Jack Zenger, one of my Leadership Heroes, Passed Away at Age 94.

Let’s review his legacy and impact on me and ELAvate

By Michael J Griffin

Jack Zenger, the founder of Zenger Miller, later absorbed by TMTG/AchieveGlobal, and his very successful firm, Zenger Folkman, passed away at age 94 on July 3rd. I first met Jack in the mid 1990’s when he came to our regional office in Singapore as the director of TMTG which later became AchieveGlobal.

Zenger Miller(ZM) was one of the first organizations in the 1980’s to successfully build and market behavioral change leadership and team work skills with their “Front Line Leadership” (FLL) and “Quest” curricula. These programs directly competed against the Xerox Learning “Xcellence” and “Situational Leadership” by Ken Blanchard. The beauty of FLL was that it allowed companies to customize their leadership and team work training based on the multitude of self-contained modules FLL offered. Eventually, TMTG bought ZM and expanded these FLL modules with AchieveGlobal content to create the very successful Leadership 2000 and Leadership for Results curricula that was sold across the AG global network to the majority of the Fortune 500 group of companies. Later I will share the modules that made a very positive impact on me, ELAvate and our customers, but first let’s review some wise quotes from Jack Zenger:

On Leadership & Strengths

1. "Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths."

2. "Leaders are made, not born."

3. "The quality of leadership in an organization seldom exceeds that of the person at the top."

4. "Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on Earth."

5. "Good is the enemy of excellence. Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average."

On Trust

6. "The single most important factor in leadership effectiveness is trust."

7. "The data shows that trust is the one leadership behaviour that can positively or negatively affect everything else you do."

On Listening

8. "You're not a sponge merely absorbing information. Instead, think of yourself more like a trampoline that gives the speaker's thoughts energy, acceleration, height and amplification."

9. "Good listeners are like trampolines: You can bounce ideas off them, and rather than absorbing your ideas and energy, they amplify, they energise and clarify your thinking."

10. "The best listeners periodically ask questions that promote discovery and insight."

On Feedback & Coachability

11. "Giving positive feedback shows your direct reports that you are in their corner, and that you want them to win and to succeed."

12. "Most leaders vastly underestimate the power and necessity of positive reinforcement."

13. "When [feedback is] done right, people get to the very highest levels. When done poorly, it results in very negative consequences, and sometimes terminal consequences."

14. "The most effective leaders are the ones willing to be coached. They don't just tolerate feedback – they actively seek it."

On Leading Teams & Change

15. "Leaders deserve the teams they get based on the worst actions they allow other team members to get away with."

16. "True leadership lies in creating an environment that empowers others to think boldly, share ideas, and innovate together."

17. "When leaders shift from being the 'expert' to becoming a facilitator of learning, the results are powerful: greater innovation, stronger teams, and better decisions."

18. "If you enlist other people's ideas, ask for their thoughts about what the change ought to be, they will be far likely to support it."

19. "The leader's enthusiasm is very contagious."

20. "Nothing unites a group more than pursuing a lofty target. Try setting a stretch goal for your team."

I have employed many of ZM’s training modules over the years across 20 APAC nations and my customers found them cross culturally adaptable and useful to develop leaders, individual contributors and teams to world class excellence that gets results. What I learned at ZM and then AchieveGlobal has allowed me to grow as a cross-cultural leader and build our ELAvate leadership and teams curriculum.

Jack Zenger’s books “Leading Teams” and “Self-Directed Teams” were foundational for my team leadership growth. Jack has also authored my articles in Harvard Business Review and other publications that you may find worthwhile.

Here are the ELAvate modules whose foundations are built on the ZM legacy of the 1980’s – 1990’s that really grew leadership and teamwork skills for me and my customers:

• The Basic Principles of Trust

• Setting Collaborative Goals

• Developing Others

• Giving Recognition

• Providing Constructive Feedback

• Active Listening

• Managing Your Priorities

• The Challenge of Team Leadership

• Team Leadership Tools – Launching and Refuelling Your Team

• Team Leadership Tools – Keeping Your Team On Course

• Facilitating Meetings

• Quest – Focusing Your Team on Quality

• Quest – Analyzing Work Processes

Thank you Jack for having a very significant and positive impact on my leadership growth as an entrepreneur, a cross-cultural trainer, and, 34 year success as the CEO and Founder of ELAvate training that opened the door for ELAvate to support and help over 800 organizations develop their leaders. May you rest in peace. And may we continue to grow by emulating Jack’s example of ethical, win – win results orientated leadership in our own lives.

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Michael J. Griffin
CEO and Founder of ELAvate
Certified in ZM training in mid nineties
Leadership Trainer and Coach across 21 nations
michael.griffin@elavateglobal.com
+65-91194008 (WhatsApp)