The Extraordinary Leader

PRAISE FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY LEADER

“The Zenger Folkman leadership model is distinguished from others in that it is backed up by research and data. That data validates the effectiveness of identifying an individual’s strengths and developing them, rather than focusing on weaknesses. The Zenger Folkman philosophy has its eye on the right goal – real, measurable results.” —Bill Blase SeniorExecutive Vice President Human Resources AT&T Corp. “I fell in love with The Extraordinary Leader on page 1. From the moment I started reading I really got jazzed, and my enthusiasm only increased the more I read. You see, I’m just mad about books that attack cherished but unsupportable assumptions about anything, especially leadership. That’s exactly what Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman do, and they doit persuasively, precisely, and professionally. The Extraordinary Leader is no hackneyed rehashing of tired nostrums. Through their exceptional research, the authors demonstrate and prove that leadership does make a difference and that you can learn to lead. There are some profound insights in this book, and whether you’ve studied leadership for over 20 years, as I have, or you are brand new tothe subject, Zenger and Folkman give you much more than your money’s worth. And while their research gives the book distinctive credibility, their examples and practical applications give it life. This is a book that scholars and practitioners will be referring to for years to come.

If your goal is to be a better leader than you are today, then you must read this book.” —James M. Kouzes ChairmanEmeritus, Tom Peters Company Coauthor of The Leadership Challenge and Encouraging the Heart “Joe Folkman and Jack Zenger have proved themselves to be extraordinary thinkers. In their new book, The Extraordinary Leader, they unfold the most intriguing and provocative new research on leadership that I have encountered in many years. This book is a ‘must read’ for anyone faced with the day-to-daychallenges of developing extraordinary leadership talent within an organization.” —Annie LaBombard Director of Leadership Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company “Read this book! Its approach to understanding leadership development is unique: It uses data, not opinion! Some of the insights are intuitive, but many are counterintuitive. Extraordinarily readable, this book represents some of the best thinkingon leadership I’ve seen in a long while.” —E. David Spong President, Military Aerospace Support The Boeing Company “Ordinarily, I’d say the last thing we need is another book on leadership. But The Extraordinary Leader by Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman is refreshingly different. Rather than serve up yesterday’s anecdotes, they’ve performed the heavy lifting of empirical data collection and analysis.The foreword promises clarity, simplicity, and utility in addressing the real-world challenges of developing leaders, and this book delivers that and more. This is a must read.” —Jon Younger, Ph.D. Senior Vice President, Leadership Development National City Corporation “The authors’ promise on the bottom of page 3 to do their best ‘to unravel the mystery of leadership through careful analysis andobservation’ of a huge

database ‘by emulating Sherlock Holmes,’ grabbed my attention. Always an avid mystery reader, I found myself compulsively turning pages, devouring the entire book, like any good mystery, in one sitting. I especially appreciated the wisdom found in Insights 1 to 20, the nonobvious competency companions, and the distinctions between mattress and tent leadership models. Bythe last chapter (when all at last had been revealed), I had deduced a far better way to help my organization become a company of leaders than I’ve been able to figure out in the past 20 years!” —Sallie T. Hightower, Ed.D. Conoco University Conoco, Inc. “Finally someone has moved beyond theory and complicated models to tell us what great leaders really bring to the party. Zenger and Folkman have...