Leadership Traits - Donald Trump - Assignment Example

? Running Head: DONALD TRUMP Leadership Traits – Donald Trump History is full of famous leaders with extraordinary lives. From George Washington to John F. Kennedy, from Bill Gates to Donald Trump, the list is much diversified. Here, this paper will focus on the life and leadership traits of Donald Trump, the “Real Estate Tycoon” in the light of Bennis’ competency criteria. Early History Donald Trump was born in Queens, New York on 14th June, 1946. He was the part of a demographic change which would later be known as “Baby Boom”. His father, Fred Trump, was a contractor in the housing market and operated in the Brooklyn and Queens boroughs. Fred was a highly successful businessman and was one of the richest persons in Queens (Payment, 2007, pp.1-5). Young Trump had his own way of doing things. He had a forceful personality from his childhood. In his 2nd grade, he punched the music teacher on his face. Trump was of the view that the teacher didn’t understand what he was saying. For this misbehavior, he was almost expelled from the school. In his book ‘Trump: The Art of the Deal’, he admits this fact by saying that it was not a proud moment. At 13, Donald was sent to New York Military Academy to improve upon his behavior (Payment, 2007, pp. 6-10 & 12). Donald Trump graduated in 1968 from the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School of Finance) with a degree in economics. Accomplishment Trump is a real estate tycoon in a true sense. He has grown his father’s construction business to an international real estate power house. According to the Trump organization, currently the organization business portfolio consists of real estate, hotels, real estate broking and golf courses. Apart from the real estate business part, the organization has presence in the entertainment field also. In New York City, the group has some most prestigious buildings, like, Trump tower (Trump, 2012). Trump’s first multimillion dollar real estate transaction came in 1972 with the sale of Swifton Village in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1974, he got the option to buy two rail yards in New York City. In the same year, he bought the Commodore Hotel. After the renovation of the hotel, it was renamed as Grand Hyatt in 1980. In 1981, he bought the Trump Plaza in New York City and in 1982, bought a weekend estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. In 1983, the construction of Trump Tower was completed and USFL New Jersey Generals was acquired. In 1984, Trump opened Harrah’s at Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City. Trump bought Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida in 1985. In 1987 came the New York Times best seller “Trump: The Art of the Deal.” The later years continued with more and more acquisition, and the group’s entry into the TV (Wooten, 2008, pp.106-110). Leadership Traits American scholar Warren Bennis has identified four basic ingredients in every great leader. The first basic quality is guiding vision or management of attention. The leader must have a clear idea of what he or she wants to achieve. He must show courage to face the tough reality. The second quality is communicating the vision. The leader is there to communicate his passions to his people and it will bring hope and inspiration. Passion generally appears as enthusiasm. Again, people should not buy into every exciting idea; there should be a great deal of quality. The next thing is integrity which is the combination of self-knowledge, candor, and maturity. Leader must know his strengths and weaknesses, and must have clear idea about what he wants to do and the reason behind that. These three ingredients combine with a fourth ingredient – management of self. There should be mix of “curiosity and daring” with integrity. Leaders should be open to new ideas, willing to take risks, and try new things (Bennis, 2009, pp. 204-05, Bennis, 2010, p. 20). Now one may look at Trump’s leadership style in the light of Bennis’ four ingredients. Vision In Trump on Entrepreneurship, Trump says, “Entrepreneurship starts with a vision…. In 1974, I looked at the old Commodore Hotel, next to Grand Central Station in the New York City. I did not see a huge dilapidated, nearly empty building in a seedy neighborhood. I did not see a bankrupt city or the New York real estate market, struggling to survive. I saw a magnificent, first class convention hotel complex – grandiose, luxurious, and noteworthy.” (Gordon, 2009, p.1). These words show the vision of Trump. Communicating Vision Trump got the passion for construction business from his father. His father knew almost all the processes of construction business. So, after completing his graduation, he continued with his life-long passion of constructing buildings (Wooten, 2008, pp. 20-23). A man with a clear vision and passion always has a clear voice. Throughout his career, Trump has been a very clear communicator and his communication style made a clear mark on the young mind through the reality TV show “The Apprentice”. He clearly knows what his team should look like and what it should deliver. Integrity Trump knows the importance of trust. He believes in the philosophy of “win-win situation”. In the same book Trump writes, “At the end of each negotiation, I knew my opponents would turn into my partners.” (Gordon, 2009, p.2). Here the focus is on integrity or more precisely on reliability and Bennis used a separate term – “Constancy”, which is important for sustainable business model (Gordon, p.2). Self Management In late 1980s, there was a savings and loan crisis in the United States. Real estate sector has always been a capital intensive and highly leveraged sector. Decline in property price pushed Trump on the verge of bankruptcy. The aggregate loan amount was nearly $2 billion. But his “Can-do” spirit bailed him out of the crisis. He led the organization with great courage at that time (Wooten, 2008, pp. 69-78). Perhaps he loses some points on the ground of self management. A tough temperament in a tough situation can often result in some harsh decisions. Trump, too, had such moments. His married life was not very smooth. He got divorced from his first wife in early 1990s after more than a decade of marriage and this was allegedly due to an extra-marital affair. This event finds a sound businessman amidst volatile personal ambience. Again in 2000, he tried to run for presidency as a third party candidate. However, his close connection with media never managed to bring public favor for him in this election and he ended as a loser. Conclusion Though, his experiments outside his construction business have not been very successful either. This reflects unlike construction business where he had an edge in knowledge base owing to his inheritance, other business ventures were never meant to be his cup of tea. Though even after accepting these loopholes in comparison to other leaders of his time, he is definitely one of the iconic figures of our time. References Bennis, W. (2009), THE ESSENTIAL BENNIS: Essays on Leadership, John Wiley & Sons Bennis, W. (2010), Leadership Competencies, Leadership Excellence Gordon, M. (2009), Trump University Entrepreneurship 101, John Wiley & Sons Payment, S. (2007), Donald Trump, The Rosen Publishing Group Trump (2012), Donald J. Trump, retrieved on April 3, 2012 from: http://www.trump.com/The_Next_Generation/Donald_Trump_Jr/Donald_Trump_Jr.asp Wooten, S. M. (2008), Donald Trump, Enslow Publishers, 2008 Read More