It was with much sadness that I heard the recent news of the passing of John ‘Jack’ Zenger at the age of 94. Many of you won’t know of Jack, but he and his work were instrumental to my move into leadership development back in the 1990s, and they continue to influence everything we do at Global Leadership Foundation.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I worked as the human resources manager at Brown Brothers Wines in regional Victoria. Towards the end of that time, as Brown Brothers was undergoing significant growth, we brought in a consultancy called Zenger-Miller, cofounded by Jack, to support the culture change we were making. In particular, we needed to support all levels of leaders in the organisation to work together more effectively in what was no longer a small company.
This work would be my first exposure to what I would come to understand as ‘vertical development’. Instead of just ‘training’ our leaders in specific skills such as conflict management or managing priorities (horizontal development), Zenger-Miller’s work focused on expanding our ways of thinking, recognising and enabling others to be their best and seeing what is possible when we work together.
At the heart of their work were The Basic Principles that had been developed by Jack and his business partner Dale Miller:
· Focus on the situation, issue or behaviour, not on the person.
· Maintain the self-confidence and self-esteem of others.
· Maintain constructive relationships.
· Take the initiative to make things better.
· Lead by example.
As soon as I was exposed to these I was immediately struck by their simplicity. They feel so tangible, and the more you think about them the more you realise the incredible power that they capture.
I encourage you to pause and read over the basic principles again. Mull them over and consider their implications.
Of all the countless words that have been written on management and leadership, these five principles are arguably all you need to know. They can be applied at any level, and in any situation. And, importantly, they are as relevant today as they ever were – perhaps more so.
I was so inspired by the work that Zenger Miller did with Brown Brothers that I asked if I could join them, and soon afterwards that’s exactly what I did. I worked with them for the next three years, with that move serving as my launchpad into culture change and leadership development.
After Malcolm and I founded Global Leadership Foundation in 2003, we continued to draw on The Basic Principles as both inspiration and guidance. They are entirely consistent with the concept of emotional health – they really capture the essence of emotionally healthy leadership.
I was fortunate to meet Jack on a number of occasions, including spending some time in the offices of Zenger Miller in California. He was the sort of person who had such warmth and presence that you felt like you’d known him for years even if you’d only just done so. He always remembered your name, even if he hadn’t seen you for a while. There was a calm about him as well as a wry sense of humour that everyone appreciated.
One time Malcolm and I were in Utah heading for a conference outside Salt Lake City. We’d recently published our first book, The Emotionally Healthy Leader, so thought we might drop a copy to Jack at his office – we had acknowledged his influence in the book.
When we got to the Zenger Folkman office, the receptionist apologised that Jack was not there as he was running a leadership conference out of town. It turned out this event was at the hotel next door to where we were headed. We were able to catch up with Jack in person and although it had been many years since I’d last seen him, he greeted me with genuine warmth and accepted our book with real excitement.
Jack was one of those rare people who was at once incredibly influential while remaining extremely humble and self-effacing. Over his long career, he became one of the world’s foremost authorities on leadership development. At the same time, he also exemplified a high level of emotional health. He will be missed.
Gayle