Amidst a culture of tweeting and turmoil, President Trump’s efforts to connect with the public as well as effectively lead our government seem to be failing. Drawing from a set of attributes consistent with stardom and business success, Trump deems to apply his general and practical knowledge, motivation and personality to his leadership role of President of the United States. Interestingly, these traits under the premise of Leader of the Free World and the microscope of the press, do not translate as they did on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. In the boardroom, Trump’s limited airtime reflected a charismatic, knowledgeable, empathetic, yet deliberating leader. He exuded wisdom acquired from past experience and showed concern for his celebrity subordinates prior to his coined exclamation, “you’re fired”. His grasp on social awareness and empathy seemed genuine, albeit protected by the fantastic world behind the screen. Soon though, we would realize, as an entire nation, that his social facility was lacking…severely.
Today, Trump applies the same leadership ideals to the White House, relying on his ability to inspire and motivate with his booming “say anything” persona. However, the stakes have been raised to a nuclear level and only about half of the effective leadership attributes have come to dine at the First Table.
Northouse refers to the three-component, Mumford, Zacarro, Harding, et al., Skills Model when discussing the framework of capabilities associated with leadership. Instead of emphasizing what a leader does, it’s focus remains on what knowledge and skill a leader possesses in order to achieve success (Northouse, 2016). The President’s attributes, or lack thereof, pertaining to knowledge and experience within the political realm prevent him from attaining the competencies necessary to perform effectively under an enormous amount of pressure associated with his new role. According to the skills model, general cognitive ability, practical cognitive ability, motivation and personality are what lend to expanding knowledge, problem-solving and social judgement skills and these competencies provide the basis for leadership success (Northouse, 2016). If you ask Trump, however, he would likely attest to his “high approval rating” as a tribute to what Northouse calls the Great Man Theory. In this case, Trump himself being the great man; born with innate leadership qualities which inherently make him successful. A theory that has been outdated by the more applicable skills, style and situational methods.
It’s no secret that Trump is struggling with social judgement either. Constantly under scrutiny for inappropriate tweets, demoralizing women, degrading minorities, and the astounding rate at which he is losing Cabinet members, one would think that he would learn from his mistakes. He seemingly lacks the “capacity for social perspective, and behavioral flexibility” (Northouse, 2016). Again, proof for his lack of ability to apply knowledge in problem-solving and social recourse. It’s as though he has no idea that his behavior is not only ineffective, but downright offensive. How can one be expected to gather, analyze, formulate new understanding and apply prototypes to problems when they don’t even know what the problem is (Northouse, 2016).
On the contrary, besides the immense amount of media attention that the Leader of the Free World general warrants, Trump still holds a firm leadership grasp on the celebrity circuit. A nod to Northouse’s ideas behind the situational approach and how leadership style in some situations are not appropriate in others. Another discussion, for another day.
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications Inc.