Trump's first move: his new CEO "Presidential Fellowship"
Originally published by Steve Tappin on LinkedIn: Trump's first move: his new CEO "Presidential Fellowship"
It's been a historic 24 hours as Donald Trump becomes the 45th United States President Elect. There is a genuine sense of fear and worry regarding his judgement and questions around what he will do next. This is a massive job and to succeed I believe Donald needs to surround himself with a group of exceptional leaders that can aid and assist him; thus ensuring he makes the right judgement calls to get America moving again. So, what if Donald Trump's first move was to bring together some of America's top CEOs in a fellowship dedicated to making America ready and "open for business?". Similar to the corporate world (which Donald is so familiar with), they could work in a non-executive director capacity for America, standing strong together for the unity and benefit of, "USA Inc".
Why does Donald need to do this?
Let us start with Trump, he is a commercial executor, monetary value-driving CEO, who is ultimately self-centred.
In three perspective leadership, we can see he struggles with empathy and is very much focussed on the “I” and the “it”. Since the 90s, we’ve known that for a leader to lead successfully they need “right brain” traits as well as “left brain” traits, such as: creativity, empathy, humility and intuition. We can agree Trump’s “right brain” is lagging behind.
In “spiral dynamics” terms Trump is very much a red and orange leader, driven by power and wealth. Positives of red/orange leaders: He makes it happen, is high-energy and (most will agree) can effectively “cut through the fog”.
Negatives of red/orange leaders: “It’s my way or the high way”, egotistical, ultimate goal is power and long-term sustainability is not considered.
The danger for Trump is that he could be a compulsive decision maker who doesn't think through the longer term implications or is not creative in his solutions.
So what CEOs could best support and add value to Donald Trump?
There is no one way of being a CEO. Through our research we have found 5 different 'CEO Types' or categoriesthat most CEOs generally fit into. This means that the majority of CEOs have shortfalls in their leadership and often need to surround themselves with other leaders who complement these shortfalls. So, when we think about Trump and his CEO type we also need to think what the best CEO type would be to compliment Trump's styles and values .
1. Commercial executors: Primary focus on business trading e.g, “What are our like-for-like store sales this week”? They strive to achieve the best results for their industry, and have relentless attention to detail to ensure operational and strategic ambitions become a reality.
2. Financial value drivers: Primary focus on financial worth of their business e.g. “What is the business worth today”? Business metrics are essential, group’s valuation and where the "next value-creation deal" might come from.
3. Corporate entrepreneurs: Their business is their “baby” – so much focus on the business that the experience of being CEO is akin to giving birth! They focus on business disruption, spotting breakthrough opportunities and making them a reality.
4. Corporate ambassadors: Primary focus is the global impact of their business e.g. “How can I transform the geopolitical landscape of my industry”? They have a global vision with a broader societal impact in mind and operate at a geopolitical level to transform industries for the better.
5. Global missionaries: They wake up and renew their personal mission every single day e.g. “How do I make my company and the world a fundamentally better place for all my stakeholders”? They have an incessant need to make a personal significant difference and want to make their companies great. They also lead by inspiring and energising their people.
Trump misses the soft CEO types – 3, 4 and 5...... but he is value driven and entrepreneurial.
There aren't many, (if any) CEOs that embody all five CEO types, which raises the question: Is the U.S. best run by one person or by one leader in a close network of what we like to call, "a CEO fellowship” of leaders?
This fellowship to me, would mean a trusted group of people on a mission to do something for the greater good, with the expert business knowledge of the most successful global CEOs .
My initial candidates for a CEO Presidential fellowship:
· Jeff Bezos: A long term visionary, fantastic entrepreneur with an obsession for customers that could be applied to the American people.
· Arianna Huffington: Media queen, intellectual, with a global health and wellness mission and gender equity fighter.
· Howard Schultz: Sustainable, global, philanthropic, achieved Responsible Capitalism Award, famous for ethics in business and efforts to battle unemployment.
· Jeff Immelt: Achievements in technology – forward thinking in embracing data and analytics to transform GE, digitized the industrial space; who better to advise on US Industrial policy.
My view is that if Trump was to adopt this fellowship it would vastly improve his decision making, build confidence with the American people and ultimately make a difference. So why not opt for a CEO Presidential fellowship with highly experienced, credible individuals who are at the forefront of business ? These individuals are disruptors, innovators, ethical and in parts, empathetic leaders. They offer the solution beyond the "Trump vs. Hilary" dilemma.
Whatever your political views, recent global developments have shown that people want political change. We need to start thinking outside of the box in terms of how our governments lead and govern. Instead of the, "old world of work/top-to-bottom" approach where one person sits in the throne, is culpable and has all of the answers, we need to disrupt and update an antiquated, failing political system to create a new democracy that truly addresses the voice and needs of all people. This new system could be the vehicle for America to regenerate their thriving economy, be a true global powerhouse and a powerful ally with the rest of the world; who better to do this than some of America's best CEOs working together, in fellowship. Whether a Democrat or Republican, its time to put your party preferences to one side and come together to contribute and unite.
Contact Sarah McDonnell if you're a CEO or aspiring and you want to find out more about building fellowships : sarah@xinfu.com.
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COMMENT: Who would your CEO or leader be for the presidential CEO fellowship? Do you think the CEO fellowship could be a better model of leadership for the United States (and therefore the world) for the better?
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By Steve Tappin
Chief Executive, Xinfu, Host BBC CEO Guru
Steve is a personal confidant to many of the world’s top CEOs. He is the host of the award winning BBC ‘CEO Guru’, which features in-depth, on-the-record interviews with the CEOs of the biggest and fastest-growing companies. Steve is the author of ‘The Secrets Of CEOs’, which interviews 200 CEOs on business life and leadership.
