Lessons from Combat: People-Centered Strategy and Cultural Competency
Posted on Nov. 9, 2023 / Diversity & Inclusion / Subscribe 0
In recognition of Veterans Day, PRSA Tampa Bay DE&I Chair Shayla O’Keeffe spoke recently to U.S. Air Force veteran, Chief Master Sergeant Robert "Zack" Zackery III about communication strategies he learned while developing partnerships in 22 countries under the authority of the Department of Defense. He is now president of Primer Development Group based in Tampa. PRSA Tampa Bay would like to thank him and more than 16 million other U.S. veterans for their service and sacrifice.
Robert "Zack" Zackery III is a retired, distinguished combat veteran serving over 26 years as a U.S. Air Force Special Warfare, Tactical Air Control Party (TACP). He is the President of Primer Development Group, LLC, a consulting company dedicated to optimizing organizational and individual potential through teaching strategic thinking and operational problem solving. Zack is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress. He has used his extensive, diverse background to coach, develop, lead and train individuals and teams to achieve success in complex and uncertain environments.
Zack spoke with PRSA Tampa Bay’s DE&I Chair, Shayla O’Keeffe, about how his experience has equipped him for a successful post-military career in training leadership methods and helping cross-cultural, inclusive, and strategic leadership teams.
1. With an impressive number of countries traveled – 52 in total – and having fostered partnerships and operational capacities spanning 22 nations, you have had a lot of experience navigating diverse cultures. What’s one lesson you’ve learned while navigating cross-culturally?
Throughout my extensive travels and collaborations with individuals and organizations from diverse countries, cultures, religions, and economic backgrounds, I've come to appreciate a mindset that has helped me:
Facts are important, assumptions are dangerous (thoughts about individuals and cultures), and people are more alike than not.
What I mean by that last point is that most people have a common goal: Provide for their families and make a better life for themselves and their loved ones. When people meet a new supervisor or coworker, they want to know if that boss or coworker will help or hurt their progression toward that goal of making life better. It’s a natural reaction to want to label people you meet as “friend” or “foe.”
2. What is one thing from your International Relations & Conflict Resolution degree that you found the most valuable in your career?
"Connect before content” is something a college professor would tell me. His philosophy was connecting with people first will create better and deeper solutions, and I have seen this to be true in both combat and business.
Also, we must seek to understand before trying to be understood. We should strive to do this, especially when the other person or group are not actively engaged in understanding. Working to connect and understand people is an art and science; the more proficient we are, the better we can solve personal or organizational concerns.
3. Can you provide an example of a time when strong communications helped drive success and/or a time when poor communications impacted a project/mission?
There are many situations, perhaps too long for this article, but within my studies, I've identified two fundamental principles that I find particularly valuable. First is the importance of balancing principles and practicality when making decisions or advocating for a particular position. This process involves critical individual thought, working to challenge our dominant logic and biases. This means sometimes the principle is more important than the outcome, and other times, the results (the practicality) are more important than the principle/idea.
Second, while studying international relations and diplomacy and the frameworks employed for international solutions, I noticed the adaptability of the frameworks for international studies can be applied to companies and groups of individual contributors. I’ve developed a successful model based on this insight, backed by academic rigor, and is central to Primer Development Group's Strategic Thinking and Operational Problem Solving workshop.
Interview by Shayla O’Keeffe, current Chair of the PRSA Tampa Bay Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, and Associate Director of Communications at Bristol Myers Squibb.
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