structured interviews, systematic observations, and analysis of narrative artifacts, and a heterogeneous sample of organizations. It explores the daily use of storytelling as a middle-level management tool, inquiring into its roles in supporting organizational change, reinforcing corporate values, and leading groups through difficult periods. Findings suggest that stories told in a timely manner, authentic, and with emotional appeal, build trust within the team, help them understand their mission, and encourage them to align. Besides, storytelling can help managers overcome generational differences, enhance their leadership capacity, and create a human-oriented team strategy.  Although storytelling is not a panacea, the application of this tool to leadership practice has immediate positive effects. The research ends up in practical findings and recommendations about the future leaders in the modern working environment.

Purpose This interview of two IMD professors examines how leadership teams that are struggling to make decisions or experiencing tensions, can address the root causes of dysfunctionality -- \"undiscussables\" of some kind – unexpressed thoughts and feelings that, if addressed effectively, could help the team work more productively. Design/methodology/approach The interviewees identify four varieties of undiscussables, each with its own drivers and solutions: 10;∙9; “Things we think but don’t say.” 10;∙9; “Things we say but don’t mean.” 10;∙9; “Things we feel but can’t name.” 10;∙9; “Things we do but don’t realize.” 10; Findings Several high profile corporate disasters from Enron to Theranos are rooted in undiscussables with dysfunctional top teams stifling questioning voices and slowly creating a culture of fear denial and delusion that ends up leading the company astray. Team members are either unable or unwilling to express what ails them which systematically distorts their formal and informal interactions. Practical implications One key insight for leaders who are part of the “undicussable” proble: they need to demonstrate to followers that they prefer it when people push back and make them think. Originality/value By distinguishing the four types of undiscussables and delineating a fix for each the interview shows how to create a team context where criticism is an expected norm and questioning each other’s reasoning is not viewed as disloyal but rather as a valuable chance to learn and improve together.