United States citizens have elected presidents from a disparate pool of professional backgrounds including military, business, and even acting; but most of them chose to forge their lifetime career path in politics. Few are considered exceptional if we’re judging them on achieving clearly-stated campaign promises, being re-elected, and delivering “peace and prosperity”. High performing leaders don’t grow on trees.
Everyone has gaps in their professional background when lined up against the multi-faceted and complex role as “leader of the free world”. Yet, if a person is willing to dig beneath the surface it’s not unreasonable to opine that few of the men elected were more prepared for the job than Donald J. Trump. Over the last ten years he’s deepened the trust level Americans place in him while broadening his base. He received more votes, as well as a higher percentage of the total count, each time he’s been a presidential candidate. Neither Barack Obama nor Franklin Roosevelt earned that validation.
After achieving victory while upsetting Hillary Clinton and embarrassing most of the pundits on his first attempt, Trump became the oldest candidate ever elected to the presidency. Joe Biden broke that record in 2020, which in turn was exceeded by Trump in his second victory. The striking difference is that Biden revealed his aging and doddering condition. 47 maintains the schedule, demonstrates mental acuity, exhibits work habits, and achieves results that a healthy forty-year-old should admire. A review of Trump’s pre-presidential history might be the ticket to understanding how his personal makeup, intellectual foundation, and life experience contributed to his political biography; one that expands every day he’s in office.
Boy Trump was influenced by his ambitious and hard-working father, who excelled in the real estate business in the cutthroat battleground bordering Manhattan. Young Mr. Trump worked side-by-side with a man he described as “unpretentious” and communicated a mantra of “…love what you’re doing, because that’s the only way you’ll ever be good at it”. We’re told that Public Figure Trump never smoked, ingested harmful drugs, or consumed alcohol. He’s an avid golfer at 79 and, only God knows why, he’s able to perform presidential leadership responsibilities at a peak level while requiring less than six hours sleep per night. He’s proven he’s mentally sharp, physically spry, and emotionally stable. That’s why he’s loved by his fans, admired by citizens who believe in American exceptionalism, and is respected by a growing list of government leaders across the world. No proud American needs or wants to experience another president who can’t meet those standards. The job’s too important and the stakes are too high.
The President of The United States shoulders numerous heavy responsibilities. However, in the broadest sense, three of the overarching functions are to lead a highly effective staff, work within budgetary constraints, and communicate clearly to citizens, allies, and foes. In the business world the jargon is specified as management, finance, and marketing. Trump had been asking hard questions and making daily decisions of consequence within those arenas for decades. It’s not a stretch to suggest that his life-long executive experiences, application of skills, and the requirement to choose among competing alternatives prepared him to feel much more comfortable and less tentative in the job than his predecessors, whose work career was likely to be narrower in scope. During his time in office, it was known that President Harry Truman displayed a small wooden message on his desk; “The buck stops here”. Perhaps this reality is intimidating to most politicians who reach the apex of presidential power. I suspect Trump views it as a reinforcing message, one learned many decades prior to inhabiting the Oval Office.
Politicians stand at the front of the room and, generally, provide pat answers for complex situations. The most skillful ones can get by with “winging it”. The goal is to influence the audience asking the questions, to be mollified by statements that calm. Business professionals are required to perform within an environment of complexity and combativeness while possessing incomplete information and confronting an unknown future. The public they need to please is composed of hesitant prospects, self-interested co-workers, demanding customers, and measurement standards of investors who are unimpressed by glib responses. You must earn the trust of skeptics and deliver bottom line profits. If you don’t, you may not get the next big job.
The predecessors of Donald Trump were, mostly, skilled politicians. When elected to an executive position they discover they must learn the fundamentals of industry, economics, monetary policy and sales. Most are not inclined to expend the effort and often become dependent upon “experts” trying to make an impression with the boss. Before being elected president, Trump already knew how to function effectively as the top dog. Comprehending and mastering the battlefield realities of politics was relatively simple for him. Perhaps that’s why his opposition is having such a difficult time challenging him in the areas of creating meaningful ideas, influencing citizens, analyzing problems, and executing solutions to priorities Americans want fixed.
Stew Bolno is a chronological peer of Donald Trump. He’s been a student, college professor, and consultant on leadership during his 50-year career. He’s followed politics longer than that time. His recent book is “Leadership Lessons And You: From A to Z – featuring Donald Trump” and he’s written scores of essays about him since he descended the Trump Tower staircase. You can contact him directly at his e-mail address or purchase a paperback version of his book at Amazon.