Business · Book club
Authentic Leadership book club questions
Here are 11 book club questions for Authentic Leadership by Bill George, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Authentic Leadership arrived in 2003 in the aftermath of Enron, WorldCom, and the first wave of corporate governance scandals.
Bill George · 2003
Full summary and key takeaways →The 11 questions
- 1.
George argues the Enron and WorldCom leaders weren't bad people who made bad choices — they were disconnected from their values. Does that framing feel generous or accurate to you?
- 2.
What is your own purpose for leading? If you can't state it in two sentences, what would you need to examine to find it?
- 3.
Think of a decision at work where financial pressure and your stated values pointed in different directions. Which won, and what did that reveal?
- 4.
George's model says self-discipline — the ability to behave consistently — matters as much as having the right values. Where is your consistency weakest?
- 5.
He argues stakeholder balance produces better outcomes than shareholder primacy. What's the evidence from your own experience for or against that claim?
- 6.
The book was written after major corporate scandals. Do you think the structural conditions that produced those failures have improved, or just changed form?
- 7.
Which of the five characteristics of authentic leadership — purpose, values, heart, relationships, self-discipline — would your direct reports say you're best at? Worst at?
- 8.
George says authentic leaders lead with heart — they genuinely care about the people they work with. What would leading with more heart look like in your specific context?
- 9.
When did you last receive honest critical feedback from someone who reports to you? What made that possible or unlikely?
- 10.
Authentic leadership requires knowing yourself. What's one thing that's true about how you lead that you don't often say out loud?
- 11.
The gap between who leaders are at work and who they are outside work often signals inauthenticity. Does that gap exist for you, and what drives it?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for Authentic Leadership?
Here are 11 book club questions for Authentic Leadership by Bill George, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on authentic leadership, purpose, values.
How long should a book club discussion of Authentic Leadership last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in Authentic Leadership?
Authentic leadership, Purpose, Values, Corporate integrity, Self-awareness. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like Authentic Leadership or questions for other book club picks.
