Are you living your core personal values? If you look carefully at how you're spending your time, how aligned is it with your core values? It's a great time to step back, take stock, and make some changes that can make a big difference in the year(s) ahead.

Our guest Harry Kraemer, author of Your 168: Finding Purpose and Satisfaction in a Values-Based Life, highlights how self-reflection can help create greater alignment and flexibility.

A Values Based Life

Our conversation covers a lot of ground:

Why 168 is his favorite number.

After the books he's written on leadership, what inspired him to write Your 168.

What a life based on values looks like versus one that’s less so.

Why self-reflection is so important – and how it's part of his day.

How planning and spontaneity can co-exist.

What the transition was like for him when he retired  – and what led him to teach in the MBA program at Kellogg.

What a friend and colleague learned from a wake-up call.

The role habits play in a values-based life.

Why genuine humility and making a difference are key parts of a values-based life.

His involvement in the One Acre Fund.

The best way to start if you want to make the most of your 168 starting in 2021.

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Bio

Harry M. Jansen Kraemer, Jr. is an executive partner with Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity firm based in Chicago, Illinois and a Clinical Professor of Leadership at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. He was named the 2008 Kellogg School Professor of the Year. Harry is the author of two bestselling leadership books: From Values to Action: The Four Principles of Values-Based Leadership and Becoming The Best: Build a World-Class Organization Through Values-Based Leadership.

He is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Baxter International Inc., a $12 billion global healthcare company. He became Baxter's chief executive officer in January 1999, and assumed the additional responsibility of chairman of Baxter's board of directors in January 2000.

Mr. Kraemer joined Baxter in 1982 as director of corporate development. His twenty-three year career at Baxter included senior positions in both domestic and international operations. In 1993, he was named senior vice president and chief financial officer, responsible for financial operations, business development, global communications, and European operations. Over the next several years, he assumed additional responsibility for Baxter's Renal and Medication Delivery businesses. He was elected to Baxter's board of directors in 1995, and was named president of Baxter International Inc. in 1997.

Before joining Baxter, Mr. Kraemer worked for Bank of America in corporate banking and for Northwest Industries in planning and business development.

Mr. Kraemer is active in business, education and civic affairs. He serves on the board of directors of Leidos Corporation, Dentsply Sirona, Option Care Health, Performance Health and Alcami, and on the board of trustees of Northwestern University, The Conference Board, NorthShore University Healthsystem and the Archdiocese of Chicago Finance Committee and School Board.

He is a member of the Dean's Global Advisory Board of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. He is a member of the Council of CEOs, the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Economics Club of Chicago. He is a past member of the Business Roundtable, the Business Council, and the Healthcare Leadership Council.

Mr. Kraemer graduated summa cum laude from Lawrence University of Wisconsin in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics. He received an MBA degree in finance and accounting from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in 1979 a...