Starting a new job is always a challenge. Let’s think about the transition from leading a large, privately held company to serving as the President of the United States. Mr. Trump defined a specific vision during the campaign. President Trump now has to implement that vision in a governmental context and operating environment whose players, processes, and influencers are largely unfamiliar to him.

A significant evolution of his leadership viewpoint could help him a great deal.

Mr. Trump’s privately held corporation most closely approximates a monarchal form of government. In his private company, he had the final say on any/all decisions and probably didn’t receive a great deal of negative feedback except from his very closest advisors. Much of his policy work was internal to the company and  largely opaque to the general public and media.

In contrast, the government structure of the United States was purposefully designed to be “confrontational”, with shared responsibilities and built-in checks and balances among the three branches. Arguments and disagreements over policy and legislation are expected, encouraged, and deemed important.

The Founding Fathers also believed in the importance of a totally free press/media to report, as they see fit, any/all government activity. The first amendment was added to the constitution specifically to protect and ensure that the public debate continues. That thinking hasn’t changed for many people, including senior government leadership. "If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free -- and many times adversarial — press," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaking on NBC's Meet The Press.  

Imagine Mr. Trump’s exasperation carrying-over his leadership style, successful in his privately held business, into his new role as President. People now argue with him publicly. Media opine on his every action. The courts nullify his executive orders. No wonder he seems frustrated in his press conferences and public statements.

Being unfamiliar with the context in which one leads can be a major disadvantage. People with differing opinions, and who deeply understand the operational context, can take stealthy advantage of the situation. Until President Trump’s transition is complete, this could be an opportunity exploited by the opposing political party, members of his party with differing opinions, lobbyists, foreign governments, public interest groups, and many more.

So what’s the lesson for those of us with jobs that do NOT involve leading the free world?

The key is simply to pay attention to the context, both its basis and its evolution. Know that the operational environment is fluid and can change both quickly and over the longer term. Understand the rules of engagement, and use them to advantage.

Simply deciding to do things differently, in a large unyielding organization like the US government, can be ineffective at best. At worst, it can lead to unintended consequences.

It’s also wise to seek counsel from people who have a deep understanding of the business environment and context, especially its dynamics and flow. Cultivate a circle of advisors from many different parts of the organization. Especially in large organizations, local variances arise and you need to understand them all. President Trump’s inner circle of advisors, other than Vice President Pence, is also largely unfamiliar with the ins and outs of governmental process.

Yes, it is possible for leaders to change the operating environment within an organization. But in large organizations like the US government, this happens very slowly and often beyond the tenure of the person in the job. It’s sort of like making a U-turn, with an aircraft carrier, in the Panama Canal.

I wish President Trump well during this transition.

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One test of leadership is how leaders treat customers and clients when things go wrong. True leaders take ownership of the situation. When handled properly, leaders can even grow customer loyalty after a bad customer experience.

I recently had the pleasure of dining in one of the great Paris restaurants. This business is owned by a husband and wife team. He leads in the kitchen, and she leads the service and customer relations aspects of the business.

Part way through our outstanding dinner, we noticed some unusual activity at a nearby table. A lady from their group had gone to the restroom, and hadn’t returned after about 15 minutes. One of the others went to check on her.

It soon became clear the lady was locked in the bathroom. The lock mechanism failed after she entered, jammed in the locked position, and trapped the customer.

An increasing number of staff from the kitchen and dining room went into the bathroom with an array of the best tools they could muster. The voices kept getting louder, as did the pounding sounds.

After almost a half hour, we heard happy voices from the restroom, and the previously trapped customer emerged to the applause of the entire restaurant.

The wife/owner, in charge of the dining room, stood beside the somewhat embarrassed, frustrated customer and proclaimed “And THAT’S how you get a free meal at this restaurant!”

This action accomplished a couple things.

Ø  The restaurant leadership, by offering compensation, clearly admitted that it was THEIR issue, and nothing done wrong by the client. The size of the broken latch that was removed clearly shows they didn’t buy an inexpensive mechanism. But it was still their responsibility, and they accepted it publicly.

Ø  The wife/owner spent the rest of the evening with the foursome who had suffered the incident. Extra courses, additional wines, and frequent visits from the world famous chef continued through the evening.  Note that a free dinner and wines for a foursome at this level of restaurant was a very expensive tab.

Because the situation was handled so well by the owner/wife, I’m guessing that the unfortunate person locked in the restroom left the restaurant with a better appreciation for the place than when she walked in.

Imagine the difference if the restaurant management had tried to hide the event, and not shown the proper concern for a client who had an unfortunate experience.

Treat your customers right, and they’ll stick with you. I’ll return to this restaurant on my next visit to Paris. I’ll even use the restroom!

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Thanks for reading this blog. I do executive education, keynotes and talks on a range of leadership and related topics, including “Leadership Ripped from the Headlines” similar to these blogs.  

Also, please contact me to learn how we can help your organization in other ways.
   

• [email protected]
  
  
• www.learning-from-leaders.com
  
  

Learning From Leaders, LLC combines almost a decade's experience doing award winning television production and interviews of top leaders with three decades of corporate "real world" experience to:
 

• Help You Learn from Top Leaders' Insights and Experiences in Interactive Public and Private Programs
  

 

• Provide Insightful Leader Profiles in Video, Audio, and Print
  

 

• Produce and Host Other Business Media and Events
  

Leadership isn’t just about relating with the team….with “them”… in general. Great leaders personally relate to each and every individual on the team…both those they lead and with their co-workers

I recently attended a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic led by Sir Simon Rattle. This is, by any measure, one of the great classical music orchestras on the planet. But does the orchestra’s excellence rely only on the artistic expertise of each individual musician, or is there something else also happening within the orchestra as a team?

After conducting a classical piece of music, the conductor/leader will often ask the musicians with key performances in that piece to stand and take an individual bow. Simon doesn't just stand on the podium and point at the individual to stand. He walks through the orchestra to each person he wishes to acknowledge. He shakes hands, says something to them face-to-face, and then has that person rise for the audience to applaud. The musicians’ smiles readily confirmed the importance of this personal moment.

Shelly Lazarus, then Chair and CEO of Ogilvy Mather, also spoke about the importance of leaders relating to people as individuals when she appeared on my Detroit PBS television series, “Leaders on Leadership” Here is what she had to say….

Clearly an individual, personal relationship between leaders and those they lead is critical in all sectors, from the concert hall to Madison Avenue.

Additionally, it is important to have great working relationships….trusting, respectful, thankful, supportive…between colleagues WITHIN the team. When the Berlin Philharmonic finished their concert, each pair of musicians sharing a music stand stood, faced each other, said a few words, smiled, and shook hands.

This happened even if something unusual happened during the performance:

• The concertmaster was clearly having mechanical problems with his violin during warmup. His colleague, sharing the same music stand, offered to trade violins as the concert was beginning. There was a warm hand shake at the end.
• I had a direct view of another violinist’s face from my seat only a few rows back, and this was clearly a person with a nasty cold. Part way through the Brahms symphony, he could only partially contain a coughing spell. When the music became very energetic…and loud….he cleared his throat enough to finish the concert. He received a “well done” handshake by his colleague as well.

Each of these 100 musicians is truly world class. But are their individual artistic achievements enough to create a world class orchestra? I don’t think so. It takes more….a respectful, trusting, supportive working relationship between the leader and each individual who is led, and between the individual orchestra members. For the most successful organizations, it is always about total organizational performance rather than just star level performances by a few.

In a perfect world, an organization in any sector has star performers, but they also work very well with others. The total organizational performance becomes more than just the sum of its individual parts.

Next time you’re looking around your organization, hum a bit of Brahms, think about the Berlin Philharmonic, and redouble your effort for more productive relationships up/down/across the ranks in your organization.

NOTE: The video clip of Shelly Lazarus is copyright Detroit Public Television and is used with permission.

Effective leaders and team members are trusted. Implicitly. As soon as that fragile trust unravels…regardless of reason…the entire leadership relationship unravels. Importantly, trust is not solely dependent on the results achieved by the leader. One can achieve great results, and sometimes not be trusted. One can demonstrate pretty bizarre actions, and still sometimes evoke a level of trust.  

Professors Allan Lind and Sim Sitkins, at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, created the “Six Domains of Leadership” model. Trust, along with credibility and community, is one of their three foundational resources necessary to be a good leader. Lind explains: “Leaders need to work to earn the trust of those they lead.  Think about it—when you follow someone, you are giving up some of your independence in the interest of doing what the leader says is right for the team or the organization.  Why would you do this if you didn’t trust the leader?  But leaders can build and sustain trust by showing respect and understanding to those they lead.” Once a leader loses trust, the game is over.  

Talking about games….

There has been much media frenzy around (now former) University of Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon. This very successful corporate CEO at Domino’s Pizza and Valassis Communications has also achieved impressive results at UM athletics: See the Detroit News article at http://detne.ws/1wZ7XoR. But in doing so, the support and trust of his constituency eroded. Students were angered over ticket price increases and student seating changes for UM football games. The Board of Regents nixed his ideas for non-traditional things like firework displays at the “Big House” on game day. Add in the tipping points of a losing football season, enraging a legion of fans, and the issue around the football coach fielding an injured player….and it is game over for Dave. He resigned on Halloween.
 
I interviewed Dave on my PBS Detroit television series “Leaders on Leadership”, and really like the guy. His outstanding records at Domino’s, Valassis… and even UM if one does an unemotional analysis… stand for themselves. There are many opinions about what happened at UM. He may have under-appreciated the huge difference in working environments. We pizza buyers may/may not like Domino’s pizza, but it isn’t an emotional decision. It’s dinner. Football at a school like UM is a viscerally passionate topic and the old ways die hard. Leading change can always be a minefield, especially here and it is critical to build the trust of one’s constituency.
 
On the other hand, let’s look north to Canada. Now former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s term in office was marked with chemical substance abuse. His outrageous comments and actions were the stuff of movies, though it isn’t clear if they are comedies or tragedies. Toronto, truly a world class city, was repeatedly embarrassed around the globe. Ford did not run for re-election as Mayor. He DID run for City Council from his home district of Etobicoke….and won in a landslide. Go figure. But these citizens are free to elect whomever they believe is the best candidate.  

I started this piece stating that trust was a nebulous thing. Dave Brandon, a superbly conscientious, proven, and capable leader lost the trust of the UM community despite achieving many of the key results…and “chose” to resign. Mayor Ford was an embarrassing clown as Mayor, but his home district re-elected him to City Council in a landslide.
  
Leadership is not a single dimension. Leaders have to achieve the targeted results. They also have to actively work to build and maintain the trust of those being led. Even if there are some rough times down the road, well established trust will carry the leader…and the team…through to another day.
 
                                                                    <<<<<>>>>>   

Thanks for reading this blog. I do keynotes and talks on a range of leadership and related topics, including “Leadership Ripped from the Headlines” similar to these blogs.  

Also, please contact me to learn how we can help your organization in other ways.
   

• [email protected]
  
  
• www.learning-from-leaders.com
  
  

Learning From Leaders, LLC combines almost a decade's experience doing award winning television production and interviews of top leaders with three decades of corporate "real world" experience to:
 

• Help You Learn from Top Leaders' Insights and Experiences in Interactive Public and Private Programs
  
  

 

• Help Leaders Communicate Effectively and Efficiently Through Custom Interviews and Panels
  

 

• Provide Insightful Leader Profiles in Video, Audio, and Print
  
  

 

• Produce and Host Other Business Media and Events