Tech Image's Tim Boivin shared the book Authentic Leadership with me to help out with an internal reading assignment we've been doing. I just needed a few pages of it for the main assignment, but as I paged through it I thought "This looks like a book worth reading." And I was right.
Author Bill George is the former CEO of Medtronic, a Minnesota company that manufactures medical devices such as pacemakers. But the book isn't about those, or even about manufacturing. Instead, it's a treatise on how to lead others, whether you're part of a company, a sports team, a local organization or some other group.
In a post-Enron and Lehman Brothers world, the things he has to say make a lot of sense. The reason companies have these problems is they put short-term gains and the concerns of Wall Street ahead of their core mission, which is to serve their customers. Here's where the Medtronics background comes in handy.
They aren't just making products to sell. They're changing lives. It's an extreme example, but one that should be at the heart of every business leader. If you look at the impact your business has on your customers, you should be willing to sacrifice short-term gains or hitting a particular number for long-term benefits, for your customers, your employees, and the business.
The books talks about various phases, and uses a lot of stories (both his own and those of others) to illustrate the points he's making. In the end, that sage advice "To thine own self be true" lies at the core of what Bill George has to say.
Reviewed by Ken Krause
Tech PRose 
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