Government workers honour their presidents — past and present, wise and bonkers — by taking a long weekend. Sometime today the White House will notice a shortage of flunkies. By nightfall a Presidential Twitter will either abolish the outrageous public servant’s lurk that is President’s Day — or rename it Trump Day, with 30% spot discounts at Ivanka jewellery counters (hurry), and happy hours at Trump hotels.
It was said of Calvin Coolidge, a sound candidate for the title of Worst President, that: "Once bamboozled, he was very difficult to unbamboozle."
Exactly one month from Inauguration Day, it’s the entire world that’s bamboozled. Is the chap with his finger on the Vapouriser Button a trailblazing CEO type president who might just be viciously effective. Or is he plain nuts?
And supposing he is crazy, how many mental ailments might the committing psychiatrist put a circle around. Paranoia, sociopathy, schizophrenia, narcissism, psychopathy, delusion? None of them, all of them, or serious chunks of each?
Millions of reasonable Americans recently held their noses and voted for Donald Trump because, dodgy tycoon or not, he might be their man to force feed Washington’s sick body politic the tough medicine it should take three times daily. Post-election, these folk looked at the protesters and handwringers, and (again reasonably) said: "What’s done is done. Give him a chance."
They hoped a successful private sector CEO could use his management talent to clean up sick government. To "drain the swamp", as Mr Trump put it. And what better change agent than a man whose most famous television line is: "You’re fired."
We’d understand the Trump problem far better if we actually look at him through the eyes of the many thoughtful people who did vote for him.
They doubtless well understood the typical big time CEO will likely have a touch of the sociopath and the narcissist. You’ll find mongrel in any top dog.
There is a small, elite, class of CEOs who specialise in company turnarounds, and it’s these people who require special mongrel. Most sick businesses fail because their people and structures have failed — so blood in the corridors is part of the turnaround. Your balanced "people person" won’t cut it as either a turnaround CEO, or a turnaround president. The most famous of the turnaround CEOs was the American Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap, a man who said "You’re fired!" so frequently he makes Mr Trump look a pussy.
The publisher of Is Your Boss a Psychopath? said "I have never come across an executive as manipulative, ruthless, and destructive as Al Dunlap."
Chainsaw once told his wife he’d like to discover the taste of human flesh, and when confronted with claims of psychopathy, he looked at the details, and declared they made an excellent definition of leadership.
Mr Dunlap was eventually disgraced when caught cooking the books to make his performance look better. Time magazine declared him one of the 10Worst CEOs of All Time.
But his demise showed large businesses work within mechanisms that will usually pull down an unstable CEO. However, there is one type of big business that’s a glaring exception. This is the shop still controlled by its founding entrepreneur, as in The Trump Organisation. Here, flair and ruthless determination can allow borderline sociopaths to become magnificent successes, simply because their power is not confined by the usual fetters. Think Howard Hughes, Steve Jobs, and (if you’re so inclined) perhaps even Rupert Murdoch. But, specifically, think Donald Trump. The business baron running his own feudal kingdom can take risks corporate governance won’t allow, and make his wrong decisions work by applying sheer force. But put this type — a Trump — in a role where his powers are restricted, and as we now see, the formula no longer works.
I’ve read that a Founding Entrepreneur typically lasts just 10 months after taking the money and selling into a bigger, more structured business. (I had to laugh. When I sold my own company to a multinational, the time I took to discover I couldn’t hack my new strictures as CEO was ... exactly 10 months).
Loathe him or not, the madness of Donald Trump helped build his American business dream. However, his presidency is quickly debunking a myth believed by many who voted for him — that a rebel entrepreneur could ferociously bulldoze the failing American political system, and then fix it.
We’re being shown it just ain’t so. The president’s fantasies are under extreme pressure. You think he’s crazy now? Well how long will it be before Donald Trump REALLY cracks? Shall we guess 10 months?
- John Lapsley is an Arrowtown writer.
