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How Leaders Lead with David Novak

#155: Bill George, Former CEO of Medtronic — Stay connected to your front lines

How Leaders Lead with David Novak

David Novak Leadership

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management

4.8596 Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2023

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We all have those days where we hop from meeting to meeting, only to look back on the day and wonder what we really accomplished.  If that sounds familiar, then you’re going to find a lot of value in this conversation with Bill George, the former Chairman & CEO of Medtronic. He’s also an executive fellow at Harvard Business School and, like all of us here at How Leaders Lead, he is passionate about developing great leaders. But he sees so many leaders spending more and more time in meetings, and less and less time with customers and front-line employees. How can you eliminate the layers that tend to build up between you and the people who work on the front lines of your organization? Hit play if you want to see how to do it and why it matters so much. Plus, you’ll hear great wisdom about leading with authenticity, finding your purpose, and so much more. You’ll also learn: How to calibrate your ambition and drive, especially early in your career Advice for forging a career path that fits who you are and what you want The danger of making your job your identity—and how to avoid it The reason behind great successions (Microsoft) and not-so-great ones (GE)  Tips for focusing on long-term goals without ignoring immediate issues Take your learning further. Get proven leadership advice from these (free!) resources: The How Leaders Lead App: A vast library of 90-second leadership lessons to stay sharp on the go  Daily Insight Emails: One small (but powerful!) leadership principle to focus on each day Whichever you choose, you can be sure you’ll get the trusted leadership advice you need to advance your career, develop your team, and grow your business.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to How Leaders Lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the

0:08.7

very best leaders in the world. I break down the key learning so that by the end of the

0:12.9

episode, you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader.

0:17.9

That's what this podcast is all about. You know, we all have those days where we hop

0:22.9

from meeting to meeting, only to look back at the end of the day and think, gosh, what did I really

0:28.7

accomplish? If that sounds familiar, then you're going to get a lot out of this conversation with

0:34.7

Bill George, the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic. He's also an

0:39.5

executive fellow at Harvard Business School, and like me, he is passionate about developing great

0:45.3

leaders. But he sees so many leaders spending more and more time in meetings and less and less

0:50.9

time with customers and frontline employees. That kind of disconnect can be really dangerous

0:56.5

and is something that Bill talks about often in this conversation.

1:00.6

So I got a question for you.

1:02.2

How can you eliminate the layers that tend to build up between you

1:05.9

and the people who work on the front lines of your organization?

1:09.7

In today's conversation, you're going to learn how to do it and why it matters so much.

1:15.1

Plus, there's some great wisdom about leading with authenticity, finding your purpose,

1:20.6

and so much more.

1:22.1

After all, Bill is the author of True North.

1:25.6

So let's get to it.

1:26.7

Here's my conversation with my good friend and soon to be yours, Bill George.

1:36.3

Bill, I gotta tell you, I'm really honored to have you on the show and really appreciate it.

1:42.3

Well, I'm honored be on with you and I think we're fellow pilgrims on the same path

...

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