Balancing Confidence with Tact: Donald Trump and Effective Leadership
Donald Trump is an icon, for better or worse. He’s one of the most powerful and influential business leaders in the world. He is also an enigma- a man of such cartoony aplomb that his hair has become a side joke for comedians across the world and his presidential campaign for 2016 has been deemed junk. Yet, somehow, he has captivated a massive audience. He says things that people connect with and is a serious contender for the next President of the United States. What can be deemed from Donald Trump that can create a more powerful and influential leader in the industry? Despite all his faults, Trump has enough in his character to provide a template for a powerful leader. This is not to say that Trump is flawless. It is up to the next executive leaders to take the principles from executive training, from leaders they know personally, and from characters in the public to create a whirlwind of leadership that is amazing and productive.
The Confidence of a King
What Donald Trump lacks in tact he makes up for in confidence. Donald Trump has a tendency to double down all thoughts that may be controversial. For example, he made the comment to Fox news anchor Megyn Kelly days after the first Republican debates. One question about it, he did not back down. He said it was a misunderstanding, but the point stands. It does not matter what the specifics of the comment were. The issue that matters is that Donald Trump owned his comments. There’s always a line followed with an effective leadership coach. Great leaders know when to admit they’ve made a mistake. But the confidence in what they say is so astounding that they often do not have to back down. Their confidence is polarizing. They will back down when they are wrong. They will not back down if a comment is deemed controversial, especially if they still mean it.
Knowing Thyself
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Donald Trump also said in his Republican debate speech, “what I say is what I say.” It is a deceptively simple comment. In essence, he knows himself so well that he believes in and trust in what he says. Donald Trump may arguably take this too far. But the core of who he is is established and known. He is not hiding behind a veil or backing down on statements that he knows he means.
The effective leadership skills delivers these ideas, among many others, that help pinpoint powerful leadership. A leader must have tact, and he or she must be respectful. Any effective leadership that forgets this will lose the audience, and turn a strength into a folly.
