Today Donald Trump took the oath of office to become President of the United States.
Wow!
It still hasn’t quite sunk in.
And, I called the possibility a likelihood early on.
Why?
Well, pretty simply, the guy is a master marketer. Do I believe that he believes half the things he promises, no, but that isn’t the point right now. We will have plenty of time to see if he can deliver results.
If any of his other business “successes” are any indication, we will know pretty quickly that he is all talk.
But again, I am getting sidetracked because I don’t typically talk politics here.
But I have been thinking politics a lot lately because in a lot of ways, politics can use some of our best business skills…but also because we can see pretty clearly some of the ways that things go wrong, right, or somewhere in the middle.
The reason that Donald Trump being president is showing up here is simple and comes down to maybe the two biggest things we have to think about and deal with in business and in life:
Vision and leadership
You see, Donald Trump was elected and rode a wave of anger, disgust, frustration, and general discontent to the White House.
The vision that he offered up throughout his campaign and today during his inaugural address was one of divisiveness, hate, anger, and fear.
Our best leaders never turn to those emotions, even when times are tough. Not because they don’t feel those emotions, but because those are the kinds of emotions that deliver people to a point where they can’t take action.
Fear is a great motivator if you want to discourage someone from doing something. That’s why so many political ads are negative.
Anger is a great thing in the short term, but when it turns out to be a constant companion, it is a terrible genie to have unleashed.
Hate, while having a long history in American society, isn’t something we should be resting our hats on. The tide of history has always pointed towards growth, understanding, and change…even though this often happens pretty slowly.
Division is a fantastic tool when you are looking to gain control. Divide and conquer has been an excellent military strategy throughout time. But division isn’t what has made America great. And it isn’t what is going to move America forward, or the world for that matter.
When you combine all of those elements, it becomes very tough to do the second part of the challenge in most organizations…at least for long.
That means to be a leader.
Leadership is about more than giving orders.
True leaders inspire us.
And, I would be remiss if I didn’t say that Donald Trump has inspired in some way…I’m not sure that we can recount all of them now or why accurately, but inspire he has.
But the question becomes, is it the kind of grand inspiration that will lift him to a long term successful presidency or will it be the kind of inspiration that quickly turns to apathy or disgruntlement or frustration or, even, the feelings of anger, disgust, and division that swept him into office?
I’m not sure I have an answer for that.
But what I do know is that leadership is about more than just giving orders.
More than just empty slogans and marketing campaigns.
Its a lot more than that.
It is the things that move organizations and countries through great challenges.
Leadership looks like Ronald Reagan’s sunny optimism.
Or, Barack Obama’s call for hope.
Leadership looks like the actions of a band like Pearl Jam starting out their career by setting up a foundation to give money to worth causes that has continued to give money throughout their career.
It looks like the kind of actions that someone like John Kasich takes when he says that he’s a Christian before he is a Republican and if his citizens need health care and he can get it for them, he will.
You see, real leadership is about doing more because you have people helping you. Not being the answer to everyone’s problems and challenges because no one can do all of that.
Leadership is about creating opportunities for people to be their best selves.
On inauguration day, I’m optimistic…as I always am that America’s vision will always be growth oriented and that its leadership will be about lifting people up.
And, if Donald Trump isn’t the man for the job, the great thing about America is, we all have a voice to fight back with.