Category Donald Trump
Michael Cohen’s Awkward Turnaround: Can Bad Leaders Change Their Ways?
Rep. Paul Gosar (R Arizona) accused Michael Cohen of selfishness and untrustworthiness, noting that he doesn’t deserve to be believed in his current testimony because, after all, “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire,” (quoting the sign behind his chair). Granted, this childish poke at Cohen is more a silly twitter meme to entertain people uninterested in […]
Trump’s spinning fact-free carnival ride: dizzying transcript of an ungrounded leader
It’s early on a cloudy morning, and I spent my breakfast reading the transcript of President Trump’s April 5 interview with the New York Times. The thunder’s rumbling and the rain is starting, big heavy drops that promise to get heavier. It’s hard to get excited about a day like this, like it’s hard to […]
Presidential gibberish: Without clarity, there can be no real leadership
I believe all of us, regardless of our party affiliation, should be paying attention to these specifics, including the way he speaks, and doing our best to translate. For those of us with the inclination, comparing his assertions to facts can be illuminating. But perhaps more importantly, looking at his scattered speech and more scattered thoughts can give us insight into the scattered effects of his first days in office, and why his approval rating continues to dip (37% approve in the March 20th Gallup Poll).
Is Donald Trump a Charismatic Leader? Focusing on himself, & bypassing facts with emotional appeals are the key, says The Atlantic.
Leadership thinkers have been puzzling over how to describe President Trump’s style. Sara E. Gorman, a public-health expert, and her father, Jack M. Gorman, a psychiatrist and CEO of Franklin Behavioral Health Consultants, explore his charismatic leadership style in this interview in the Atlantic in October, 2016, just before the election. “Persuaders might want to reduce […]
Forbes Reports: Professional Social Media Presence Essential for Good 21st Century Leadership
The United States has a president who tweets, all the time, in the way that any celebrity might tweet. His latest, checked while I am writing this blog, advertised his interview on Fox News before the Super Bowl (“Enjoy!”), and commented on the judge who have put a hold on the Muslim ban so it […]
Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK): A Research Bridge to Understand Climate Change
Climate change: it’s real, scientifically documented, linked to human use of the planet, and a danger to survival for all of us. That it’s been declared “controversial” according to many corporate, political, and religious leaders is even more dangerous. But the Union of Concerned Scientists is committed to leading the preservation and sharing of knowledge […]
The Shame Machine: How Twitter muddies leadership effectiveness and engages followers in a shaming social media culture
Twitter has become a political force, used and misused to judge, shame and spread confusion. Jon Ronson’s Ted Talk on public shaming shows how Twitter has become a bandwagon for shaming and unquestioning mis/interpretation and instant comments. Ronson tracks a bad twitter joke gone viral as it destroyed one woman’s life. “Like toddlers crawling towards […]
Presidential Eloquence: Accurate, Eloquent Language as Inspiration for Loyalty
Obama’s farewell speech, eloquent and passionately delivered, spoke to a divided nation in need of a bridge between two very different presidents. He called on the foundations of our democracy, and the core values of citizenship in the US, to remind us that we are, at our heart, a nation dedicated to service. He said: […]
The Psychology that Supports a Leader Like Donald Trump
Trump celebrants keep saying, “Get over it,” as if followers should be passive, either cheerleaders or out of the way. But there’s a difference between expressing disappointment or joy, and asking good questions. And it’s the American way to expect leaders and followers on both sides of the aisle to be interested in questions about patterns of […]
The Unfiltered Leader Theory: Will Trump’s Leadership Heal or Harm Us?
Gautam Mukunda’s article in the Harvard Business Review explores his “unfiltered leader” theory, now about to be tested with a Trump presidency. It’s well worth reading. He writes: “Leaders like Trump — outsiders who are not supported by the established elites — generally have high variance in their performance. They do things that no one else would […]
