It’s not easy being a leader. Some would argue that you were either born a leader or not. The same could be said for being a great supporting coach to a hard-charging leader. Enter executive fellow at Harvard Business School and former Medtronic CEO Bill George. George is viewed by those in the C-suite as one of the most successful CEOs to ever have done it. While driving major growth at the healthcare device company, George has been able to also serve on the boards of the world’s largest companies such as Target and ExxonMobil. Since leaving Medtronic as CEO in 2002, George has focused on spreading leadership lessons learned from a career that started in the Defense Department in the mid 1960s. Based on his experience, George thinks Vice President Kamala Harris picked the right running mate in Minnesota governor Tim Walz. He believes Boeing just picked the right CEO in Kelly Ortberg, and Starbucks in Brian Niccol. And for good measure, he thinks CEOs make too much money! Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi goes in-depth with George on these hot-button topics and much more.

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid, brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor - before the stock market opens.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at https://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at [email protected].

00:00-Bill George joins Opening Bid

02:00-Addressing a company in crisis

08:00-Eyes on CEOs

12:00-Tim Walz tapped as Harris' running mate

18:00-'Trumponomics' impact on business

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Alexander Frangeskides and Rachael Lewis-Krisky.

Bill George is an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, where he was a Professor of Management Practice and Senior Fellow teaching leadership from 2004-2022. He is the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, and earlier in his career, he was a senior executive with Honeywell and Litton Industries and served in the U.S. Department of Defense.

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