Leadership in Business: Lessons from Donald Trump - Essay Example

Goodlow Joshua Goodlow www.academia-research.com Assignment order # 265133 6 January 2009 Leadership in Business: Lessons from Donald J. Trump His image is known all over the country and all over the world. His nationally known and internationally respected. His wealth rivals that of Egyptian kings and English lords. He is the essence of success. He is the epitome of the American dream and the fantasy come true of fantastic wealth. His name is Donald J. Trump. Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946 in Queens New York. Donald trump was the fourth of five children to Mister Fredrick C. and Misses Mary McLeod Trump. According to his parents, young Donald was a highly energetic and assertive child. The couple decided to send him to the New York Military Academy at the age of thirteen. The plan was to channel the teenage boy's unlimited energy into an avenue to achieve positive results. Before we get started with describing Donald Trump's personality, lets explore a major facet when identifying the various personalities of individuals. I believe that Donald's birthday has a lot to due with the shape and formation of his personality. There is an evidence of truth in the 12 astrological signs when it comes to the personalities and auras of people. Mr. Trump's birthday is June 14, 1964. According to the astrological calendar this means that he is born under the sign of Gemini. Now lets go into detail as to exactly what traits to people under this sign hold. According to www.psychicguild.com/horoscopes, people who are born under this sign have a real inclination to always be on the move. Perhaps it was due to the fact that in Greek Goodlow 2 Mythology, the planet Mercury rules Gemini. As you may know, Mercury, the messenger of the gods and always moved swiftly to and fro throughout the heavens and on earth delivering messages. It is this fact, along with this sign's desire to explore new things that keep people like this always on the move looking for new and interesting things. Also according to Athena Starwoman, the writer describing signs' traits and characteristics, people born under this sign also have, "The secret desire to be ahead." For now, lets take a look at the positive effects that sending him to the military academy had on developing his personality in the most influential years of his life. According to www.biography.com "Trump did well at the academy, both socially and academically, rising to be a star athlete and student leader by the time he graduated in 1964." Donald later went on to enter Fordham University. Eventually he finished his bachelor's degree in economics at the Wharton School of Finance, located in the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. His mentors, which were mentioned in the book entitled The Art of the Deal (Theodore Dobias and Major General John Brugmann) were obviously strong influences in the development of his personality and drive to win. It was his mother, in my opinion who gave the one single piece of advice, which was forever etched on the tablet of his heart. Written on an unnumbered page in the beginning of his book entitled How to Get Rich: Big deals from the star of The Apprentice, are the words of his dear mother. He terms it, 'The mother of All Advice.' These words are, "Trust in God, and be true to yourself." Underneath the quote, Donald reflects on his thoughts about the quote. In so many words he said that when he looked back on these words, it was some great advice, possibly some of the best advice in his life. He said at first, he really didn't get it but stuck to it because it sounded good. He concludes that, "It is good advice no matter what your business or lifestyle." Goodlow 3 These eight words are so powerful. One of the traits of successful people is that they always have a belief in a higher power that is at work in the universe operating through them. Take a look at people throughout various eras of history, from the most evil of men to the most benevolent of souls. Men as dark and sinister as Adolf Hitler and Ayatollah Khomeini, to good men in history such as Mohandas Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have all had one concept in common, a belief in a higher power, be it God or Satan, the Lord Almighty or Lucifer. Just retrace the lives of these men, and you will see that the observation is impeccable. These men believed that they were simply the vessels through which the greatness, or evilness flows. It is no wonder why people do not become successful or rise to great heights. They only operate through their limited and often distorted point of views. Focusing on money all of the time, they never seemed to come to or amass any amount of fortune. They never take the time to learn what their passions are in life are. Furthermore, they never take the time to tap into powers of the beyond that can propel them to unprecedented heights that they never knew possible. Once upon a time, a professor told me to never rely on the knowledge that can be reached at the tip of your nose. Due to their limited self-image, and unutilized minds, average people are forever stuck in one place throughout their lives, and never grow. Instead of taking control of their lives and desiring to be set apart from the crowd to walk into success, they would rather be like everyone else. They never learn to think big and kick ass. Donald Trump on the other hand thinks big and kicks ass. He even has a book entitled Think Big and Kick Ass: In business and life. Mr. Jack Canfield himself, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series endorses this book on the cover stating that it's Trump's version of The Secret. So do you really have to be separate from the crowd to become successful Obviously my first answer would be yes. There is no way that you can call yourself becoming successful Goodlow 4 and at the same time be like everyone else. However, don't take my word for it. Read what one of the most successful individuals that the world has ever known has to say about separation and success. To be successful you have to separate yourself from 98 percent of the rest of the world. Sure, you can get into that special 2 percent at the top, and it is not just by being smart, working hard, and investing wisely. There is a formula, a recipe for success that the top 2 percent live by and that you too can follow to be successful. ("Think Big Kick Ass" Trump 15) There is an old saying that if you want to become successful, find a successful person, and do exactly what this successful person does. Then you will become successful. An uncle of mine who has his own business once told me something that I didn't understand at first when I heard it. He told me that everyone really has the power to become a millionaire by the time that they are six or seven years old. I was dumbfounded when I heard this statement. 'How could someone proclaim such a preposterous accusation' I thought to myself. Furthermore, I questioned within my mind of what exactly this statement really meant, and why did my uncle tell me this that cloudy day in his financial services office. He explained it to me in such simple terms that there is not mistake of its interpretation when communicated to any individual in verbal or written form. To shorten the story, my uncle used an analogy of a boy playing little league baseball. In order for the child to become a better player he has a coach, obviously enough. However, this coach's job is to inspire that player to do one thing, practice. It is through practice that this child becomes a better ball player. Over and over again, the child goes to baseball practice so that in the game he or she can play their very best. Ever heard of the term practice makes perfect Of course you have. However, there is something that you may have not thought of. There is Goodlow 5 something else that the child is learning, duplication. It is duplication that teaches people how to be wealthy. Every athlete who wants to get better and stay on the cutting edge, if not ahead of the competition practices their skills and hones their craft. They do this because they love what they do. It doesn't matter that they cash their first check / sign on bonus for $750,000. They go to practice to stay sharp and because they love what they do. The money that they make is simply a byproduct of the love of the game, or in Donald Trump's instance, the love of doing what he does best. That is making deals in real estate. Ever wonder why people are not happy in their lives It is because they go to a job that they hate and despise every single day. How is a person going to become wealthy and successful if they continue to do something that they do not absolutely love and have the passion to do If you asked me, that makes no sense and is absolutely insane to believe that by doing so, one will become wealthy. In his book The Art of the Deal, Donald Trump says in the first paragraph that he loves to do what he does. "I don't do it for the money. I've got enough, much more than I'll never need. I do it to do it." ("Art of the Deal" Trump1) Furthermore, he states "That's how I get my kicks." ("Art of the Deal" Trump 1) Looking at himself as successful and making deals is just a part of his life just as doing the deals themselves. It's all about loving what you're doing, and this is what separates the successful people from the unsuccessful. There should be a brand or image that you market when getting your product, and no one markets his name better in real estate than Trump. In most cases, a great name brand is valued more than money. Without a strong name brand, what are the customers going to buy Without a product to sell, what are you going to sell Donald Trump has an interesting approach when it comes to handling conflicts. However, before I get into his strategies of dealing with conflicts I would like to point out which I believe Goodlow 6 is a crucial factor in his success in business. Later in the essay we will analyze this concept latter in another application. That is being a general. Perhaps this drive or philosophy comes from his years at the military academy. "More and more, I see that running a business is like being a general." ("How to Get Rich" Trump 3) In Think Big and Kick Ass Donald has his own personal philosophy when it comes to dealing with conflict. Oddly enough he entitles the chapter Revenge. There is an old saying that goes along the line of revenge is a dish that is best served cold. In the case of highly heated media controversy, the cold, sweet taste of revenge is sure to melt any deserving opponent down in an instant like an ice cream cone left outside on a hot summer's day. It is at this juncture that I would like to interject a personal observation relevant to both organizational and conflict resolution styles. The business world is not fun and games all of the time. Sometimes there are going to be people who are just plain evil and want to see bodily harm come to you or who just want to see you do bad. This is just the world we live in. Every person is not a good person and there is no such thing as a world without chaos. There will always be battles going on in every facet of life and the business world is without exception. Donald tells us that you have to be the commanding general of your corporation. Thus being the case, a commanding officer knows that there are times of peace, and times of war. Donald Trump is all about all out war when it comes to dealing with conflict. However, he is never the first one to attack anybody. Better judgment would say that a man of his stature and his business has come upon many confrontations. Instead of turning the other cheek as many of us are taught in school or our religious institutions by our parents and teachers, Trump is about getting even. Let's take a look at a confrontation with one of television's high profile individuals. The conflict with Martha Steward of how friends can become enemies and how Donald practices what he preaches by getting even with people who do him wrong. When Martha Goodlow 7 Steward got out of prison, Trump helped her out by promoting her television show The Apprentice: Martha Steward. Keep in mind that this show was at the same time that Trump's show as on NBC, which had the same title. He thought that having two shows with the same name would cause confusion, but nevertheless promoted his friend's idea. Eventually the show failed, and when it began to come crashing down, Martha told people that her 'Apprentice' was supposed to be the only show of her kind on the air. Essentially, she blamed her show's failure on the fact that it was on at the same time of Donald's show. To make it plain and simple, she blamed him for her failure, even though he did nothing but talk about how wonderful of a woman she was, promoting her every chance that he had. When people thought that he would just roll over and play dead, he did the opposite. He attacked! He wrote her a letter, which expressed in so many words that her show was utterly horrible. It lacked any fortitude, temperate and quality to receive any positive ratings thereof. He even put the icing on the cake to go on to say, "I knew it would fail as soon as I first saw it-and your low ratings bore me out." ("Think Big Kick Ass" Trump 183) In another incident involving Rosie O'Donnell, the battle was even more brutal. Once upon a time, Rosie O'Donnell went on to a television show called The View and talked about how Donald gave a participator on his show The Apprentice a second chance. Apparently, Rosie didn't approve of his choice to give the lady a second chance. She began to lash out against him, insulting him in many ways. It was time to get even. On television, Donald totally thrashed O'Donnell, saying that she was fat, disgusting, a slob, a bully, ugly, etc. He also talked about how her show failed, how her magazine was a complete fiasco, and how Barbara Walters made a grave mistake by hiring her for the television show The View, stating the show will fail. In the end of Donald's counterattacks, Rosie O'Donnell was cut to a sunder. Goodlow 8 A few days later after the firestorm of well-placed attacks by Donald Trump, Rosie just so happened to be interviewed on the red carpet and the reporter asked her if she had any comments about his remarks on her horrible sense of self-esteem. Earlier he had made a comment about Rosie's public declaration of her depression problem, telling the media that he could cure her depression simply by stopping looking in the mirror. Talk about a low blow! Rosie O'Donnell said that she had no comments, about Donald's Trump's advice to cure her depression. In Rosie's own words, "I have no comment. I don't want to talk about him." ("Think Big Kick Ass" Trump 190) Talk about shutting someone up, Trump has done it best. Take two lessons from his style of conflict resolution. First, never attack anybody's character or name because slander will get you nowhere. Second, when attack back, go for the kill. Take no prisoners. Observe these two situations in Donald Trump's life. Never did he attack any of these people, they initiated the hostility first. Affirmatively, he attacked back which brings me to the second lesson, which can be learned from these two confrontations. When you attack go for the jugular, or as the author of The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene would say, crush your enemy totally. In other words, leave no room for recovery when dealing with your enemies, as they will leave you no room to recover when they attack you. Crush them totally. There is one factor of Donald's life he stands fast on in negotiations when dealing with a spouse. Two words are strong in his vocabulary when it comes to negotiation. These combination of these two words equal one term, prenuptial agreement. As many people may know, Donald Trump has two ex-wives, who although fought and attacked me viciously during the divorce, signed a prenuptial agreement. According to www.dictonary.com, the term is defined as "a written contract between two people who are about to marry, setting out terms Goodlow 9 concerning division of assets, earnings, and property if the marriage is later dissolved." To put it in layman's terms, it's a document that says who will get what after a marriage, if the couple happens to get divorced. According to Donald, he has seen many people get destroyed physically, mentally, and financially enduring a divorce. The case is worst when the couples didn't get a prenuptial agreement. Love is supposed to be beautiful and pure, but things get real nasty and dirty when money is involved between former lovers now turned enemies. His negotiation style is nothing short of colossal. Just take a look at the results. Trump tells us to, "Speak like a big thinker. Make sure you know what to say. Then speak loudly and clearly with the attitude that you have something important to say." (Trump 282) Take a look at this. People are really like animals. In fact we are, and the one thing that intelligent animals have in common is that they can sense fear. Humans are not an exception to the rule. Your fear and display of lack of confidence when speaking makes people feel awkward and uneasy around you. There is no way that people will believe in you or what you are doing if you do not believe in yourself. The one way that you can make people believe in you is to communicate excitement and enthusiasm about what you are doing. I can almost guarantee that Donald Trump has never talked about a new deal without excitement and enthusiasm in his voice. Just take a look at the way his ultra charged personality and aura burns brightly to you through the television anytime during a commercial or interview, and you will se that is passion is undeniable. According to Donald, "To be successful you have to extract top dollar for what you do." (Trump 288) In other words, you have to present yourself in a manner that will communicate to your potential customer or client that they are getting the best possibly quality of your product or service, than if they went to another source. When negotiating more money, you have to present yourself in a manner that is worthy of receiving it. Goodlow 10 More often than not, people associate having money equals power. This is somewhat true. However, because of your financial status, people who are not so wealthy, and even people who are on your level economically might view you as a very shallow, one-dimensional person. Although money does equal power, "Power is merely the ability to convince people to accept your ideas." ("How to Get Rich" Trump 115) Trump is not all about storming in, stomping his feet, kicking and screaming about what he wants, how he wants this or that and when he expects to get it done. There has to be some ease on the people that you are trying to convince. It also helps to understand what the other person wants. Perhaps one of the greatest men in history to understanding the power of understanding what the other person wants in negotiation is Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends & Influence People. When negotiating deals and terms with people, the worst thing to do is build walls of resistance. Mr. Carnegie gives the following advice "Give your opponents a chance to talk. Let them finish. Try to build bridges of understanding. Don't build higher barriers of misunderstanding." (Carnegie 121). Arguing never works, and I am sure without a doubt that Donald Trump didn't make his way to the top by always arguing, stomping his feet like a stubborn child in an immature perverse and bizarre effort to get his way. That would simply be illogical and incredibly stupid, not to mention highly ineffective to display such obnoxious behavior. Neither such behavior won't motivate your people do their best. Forgiving people is a sure fire way of motivating your people. It shows people that you understand that they are human and that your have a heart and a sense of compassion. "If you want extraordinary results, you have to give people enough space to maneuver." ("Think Big Kick Ass" Trump 164) Another way of motivating people is expecting the best form them. Furthermore, Trump motivates his people by looking at more of what they can become, and then empowers them to realize their full potential. In the book How to Get Rich, Trump has a section in the book that is entitled 'Focus Goodlow 11 on the Talent Instead of the Title'. In this chapter, Trump explains how many people within the Trump Organization have transcended their original positions. Trump is the type of person that can focus on what people can become, and mentors them to bring out the very best within them. In essence he insist that a good leader should, "Never let someone's job title be the sole indication of their worth." ("How to Get Rich, Trump 25) In an article entitled Madoff Teaches Lessons in Due Diligence from trumpuiversity.com, Trump gives us on insight on his thoughts of leadership. "You can't have your well being determined by one person." (www.trumpuniversity.com) In other words take control of your life. The military academy taught him work ethics and most of all discipline. The thing about leadership is that you are in charge of the whole team and not just you. There is no time to ever loose focus and according to Donald, "Worry, fear, and indecision destroy focus." ("Think Big Kick Ass" Trump 238) The man who cannot control himself will never be able to control others, plain and simple. Finally when it comes to leadership, confidence is king. Be a general he says. Trump reminds us that despite our big house, foreign cars and so called perfect lives in suburbia, our primal instincts are still there. To be a leader in Trump's world you have to have that high-status, kick ass type of attitude. He reminds us that in the primitive times of our development as humans, women always wanted to be with the strongest males for protection. He also pointed out that the other males looked up and respected the male who displayed such behavior. "A good negotiator must be flexible to be successful." ("How to Get rich" Trump 122) Great advice indeed from a man who has made billions of dollars in real estate where effective communication is the key to becoming successful. Beating around the bush is never a good idea when communicating with anyone. Stephen R. Covey, the author of The Seven Habits of Successful People gives us an interesting insight when it comes to communicating with people. Goodlow 12 In his book, he talks about a principle called the P/PC balance. The 'P' stands for production / desired results and 'PC' stands for production capability. When engaging in communication with employees and customers in your business, it is important to maintain the balance between these two concepts. To maintain effective production, a leader of a business must always ensure that the product he or she puts out is second to none on the market. A reputation is worth guarding at all cost. Many times, people pay for a particular product because of the name of the brand and not the actual product itself. Furthermore, to maintain the proper health of the production capability, "always treat your employees exactly as you want to treat your best customers." (Covey 58) Finally, when it comes to communication, intelligence and attitude is the best combination for achieving respect. You can't be a pushover by any means necessary. "You have to make sure that people you deal with know that you know what is happening, because, otherwise, they are really going to take advantage of you." ("Think Big Kick Ass" Trump 150) In this world you have to talk the talk and definitely walk the walk. Trump is so successful at real estate because he is an expert in what he does. He knows everything that there is to know about real estate and no one is going to ever pull the wool over his eyes. He learned how to communicate in negotiations and just how valuable knowledge is from working with his father during his vacation breaks from the military academy. "I learned from my father how to negotiate. My father would negotiate just as hard for mops and brooms as he would in the construction if a building." ("Think Big Kick Ass" Trump 151) Nothing in business can be taken lightly. In negotiation, nothing can be taken lightly. Finally in the world of communication, actions speak louder than words. Non-verbal clues are just as powerful as spoken words. Authors Mathew McKay, Martha Davis, and Patrick Fanning of the book How To Communicate: The ultimate guide to improving your personal and Goodlow 13 professional relationships, point out some interesting facts about communication. They give some interesting numbers about the subject of communication when it comes to how it is displayed. "the total impact of a message breaks down like this: 7 percent verbal (words) 38 percent vocal (volume, pitch, rhythm, etc.) 55 percent body movements (mostly facial expressions)" (McKay, Davis, and Fanning 53) Furthermore, you have to look like a million bucks to attract a million bucks. Looking the part is essential in any occupation. Remember, it is fifty five percent of the battle. If a person is required to wear a uniform at their place of employment, then it is in that best person's interest to show up to work in proper uniform, if they want to keep their job. The same goes for entrepreneurs such as Donald Trump. When he ventured out on his own to start the Trump Organization, people didn't know that its headquarters were out of his studio apartment in Manhattan. Nor did they know that he didn't have any employees or people working for him. Nevertheless, he believed in himself and it was essential to communicate that to the up most degree. He never went into a client's office to do business without a suit and tie on. Otherwise, he would have been communicating the wrong message. Image will make or break a person. People have to see you the way that you see yourself. There was a lot to learn from analyzing the business and personality of such a successful individual as Donald Trump. In taking a closer look inside the life of this business tycoon, there are a lot of principles that can be applied to any person's business or professional life. If you want to be successful, find a successful person and do exactly what he or she does. There is no better person to follow. This concludes the business and organizational analysis of Donald John Trump. Goodlow 14 Works Cited Carnegie, Dale. How to Win Friends & Influence People. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1964 Covey, Stephen. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989 "Donald John Trump." Search Bio Results. A&E Television Networks. 2009 http://www.biography.com/search/article.doid=9511238&page=1 Greene, Robert. The 48 Laws of Power. New York: Penguin Books, 2000 McKay, Matthew, and Martha Davis, Patrick Fanning. How to Communicate: The Ultimate Guide to Improving Your Personal and Professional Relationships. 2nd ed. New York: New Harbinger Publications, 1995 Starwoman, Athena. "Signs of the Zodiac." Universal Psychic Guild 1 January. 2009. Trump, Donald, and Bill Zanker. Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life. New York: HarperCollins, 2007 Trump, Donald, and Meredith Mclver. How to Get Rich: Big deals from the star of The Apprentice. New York: Random House, 2004. Trump, Donald, and Tony Schwartz. The Art of The Deal. New York: Random House, 1989. Trump, Donald. "Madoff Teaches Lessons in due Diligence." Trump University 2 January 2009. 19 December 2008 Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition. 2008 Read More