True North, Emerging Leader Edition, 3rd Edition

IntroductionA Clarion Call to Emerging Leaders

Crises are hitting us from all directions. It is increasingly clear we need an infusion of strong, new leaders to help us navigate safely.

—David Gergen, Hearts Touched with Fire

The first two decades of the 21st century have careened from one crisis to the next. It started with the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, followed by the bankruptcies of Enron and WorldCom, and many other unethical firms and the 2008 global financial meltdown. The second decade featured the demise of General Electric (GE), Boeing's mishandling of the 737 MAX crashes, the COVID‐19 pandemic, George Floyd's murder, the devastation of climate change, and, most recently, Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

At their core, these tragic events can all be traced to failed leadership.

The Emerging Leader Edition of True North is not an analysis of these crises or the leaders who caused them. Rather, this is a calling to you as emerging leaders of the next generations—Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z—to step up and lead authentically by discovering your True North and following your North Star to make this world a better place.

In this book, we feature numerous stories of emerging leaders who are already making a difference, like Kabir Barday, Abby Falik, Tracy Britt Cool, and Rye Barcott, along with pioneers from the Baby Boomer generation, like Indra Nooyi, Ken Frazier, Mary Barra, Satya Nadella, Ursula Burns, John Donahoe, and Chip Bergh.

We are ...