2010

Prepared for:Dr. Amer Hj. Darus

Prepared by:Manikya Naidu Ramanaidu 806552Suhaili Mohd Zain 806611Nor Azhan Mohd Nor 806580Nor Dyanna Mohd Noor 807432

LEADERSHIP (DONALD TRUMP)

Leadership In Organization

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3

1.1 DONALD TRUMP PROFILE 3

2.0 CASE STUDY : DONALD TRUMP.............................................................................................5

2.1 TRAITS AND BEHAVIOUR 6

2.2 LEADERSHIP STYLE 9

2.3 MOTIVATION 11

2.4 LEADERSHIP CULTURE 11

3.0 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................13

4.0 REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................14

5.1 PUBLICATION 14

5.2 INTERNET RESOURCES 14

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Leadership is one of the most important characteristics of an organization’s framework.

Defining leadership has been a challenge. This is a very subjective topic and interesting

to discuss. To understand more about leadership, this paper is to analyze a leader in terms

of traits, leadership style, motivation and leadership culture. We choose a famous CEO,

Donald Trump as a subject to learn about leadership in a real life. Our choice was

primarily motivated by his leadership exposure through television show “The

Apprentice” and also willing to know more about the person behind the most popular

phrase in reality television “You’re fired”.

The scope of this paper is to correlate some of the traits, behavior and personality

appearances of Donald Trump that are made available in public sources as in the

television programs and internet publications. The analysis of Donald Trump leadership

style is meant for academic traits and behavior analysis purpose.

1.1 DONALD TRUMP PROFILE

Donald John Trump was born on the June 14, 1946 in Queens, New York, United

States. He is an American business executive, entrepreneur, television and radio

personality and author. He is the CEO of the Trump Organization, a US-based

real-estate developer, and the founder of Trump Entertainment, which operates

several casinos. He received a great deal of publicity following the success of his

reality television show, The Apprentice. In Apprentice he serves as both executive

producer and host for the show.

Donald was the fourth of five children of Frederick C. and Mary Macleod Trump.

Frederick Trump was a wealthy real estate developer based in New York City. He

received early education in New York Military College, championed in football

and baseball sports. After graduating in 1968 with Bachelor of Science in

Economics and concentration in finance, he joined his father’s real estate

business.

Starting in Trump Organization, he initially concentrated in his father’s preferred

field of middle-class rental housing business. In 1971, Trump began his own

business in property development and hotel industry. Even though the initial

business ventures were successful, by 1989, the effects of recession left Trump

unable to meet loan payments.

In 1991 and 1992, some Trump businesses as such Taj Mahal Casino and Trump

Plaza Hotel was forced to enter bankruptcy protection plan. By 1994, Trump has

restructured the financing with bond holders and reduced significantly his

personal debts. Finally in 2004, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts announce

restructuring of its debt and in 2005 the company re-emerged from bankruptcy.

Trump International Hotels industry continued to flourish.

During this time Donald Trump has began to diversify his business into

entertainment and sporting business. In 2003, Donald Trump has become the

executive producer and host of the NBC reality show, The Apprentice. In this

show Donald Trump garnered himself the catchphrase ‘You’re Fired”. He

incorporated some of his business tasks in the game as such renovation of his

USD$40 million Palm Beach estate, which later he sold the property for

USD$100 million in 2008.

With his success in real estate and television programs, Trump has continued his

business ventures in other range of products. These businesses are include of

Trump Financial, Trump Restaurants, Trump Signature Collections, Trump Golf,

Trump Magazines, Miss Universe Organization and World Wrestling

Entertainment.

2.0 CASE STUDY: DONALD TRUMP

“When an employee told me, “I think it’s good enough” in reference to an unfinished

project, I fired him. Good enough?” ………..”I want people who want more than good

enough. I want employees who want great and will go the extra mile for the very best. I

don’t want to have to tell them, I want them to do it on their own” says Donald Trump

(David Osborne, 2009).

How Donald deals with the wrong people, “Step one: ‘Don’t ignore employee

performance problems. The sooner you can talk with the employee, the more likely you

can get him or her back on track. Getting great work from employees is a sign of a strong

leader’, step two: ‘See if an underperforming employee could improve with additional

training, equipment, or switching tasks’, step three: ‘Since firings can be emotional, it

often helps to discuss the situation with an objective advisor before you actually dismiss

an employee’, step four: ‘If you believe improvement is possible, meet with the

employee, and give him or her a fixed period to deliver measurable results. Be clear

about your requirements and state exactly what you expect, and specify that if what you

need is not satisfactorily provided, he or she will be fired. Then follow through’”.

(Donald Trump, 2007)

“Whoever works for me has to move fast. That’s how I work, and my employees must

follow suit. When I conduct a meeting, I need those present to keep up with me, to be on

the same page. The people who work with me know my pace, and they’ve adjusted to it”

(Donald Trump, 2007).

According to Norma Foerderer, Trump's secretary, “Donald instills in you the desire to

do more and more and more, and you want to please him. And yet he rarely criticizes. I

mean, he would if you did something stupid. He allows you to expand; if you come in

with an idea, he'll say, ‘Fine; run with it and see what you do.' This motivates and

challenges you even more, and you want to please him because you admire him so

much.”

Foerderer said. "I've seen him work with architects where he does the very same thing.

He'll take that big magic marker and slash it here or there and change and create rooms. It

works. Everybody stands around like dummies because they didn't realize this could be

done. He could have been an architect.”

“To work in the organization lead by Donald Trump, people need to be driven by high

privilege to work in an organization that is lead by such a great man. His immense zest

for life and success is so very contagious. He is bossy in the real sense of the world and

his leadership style is almost dictatorial with the beginners. But we find him adopt a

coaching style with the participants as episodes keep moving. With his own subordinates

in the company, we find him delegating work with ease and confidence.” (Barred, 1992)

A DAY’S LIFE OF DONALD TRUMP

Many distinguishing personal characteristics of Donald Trump can be noticed in his

television shows and public appearances. The primary trait that Donald Trump posses is a

high level of optimism and self-confidence, in executing his tasks.

There are several quotes by Trump that reflect his optimism in the actions he takes.

Below some exerts retrieved from the ‘Think Big’ publication by Donald Trump and Bill

Zanker [2].

“Get in, get it done, get it done right and get out.” (Donald Trump, 2007)

This an energetic leadership trait that reflect Trump’s optimism in the initiatives that he

undertakes. He gets in the task with full of energy, vision and desire to complete. Trump

promotes his commitment to get things right even in the situations that are challenging

having obstacles. He also very much optimistic that the situations need to end at right

time in order to plan for next actions.

Donald Trump has earned a reputation as optimist as a businessman who can spot

business opportunities even in ambiguous situations, as he describe in the ‘Think Big’

publication.

“I was relentless, even in the face of total lack of encouragement, because much more

often than you’d think, sheer persistence is the difference between success and failure.”

(Donald Trump, 2007).

His optimistic and self confidence approach can be seen in building his Trump

International Hotel and Casinos. In October 2004, Trump organization was facing

difficult financial situations and debts. However he was optimistic on the business future

and performed a series of financial restructuring, till the successful completion of the

Trump International hotel worth USF$1.2 billion in 2009 [8].

Donald Trump behavior in leadership can be viewed in several angles, on how he

influence and make decision in his leadership. A Big Five personality dimension is used

to describe Donald Trump behaviors in performing his tasks.

Donald Trump can be categorized as a person with extrovert qualities. This can be seen

in his initiative in getting involved and promote public events as in Miss Universe

competition and 2016 Olympic bid initiatives. Apart from his own participation, he

encourage the related participant to contribute strongly in the public events.

Trump has a lesser degree of agreeableness. As seen in the many Apprentice programs,

Trump insists on detailed explanations and prove of concepts, before making any

acknowledgement. He seldom satisfy with the interim results and often insist in the final

accomplishment, as he quotes:

“In the end, you're measured not by how much you undertake but by what you finally

accomplish.” (Donald Trump, 2007)

Trump is a very much a person with high level of conscientiousness. He is a person with

dependable guidance and vision, persistent and achievement orientated. Trump in his

book has emphasized the importance of conscientiousness.

“If you have to lie, cheat, and steal, you're just not doing it right, my career is a model of

tough, fair dealing and fantastic success - without shortcuts, without breaking the law.”

(Trump and McIver, 2007).

Donald Trump has good level of emotional stability. He could listen and be

participative in discussions where many facts being argued and many contentions being

thrown among the team. He focuses on end target to achieve, and promote competitive

environment. This is reflected in his saying:

“Do calm your nerves by remembering that there are bigger events going on in the world.

Most people argue because most people are afraid of failure, afraid of making decisions,

afraid of winning. And that gives people like me a great advantage.” (Donald Trump,

2007).

Donald Trump is also very much keen in openness to experiences. This is seen in his

career, when he ventured into many new business fields, when the existing field is not

performing as per his expectation. He ventured in many industries from the range of hotel

industries, entertainment industries and property industries which gives good

opportunities during his time (Floyd Morris, 2008).

“I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the

present. That's where the fun is.” (Donald Trump, 2007).

During his experiences, he also open to failures, as happened in his initial property

venture failure during 2004 bankruptcy period. He has since diversified his business by

adding more business ventures in his portfolio. He affirms this by saying:

“Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough. Sometimes you have to give

up the fight and walk away, and move on to something that's more productive.” (Trump

and Zenker, 2007).

VARIOUS STYLES IN TRUMP’S LEADERSHIP

Donald Trump’s leadership styles have made him rich, powerful, famous and known

throughout the world. This paper will discuss some of those leadership styles. He shows

an unusual leadership style, which is includes by many characteristics. One of those is the

need for power. This is showed by every business and piece of real estate his owns. Every

casino, tea, building or golf course and even publication has his name on it. We can

describe his leadership as an autocratic style. He uses his power and bossy attitude to his

employee and with his autocratic leadership style has been working successfully in his

career by taking a full control of his decisions, considering limited opinions from his

adviser. This criteria make worlds categorized him as controversial and also dictator

leader. Although he is very much values the input of a select few from his team, but the

final decision must come from him where whatever he says is never to be contested. We

can see this when everybody need to follow his style and when he want it to finish early

that’s means it is must done before he asked. Nobody can change it and everybody needs

to follow it without any objection.

Donald Trump is also a very charismatic and a transformational leader. He inspires

lots of interest in their teams and possesses the verbal fluency that can build relationships

between many parties. When he speaks, people listen. He is able to expressive and sells

his ideas to people. He can produce books and people buy it to understand the real

business and key to success. Everybody try to follow his way and it is make him a leader

with millions followers. He has accomplished impossible deals and has made luxury

lifestyle the premier way to live. Without charisma, his ability to build relationships, and

sell the big picture, his wealth and reputation would not be what it is today. An example

of this charisma and transformational ability is the fact that he makes motivational

speeches and with his “The Apprentice” show has made of him an idol for many

entrepreneurs. Donald Trump in charismatic leadership style shows that he is a true

leader who is not only inspiring their teams constantly with a shared vision of the future,

but also inspire the worlds. Everybody wants to be Donald Trump.

Other than that, we also can classified Donald Trump has situational leadership style.

According to Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, leader with situational leadership should

be able to move back and forth between four styles, based on the needs of the follower

and the situation itself. The four styles under situational leadership include:

Style 1 – Telling or Directing; leader makes decisions and communication is primarily

one-way.

Style 2 – Selling or Coaching; leader involves followers in offering ideas but leader still

makes decisions.

Style 3 – Participating or Supporting; leader allows followers to have an increasing say in

decisions but provides coordination and guidance.

Style 4 – Delegating; leader allows capable others to perform largely on their own and

make their own decisions.

We can see the situational leadership style when requires opinions and inputs of a select

few from his team, but he is still the one who decides. Besides that, he also encourages

people to go extra mile for the very best. He allows them to do it on their own. According

to Barred, in “The Apprentice”, Donald has coaching style with the participants as

episodes keep moving. With his own subordinates in the company, he also delegates

work with ease and confidence. In front of the camera, we can see externally that Donald

Trump shows as a tough and bully boss. On the opposite opinion, some of his employees

argue that Donald is a merciful leader and always follow his values.

Donald Trump characteristics of values, skills and cognitive abilities make him a good

leader. He is unconventional, powerful, but yet he makes very smart business decisions.

Besides that, he is also a risk taker. All these business skills have made him a successful

business man. As a good leader, he uses all these styles and at the correct times.

MOTIVATION SKILLS OF DONALD TRUMP

azahan

THE SYMBOLIC WORKPLACE

Donald trump, an icon of conspicuous consumption and unbridled capitalist, acts as

moderator and teacher. He teaches viewers about the workplace and their own place

within corporations, the economy and the larger contemporary social system. In the

Apprentice, contestant performance been tracked and candidate deemed least successful

is fired each week. The shows tropes the Trump acts, without any irony as the autocratic

ruler. He controls all dialogue and decides when enough is enough. He has slammed

candidates more than once for free speaking and sternly advises each contestant to “keep

your opinion to yourself”. Those who break the rules or act outside of the norms, as

defined by Trump himself, are eliminated. He attempts to indoctrinate both viewer and

candidates about the singular logic of the business world. Perhaps, the most salient

message of The Apprentice is “It’s not personal, it’s just Business” where in the closer

analysis, “It’s Not Personal” implies a separation in individuals between public and

private life. The workplace is different from personal life. Trumps tell is not to bring

friendship, compassion or emotion to work. He tells us to check our so-called democratic

values at the door. Leaders do not take a vote in order to win the game of business, but

must act singularly and against our peers and colleagues.

Culture is the set of key values, assumptions, understanding and norms that is shared by

members of organization and thought to new members as correct. Its dictates tastes in

music, clothes, and even the political and philosophical views of a group of people.

Culture is not only shared, but it is deep and stable. However, culture does not exist

simply as a societal phenomenon. Organizations, both large and small, adhere to a

culture. Organizational culture determines how an organization operates and how its

members frame events both inside and outside the organization

Donald Trumps imply achievement culture in his workplace. Achievement culture is a

result oriented culture that values competitiveness, aggressiveness, personal initiative and

the willingness to work long hours and hard to achieve results. This culture generally

consists of highly motivated people who need little to no supervision. Rules and

procedures are limited as they may interfere with the accomplishment of work. When a

rule gets in the way of achieving a goal the rule is simply ignored. The best tools and

methods for producing results are utilized, and when one goal is met, everyone quickly

moves on to another. Because of this environment and mindset, achievement cultures

tend to be highly adaptive. Unfortunately members of an achievement cultures tend to

burn out on their work. It may be difficult to establish control if the need arises as the

culture cultivates individuals. Members may also become highly competitive with each

other and the mindset of “whatever it takes” can lead to dishonest and illegal behavior.

3.0 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, our group would like to highlight that Donald Trump has various ways of

traits, various leadership style, and motivation skills and also has his own culture to make

him a successful business man.

The main trait that Donald Trump posses in his life is optimism and self confidence that

drive his business from critical difficulties, into one of the prominent business in its field.

The behavior of Donald Trump as seen in big five personality model, exhibit his quality

of being extrovert, less agreeable, conscientious, good emotional control and keen to

openness of experience. Due to his traits and behavior, he can be seen as a result oriented

person. Therefore, he is more towards adapting achievement culture in his workplace

since in achievement culture are emphasizes on competitiveness, aggressiveness,

personal initiatives and willingness to work long hours. Besides that Trump’s always

mention “It’s not Personal, it’s just business” which implies a separation in individuals

between public and private life.

As a great leader, Donald Trump is capable of using different leadership style. He can be

autocratic, charismatic and transformational, and also situational depending on the

situation.

Conclude about motivation – by azahan

4.0 REFERENCES

4.1 PUBLICATION

[1] Donald J. Trump and Meredith McIver (2007), Trump 101 The Way To

Success, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

[2] Donald J. Trump and Bill Zanker (2007), Think Big and Kick Ass in Business

and Life, HarperCollins Inc.

4.2 INTERNET RESOURCES

[3] Leadership. Viewed August 25th 2010. [Online], From Wikipedia, the free

encyclopedia available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership

[4] Leadership Styles: What are Common Types of Leadership? (2007) Viewed

August 25th 2010. [Online], available at http://www.what-are-good-leadership-

skills.com/leadership-styles.html

[5] David Osborne, Donald Trump on Hiring and Firing Staff (published August

30th, 2009). Viewed August 25th 2010. [Online], available at

http://www.profitablepersonnel.com/2009/08

[6] Ronald Kessler, The Real Donald Trump (published November 29th, 2006)

[Online], available at http://archive.newsmax.com

[7] Michael Sexton, The Seven Critical Traits of Top Entrepreneurs (published

July 2nd, 2007) [Online],available at http://www.trumpinitiative.com/

[8] Floyd Morris (December 4, 2008). "Trump Sees Act of God in Recession".

The New York Times (The New York Times), available at

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/business/05norris.html?

_r=1&scp=8&sq=donald%20trump&st=cse.

[9] That’s the Way We Do Things Around Here”: An Overview of Organizational

Culture. Viewed August 30th2010. [Online], available at

http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v07n01/martin_m01.htm

[10] Democracy at Work? The Lessons of Donald Trump and the Apprentice. Viewed August 30th 2010. [Online], available at http://pdfcast.org/pdf/democracy-at-work-the-lessons-of-donald-trump-and-the-apprentice

[11] Democracy at Work? The Lessons of Donald Trump and the Apprentice. Viewed August 30th 2010. [Online], available at http://pdfcast.org/pdf/democracy-at-work-the-lessons-of-donald-trump-and-the-apprentice