Trump now owns the company his father built when he was 22 and he has a sort of obligation to carry on the legacy.
In the words of Ellen DeGeneres, “When you take risks you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important” (DeGeneres). Donald Trump has filed for bankruptcy 4 times. There are Americans who have criticized Trump for this, looking specifically at the Republican debate last year September, Carly Fiorina who was the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard stated that “Americans are scared that in the future they will have trouble to pay off the interest on their debt since politicians are running up so much debt using other people’s money”, and that is where she brought up Donald Trump and his 4 bankruptcies. She mentioned that he run up mountains of debt and losses using other people’s money. So clearly this specific event in his life could have a negative impact on his campaign and how people view it. Trump responded, however, that he was indeed a good businessman and that he was able to make a sound decision because his decision to file for bankruptcy meant that his business would just be restructured and not completely liquidated. He used his downfalls and all he had learned in business to build one of the most successful companies in the world. It is evident that his failure was just as important as his success, like Ellen DeGeneres aforementioned. The next key event was his decision to run for president.
In order to examine Donald Trump as a leader, we will analyze him and make the connection between his leadership and the lectures we were presented with this semester. This will give us a wholesome criteria and hard outline to analyze the presidential candidate.
The first connection we will make is with Trump and Dr. Maidique’s lecture on public speaking. As a leader effective public speaking skills are crucial. Public speaking provides a means of communicating your message out to your followers and without the adequate techniques like tone, word choice, body language and hand gestures, you run the risk of your audience not fully connecting with your message. Donald Trump displays distinct qualities when it comes to his public speaking ability. He often uses the words “I” or “me” when addressing his audience. He also chooses words that belittle his opponents. In the 2016 republican debate, Trump used the phrase “little Marco” repetitively to describe his opponent. His tone is cold and sometimes harsh, and he has a very stern yet certain tone of voice. Trump uses his hands a lot when he talks and always manages to possesses a strong stance.
One of the most important points mentioned in this specific lecture was that knowing your audience was crucial to being an effective public speaker. Although Donald Trump is not the most effective public speaker, he knows his audience very well and that is how he gains his followers.
Donald Trump is known for telling it how it is, and people often say he says things that other people are thinking but are afraid to say aloud. Trump’s speeches are not tainted to the political sphere, and that is what makes him different from his opposition. There is the possibility that the public is tired of the regular politician coming into office, they want somebody new and fresh.
Trump is able to cleverly manipulate speech to play on the emotions of his audience, and the following example clearly depicts this. In an interview, Jimmy Kimmel asked Trump: “Isn’t it un-American and wrong to discriminate against people based on their religion?” And Trump created a long-winded yet brilliantly thought out answer. A Boston Global study was done and they came to the conclusion that Trump speaks at a 4th grade level in comparison to someone like Hilary Clinton who speaks at an 8th grade level. Trump uses simple language to reach his audience. In that specific response 78% of the words he used were one syllable words. The majority of his sentences ended with buzz words like harm, death, problem and injured. He compromises grammar so that the final thought in most if not all of his sentences are punchy words that leave an impact on the listener. He also used phrases to make a direct instruction to his audience like, “Look at what happened in Paris,” he ensures he is making a direct connection. The simple fact is that Trump is a salesman. He knows exactly what to say and the method in which to say it to attract followers.
In the lecture with Nancy Richmond who is a speaker, professor and consultant, social media was the topic of discussion. Trump has a very strong presence on social media with his seven million followers on Twitter and his 1.3 million followers on Instagram. He uses his platforms to get his message across through hashtags like “#MakeAmericaGreatAgain” that trend worldwide, and non-filtered tweets and Instagram posts that represent exactly how he is feeling and as a result he has built up a large following. Nancy Richmond stated how important one’s self image on social media is because it is how the outside world gets to view them as a person. One point that she mentioned specifically was that leaders are interesting and relevant and Trump has utilized this to his advantage. Whenever a major event takes place in the world, Trump takes to twitter to comment on it and express his views and sometimes solutions. His timely response puts him ahead of his opponents often times, and people see his interest in current news.
Dr. Hitendra Wadhwa gave a lecture on being true to yourself. He mentioned that being true to yourself meant that you place into alignment what you think, say, feel and do. He gave the example of Gandhi. What Gandhi thought, said and did was always aligned. He also gave an example of President Lincoln’s hot letters that he would write but never send. Trump places in alignment what he thinks and what he says. He doesn’t keep anything to himself even if it means he has to be politically incorrect. Trump is however completely on the opposite side of the spectrum when compared with Gandhi because what he thinks, feels and says are not always good or for the good of those around him. Trump, much like Lincoln, has his own form of hot letters which are his tweets.
Wadhwa also spoke on purpose, that one needed to anchor themselves in their purpose or values.
Trump’s purpose at a young age was to work in the real estate industry, from working in his father’s company over the summers, to becoming the owner of the company after college. His high school classmates attested to the fact that trump was always business minded. What was Trump’s reason for running for president, what was his purpose in life? In an interview with the Times last august trump stated: “So it was really important that I do it, for myself” (Trump). As we all know his campaign Make America Great Again is also his reason to run for president-to bring back the American dream. It was definitely his purpose to be in real estate but is it his purpose to be the president of the United States of America? Only time will tell. But Dr. Wadhwa says that your purpose could be to find your purpose.
When looking at the six foci of executive leadership attention, Trump identifies mainly with the Opportunist and Builder. Early in Trump’s life when he began working in is father’s company, he had big dreams of one day being the owner of a large corporation and he has done just that. Donald Trump is a billionaire with a large empire. Builders serve their institution, so as a businessman the success of his company is a top priority. Looking specifically at his traits as a leader throughout this presidential campaign, Trump can be seen as an opportunist. The opportunist serves only himself. They focus on maximizing benefits for themselves, sometimes at the expense of family, frien
ds, the institution or society. They don’t intentionally hurt others but their main focus is what’s in it for themselves. Trump uses a lot of “I” and “me” when addressing his audiences. He talks about himself a lot, over exaggerates his accomplishments and what he has done and seems to have a lot invested to make the campaign work – for him. Despite being a Builder in the past, the majority of his traits now as a presidential candidate lean towards opportunist.