Conversations about the role and impact of artificial intelligence continue to take up most of the oxygen in C-suite and corporate boardrooms. But alongside plans for deploying, optimizing, and every other means of expanding AI across organizations, there remains the very human and ongoing challenge of crafting the next generation of leaders.
Literature on leadership development often focuses on fostering clear communication habits, the ability to delegate, and managing different demographics within the workforce. They are all good and necessary skills, but according to Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick, they aren't enough.Â
In a recent interview from his company's offices in New York City, Zelnick said he is skeptical about the idea of universal leadership lessons, and that a "one-size-fits-all approach or seven secrets to being a great leader" are fictions. "There are any number of different styles and approaches to developing leaders that can work," he said. "The most important thing is to be true to one's own style and approach. Self-knowledge and honesty are a big part of this."
Zelnick isn't just the latest CEO to expound on the familiar theme of "know thyself" at the beginning of a new year. For the better part of 40 years, he has made it a regular practice to mentor and coach people from various corners of the business world. He first explained the origins of his open-door policy at the CNBC Technology Executive Council Summit last fall.Â
"When I got out of graduate school many years ago, my goal was to run a movie studio," Zelnick said. "I could not get my foot in the door anywhere, I had no family connections and no one would meet with me." After he finally landed a job in sales at Columbia Pictures, and later became president and chief operating officer at 20th Century Fox, he swore that he would "always make time for people and try to be helpful to anyone who needed it."
These days, in addition to running Take-Two, publisher of blockbuster video games including "Grand Theft Auto," and "NBA 2K," and serving as founder and CEO of private equity firm ZMC, Zelnick spends about a quarter of his time mentoring and coaching the folks who come through his door — or meet him for a workout.
'I'm not the Wizard of Oz'
Zelnick describes his own style of leadership as listening-driven, empathetic, calm, and deliberate. "It's not my job to be the smartest guy in the room," he said. "I'm not the Wizard of Oz directing the company from behind the curtain." He's always believed in hiring exceptional people, aligning incentives, setting clear objectives, and then delegating with information. Strategy, in his view, is a small part of the job. Execution, day after day, is where leadership truly lives.
This philosophy carries directly into how he mentors others. The people who seek out Zelnick's counsel cut across a wide age range and include everyone from recent college graduates looking for a job to seasoned executives in their 70s (Zelnick is 68) who find themselves navigating transition, disruption or dissatisfaction.
At the core of his mentoring approach are two seemingly simple yet often challenging exercises. He asks people to describe their values and goals and then helps guide them through the process of finding the intersection of their passion, talent, and opportunity.
The problem for many people, but especially early talent, Zelnick says, is that their values and goals are often unknowingly in conflict with each other.
"Someone will tell me they value full-time remote work and spending nights out with their friends during the week. I'm not making a judgment call on that, those are their values. I'm just asking them to be honest with me," he said. "Their goal is that they want to be CEO or a senior leader in their company. Well, those don't go together. So, at that point, I help them see that they either need to adjust their values or, if not, work on goals that are more consistent with what they value."
Leadership, he says, is all about owning your choices. "You can want a certain lifestyle, or you can want a certain job, but you cannot always have both," he added.
One of Zelnick's biggest takeaways after coaching thousands of professionals over four decades is that people are often afraid of articulating their goals.
"It's an exercise that requires honesty and people aren't always comfortable with that," he said. "But I have found that the factor that most highly correlates with success is actually defining what success looks like for you and then pursuing that definition, not someone else's definition of success," he added.
Of course, not everyone who comes to see him is looking to climb the next rung on the career ladder. Zelnick says that some of those he meets with are struggling with relationship or health issues which can have a direct impact on their career. Often, they are already seeking professional help, but want another perspective. "I've been doing this long enough that I can certainly offer that other point of view, but I stop well short of giving any sort of medical or therapeutic advice," he said.
Then there are those who connect with Zelnick over another one of his passions: fitness. He works out most days of the week (sometimes twice a day) and in 2018 wrote "Becoming Ageless: The Four Secrets to Looking and Feeling Younger than Ever," which details the exercise and wellness routines he's incorporated into his own life.
"I have a guy I coach, but only on the topic of fitness," Zelnick said. "He's my age and he sends me an email once a month with all his stats and usually asks a question about how we can enhance something he's doing." For others, Zelnick's mentoring takes place during a workout. "Those are fun," he added.
At a time when there's so much angst over technology replacing people, Zelnick's mentoring practice remains at its core a profoundly human endeavor. He explains it as his way of "being of service in this world."
"Look, I make light entertainment for a living," he said. "I'm proud of it, but in the fullness of time that's not going to really matter. But if you can help someone change something about their life, even modestly, that can have an impact not only on them, but the people around them. Having an open-door policy is how I can do that."
