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Bill George
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Bill George is a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, where he has taught leadership since 2004. He is the author of three best-selling books Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets of Creating Lasting Value (Jossey-Bass, 2003), True North, Discover Your Authentic Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2007), and Finding Your True North, A Personal Guide (Jossey-Bass, 2008).

Mr. George is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic. He joined Medtronic in 1989 as President and Chief Operating Officer, was Chief Executive Officer from 1991-2001, and Chairman of the Board from 1996 to 2002. Earlier in his career, he was an executive with Honeywell and Litton Industries and served in the U.S. Department of Defense.

Mr. George currently serves as a director of ExxonMobil and Goldman Sachs, and also recently served on the board of Novartis and Target Corporation. He is also currently a trustee of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, World Economic Forum USA and the Guthrie Theater. He has served as chair of the board chair of Allina Health System, Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, United Way of the Greater Twin Cities, and Advamed.

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 has made frequent appearances on television and radio, including: The Charlie Rose Show, The Today Show, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, NOW, CNBC, Bloomberg News, and NPR. His articles have appeared in Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, and numerous other publications.

Mr. George received his BSIE with high honors from Georgia Tech, his MBA with high distinction from Harvard University, where he was a Baker Scholar, and honorary PhDs from Georgia Tech and Bryant University. During 2002-03 he was professor at IMD International and Ecole Polytechnique in Lausanne, Switzerland, and executive-in-residence at Yale School of Management.

Connect with Bill on his website is www.billgeorge.org and Facebook Page.

Blog Entries by Bill George

Resilience Through Mindful Leadership

(28) Comments | Posted March 22, 2013 | 12:27 PM

The movement to develop mindful leaders in business is at a tipping point, as interest from corporations, educational institutions and the media continues to grow. As Arianna Huffington recently pointed out on CNBC's Squawk Box: "The tipping point was very evident at the World Economic Forum in Davos this past...

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Innovation Is the Real Winner in Apple v. Samsung

(20) Comments | Posted September 11, 2012 | 8:40 AM

Apple's big win over Samsung for patent violations is monumental in the tech world. It has significant implications for American innovation that go far beyond the products in question. While patents have been a hot litigation topic for years, the outcome of this case sets a precedent for...

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Another Labor Day Passes With Little Progress on Creating Jobs

(12) Comments | Posted September 4, 2012 | 4:26 PM

Three years ago, Labor Day 2009, I appeared on Today to discuss the jobs crisis. The appearance was to promote 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis, a book released about that time which set forth principles leaders could apply to resolving significant crises.

At the time, I argued that we...

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Leaders' Character Must Take Precedence Over Their Resumes

(1) Comments | Posted June 26, 2012 | 5:18 PM

The tragic fall of Rajat Gupta, a man who helped so many organizations, is a vivid reminder of the frailties of human character. Convicted of insider trading, Gupta, who once headed global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, joins a lineup of failed leaders that includes ex-HP CEO Mark Hurd, investor...

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Google's Stock Split Irks Governance Experts, but Is the Right Move

(3) Comments | Posted April 19, 2012 | 11:19 AM

Google's announcement late Thursday that it would split its stock 2:1 by creating a new class of non-voting shares has governance experts up in arms. From the standpoint of sound corporate governance, I have not been in favor of dual class structures as they can serve to protect...

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Five Resolutions for Aspiring Leaders

(5) Comments | Posted December 31, 2011 | 12:07 PM

As the New Year approaches, people will be making resolutions to eat better, exercise more, get that promotion at work or spend more time with their families. While these are worthwhile goals, we have a more important challenge for young people: Think seriously about your development as a leader.

These...

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Hope for the Holidays

(1) Comments | Posted December 27, 2011 | 11:00 AM

The recent Occupy Wall Street protests are only the latest of a series of global movements carried out by those who have grown cynical about leadership in business, government, and society.

There is reason for this cynicism. The twenty-first century has been rocked by scandals and failures of leaders in...

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A Fateful Weekend for U.S. Fiscal Stability

(15) Comments | Posted November 22, 2011 | 9:32 AM

The fate of the fiscal stability of the United States was sealed on the weekend of December 4-5, 2010. The previous Thursday President Obama received the long-awaited report of his National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, co-chaired by Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson. The report of the...

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Don't Just Search for a Job: Create Your Own

(9) Comments | Posted November 2, 2011 | 4:06 PM

It's no secret that Americans are frustrated with the lack of job opportunities available.

As the unemployment rate held strong in September at 9.1% and 26 million Americans (16.5% of the workforce) were still unable to find full-time jobs, it is becoming increasingly clear that the economy...

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Remembering the Greatest Innovator of the Past Fifty Years

(9) Comments | Posted October 9, 2011 | 2:30 PM

With the tragic death of Steve Jobs at the age of 56, the world lost its greatest innovator in the past fifty years. Through his visionary genius, Jobs transformed five separate fields: personal computers with the Macintosh and iMac, animated films with Pixar studios, music players with the iPod, entertainment...

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What the President Should Say on Jobs and the Economy

(23) Comments | Posted September 8, 2011 | 6:00 PM

Tonight, President Obama addresses the nation at a joint session of Congress about his plans to expand job growth. Here's what he should say:

My Fellow Americans:

Our country is facing a jobs crisis of major proportions, the greatest since the 1930s. This nation's strength is based on its strong...

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The CEO Playbook for This Crisis

(0) Comments | Posted August 10, 2011 | 6:50 PM

CEOs of multinational corporations are in a stronger position than three years ago. Balance sheets are strong, and productivity has increased. This crisis presents an opportunity to go on the offensive for CEOs who are in a position of strength. Here's the playbook I'd run:

  1. Reassure everyone that your company...
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Debt Ceiling Agreement: No Cause for Celebration

(25) Comments | Posted August 2, 2011 | 6:29 PM

This week's agreement to increase the U.S. debt ceiling is no cause for celebration.

Regardless of what the spin doctors tell us, there are no winners here. The political landscape is covered with the blood of all the politicians who were losers in this "no win" battle. Among the losers...

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President Obama's Challenge to Business: "It's Time to Invest in America"

(39) Comments | Posted February 9, 2011 | 10:30 AM

Last August I wrote a column for the New York Times urging President Obama to make concrete moves to "invest in America." On Monday the President went to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- his nemesis the past two years -- offering to partner with business...

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Politics Trumps Sound Fiscal Policy (Again)

(1) Comments | Posted December 7, 2010 | 10:06 AM

Yesterday's "compromise" between Republicans and the President proves an old adage: political giveaways always trump sound fiscal policy. Or stated another way, it's easier to agree to increase the deficit $4 trillion over the next ten years than it is to reduce it that amount.

What a difference a weekend...

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Coming Home to America

(6) Comments | Posted September 1, 2010 | 4:18 PM

President Obama's announcement last night that America's combat troops in Iraq are coming home is good news indeed. After the tragic loss of 4,400 lives of some of our most courageous citizens and $1 trillion in spending that could have been used here at home, our seven and one-half years...

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A Perspective on the HP Tragedy: An Authentic Leader Loses His True North

(2) Comments | Posted August 11, 2010 | 2:40 PM

The Mark Hurd situation can only be considered a tragedy for everyone involved.

Hurd is one of the most outstanding leaders in the U.S. In 2005 he took over an ailing technology giant and restored it to greatness in just five years. He refocused HP on its original mission and...

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World Cup Finals -- Why the Spanish and Dutch Are in and the Americans Aren't

(22) Comments | Posted July 11, 2010 | 2:16 PM

In today's World Cup finals, billions of people will be watching Spain's David Villa and the Netherlands' Wesley Sneijder to see who will notch the winning goal. In spite of their brilliance, Villa and Sneijder aren't the reason why these two European sides are in the final.

The real reason...

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How Did Landon Donovan Become America's First World-Class Soccer Player?

(38) Comments | Posted June 25, 2010 | 9:27 AM

As the minutes ticked away in the U.S.' decisive World Cup match against Algeria, U.S. superstar Landon Donovan was determined not to permit a repeat of the U.S. 2006 World Cup disaster, when the Americans went home without a single victory. As his teammates felt their 2010 dreams slipping away,...

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Engaging the Millennials

(1) Comments | Posted June 23, 2010 | 4:02 PM

The Millennial generation -- those offspring of the baby boomers -- are not short on the "three D's": dedication, drive, and delivery.

Young adults today study harder and more often, engage in more community service, participate in greater numbers of extracurricular activities, and hold a more optimistic outlook on...

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