True North Groups : A Powerful Path to Personal and Leadership Development

Whether you are looking to develop your leadership skills or to grow as a person you need long-term feedback, support, and encouragement. For the past thirty-five years Bill George and Doug Baker have found this in what they call a True North Group-a small, diverse collection of individuals who meet on a regular basis to explore their lives and develop their self-awareness, self-compassion, authenticity, and EQ. In this desperately needed new book the authors demonstrate why these small groups are the vital link to both leadership and human development and show how to make them successful. Adapting an established five-stage team-building format, George and Baker show exactly how to form a new group or transform an existing group into a True North Group. They provide a wealth of practical resources, including advice on selecting members, suggested topics for the first twelve meetings, techniques to evaluate group satisfaction, and much more. For the millions of people who are searching for greater meaning and intimacy in their lives, this book will help them to grow as leaders and as human beings-and to stay on course to their True North.

Bill George is a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School and the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic Inc. He is the author of Authentic Leadership, True North, Finding Your True North, and 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis.
Doug Baker is president of the True North Groups Institute and former senior vice president for Human Resources of American Express Financial Advisors.

Foreword
Preface
Introduction: Finding Depth and Intimacy in Your Life
Chapter 1. True North Groups
Chapter 2. Your Personal and Leadership Development
Chapter 3. Forming Your Group
Chapter 4. Norming
Chapter 5. Storming
Chapter 6. Performing
Chapter 7. Reforming
Conclusion: Why Your True North Group is Important in Your Life
Resources:
1. Start-Up Curriculum (First Twelve Topics)
2. Additional Curriculum Topics
3. The Group’s Initial Meeting
4. Member Contract
5. Meeting Formats
6. Ground Rules for Group Discussions
7. Guide for Facilitating Groups
8. Member Satisfaction Survey
9. Group Retreats
10. Adding New Members to Existing Groups
11. Giving and Receiving Feedback
12. Research Process and Interviewees
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Authors
The True North Groups Institute