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For five decades, one of the most well-established and successful practitioners and researchers in organization development and leadership is John H. (Jack) Zenger. He has been (and continues to be) one of most authoritative voices on leadership and performance. We recently had the opportunity to interview Jack and ask him about his initial and continued involvement and interest in these areas. He shared fascinating information, stories, and examples related to his research, books, and philosophy.
A Conversation with John H. Zenger: Leadership and Change Setting
John H. (Jack) Zenger writes, teaches, and speaks about extraordinary leadership. Today he is one of most authoritative voices on leadership and performance. He received a degree in psychology from Brigham Young University, an MBA from UCLA, and a doctorate degree in business administration from the University of Southern California. He has been the CEO and president of the world's largest performance skills improvement companies, Provant, Inc. In 1977, Jack co-founded Zenger Miller, a leading management and leadership development company. He also served for many years as chairman of Times Mirror Training, Inc., which consisted of Kaset, Learning International, and Zenger Miller. He has authored or coauthored seven books, including The Extraordinary Leader: Turning Good Managers into Great Leaders, The Handbook for Leaders: 24 Lessons for Extraordinary Leaders, Results-Based Leadership (which was honored as the best book of 2000 by the Society of Human Resource Management), and best-selling The New Self-Directed Work Teams: The New American Challenge. In 1994, Jack was inducted in the Human Resources Development Hall of Fame.
Recently, we were fortunate to be able to interview Dr. Zenger about leadership and change. In this interview, Jack discusses the background of organization development, his early and continued involvement in the field, specific OD interests and passions, and the link between OD and leadership. He describes his work and presents a model of leadership that is illustrated as a tent with five poles representing the competencies that separate extraordinary leaders from others. In addition, he stresses the importance of results as well as attributes. He also emphasizes the value of change in an organization and says that extraordinary leaders must not only lead change but also provide an environment and culture whereby organizations can engage in continuous...