The deed is done. Donald Trump is officially the Republican nominee for President of the United States.
And, now we have a highly qualified business leader who, if elected, will do what is required to "make America great again". Or, do we?
There has been much written about the Donald's business background that calls his qualifications in this arena into considerable question. We will not repeat those negative assessments here.
Let us just say, as Adam Davidson pointed out in an article in the New York Times Magazine, that a close review of his resume discloses that his business experience and expertise are not close to or exactly what he represents them to be. This is sad because the United States desperately needs more business leaders doing the right things in their companies and for their country in order to preserve and increase its greatness.
What are the right things for the country? Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, writing in the Time magazine issue celebrating the 240th anniversary of the founding of the United States, declares,
America needs more humanity at the center of its citizenship and leadership. Our country is more diverse than ever, yet far too divided. With so many Americans longing to feel united, I am optimistic we can bridge these divides, because we already have what it takes. As citizens, we can choose compassion and put others first by serving our communities before we serve ourselves. As leaders, we can lead with our hearts acting with empathy and civility as we exercise the courage of our convictions.
At the end of a recent op-ed piece for the New York Times on the need to raise the minimum wage, Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, observes, "We face many challenges. But they can be overcome by government, business and the nonprofit sectors working together to build on models of success that advance economic opportunity and create more widely shared prosperity."
In March of this year during the Republican primary season, Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg, L.P. and former three term mayor of New York City, in a column in BloombergView announcing why he would not run as third party candidate for President of the United States, states,
We can not "make America great again" by turning our backs on the values that made us the world's greatest nation. I love our country too much to play a role in electing a candidate who would weaken our unity and darken our future - and so I will not enter the race for president of the United States.However, nor will I stay silent about the threat that partisan extremism poses to our nation. I am not ready to endorse any candidate, but I will continue urging all voters to reject divisive appeals and demanding that candidates offer intelligent, specific and realistic ideas for bridging divides, solving problems and giving us the honest and capable government we deserve.
If business leaders Howard Schultz, Jamie Dimon and Michael Bloomberg are correct, the right things business leaders should do for our country include:
- Demonstrate more humanity, compassion, empathy and civility
- Collaborate to advance economic opportunity and widely shared prosperity
- Promote unity and reject divisive appeals
- Provide intelligent, specific and realistic ideas for bridging divides and solving problems
This brings us back to Donald Trump. If those are the criteria upon which business leaders should be judged, what grades would this ostensible business leader and the Republican candidate for President receive on any and all of them?
We know what our grades would be. We will defer to you the reader to assign your own. Rest assured, however, that no matter what grades you give him, Donald Trump would most likely proclaim that he got straight A's on his report card.
Let's move on from what the right things are for business leaders to do for our country to what the right things are for those leaders to do in their own companies. We addressed that in a late 2014 blog titled "The Need to Build Virtuous Organizations"
We define a virtuous organization as one that has a strong moral compass that creates value for customers, employees, shareholders and the community. A business leader who is committed to building a virtuous organization must play three roles:
- Navigator: charting the course for the business and building its core competence and core consciousness around the beliefs that matter most such as integrity and excellence.
- Capital Creator: ensuring the appropriate investment of the intellectual capital and spiritual capital from all employees to generate the necessary financial capital to grow the business
- Value Generator: developing the organization's value chain of activities that give it a competitive advantage and its value circles that emanate outward from the business leader to impact its way of doing business.
In our earlier blog we noted,
The virtuous organization is built from the business leader, out. Her or his vision and values shape and define the company's culture. If those values include concern, caring, compassion and commitment to making a positive difference and contribution to society - they are reflected in everything that the business does - from the manner in which it operates, treats employees and customers, to its community involvement and philanthropic initiatives.
This brings us back once again to Donald Trump. Think of the myriad businesses that Trump has owned or with which he has been associated that have failed. To name just a few, Trump Casinos, Trump University, Trump Airlines, Trump steaks, and Trump vodka.
What do they say about Donald Trump's capacity to function as a business leader in the roles of navigator, capital creator, and value generator to build virtuous organizations? They say everything. The rest is rhetoric.
Over the past year or so, rhetoric has definitely "trumped" reality. Saying any thing - no matter how outrageous - has been the formula for success.
To repeat, during these troubling and tumultuous times, the United States needs responsible business leadership to advance the interests of the country and its citizens. As we noted in two recent blogs, there are business leaders today who are stepping forward to provide the strong and positive leadership that is required.
Unfortunately, the Republican candidate for President is not one of them. Given this, we hope that reality will prevail in November. We fear that it may not.
If it does not, America will be substantially diminished. Think of it as our TR-EXIT from the commitments to the ideals set forth by the founding fathers and our leadership in the world community. If Donald Trump wins the White House, the United States and its citizens lose.
[In the interests of full and open disclosure, Frank Islam is on Hillary Clinton's National Finance Committee.]