Donald Trump Leadership Case Study

Donald Trump Leadership Case Study is a part of Leadership Stories, a series of biographies of great leaders in history that have impacted the world in a huge way.

Donald Trump is an American business magnate and television personality. He is the Chairman of the Trump Organization, a US-based real-estate developer.  To date, Donald Trump has accumulated wealth of up to US$2.7 billion, primarily through his real estate investments.

A Short History

Donald Trump was born to a successful business man Fred Trump. Fred was a self-made millionaire in real estate, based in New York City.

After his graduation from a Military Academy, Donald Trump had thought about going into film school, but he ended up deciding to follow in his father’s footsteps in the real estate business.

He had many successes in his early years as a real estate investor, having made several successful investments like the Grand Hyatt and the Wollman Rink.

However, a recession would hit in 1989 and cause Donald Trump to be bankrupt. Some of the casino investments he made were financed using junk bonds and he was landed himself in millions of dollars in debt.

He ended up making agreements with his creditors and worked out a plan to repay them. By 1994, he would have repaid a significant portion of his debt.

From 1997 onwards was a time when Donald Trump began to make his comeback. He would continue to build more real estate throughout cities in the US and Canada, with varying success.

In March 2011, Forbes estimated Donald Trump’s networth to be at about US$2.7 billion.

Donald Trump Leadership Lessons

1. Think Big
Donald Trump was always a big thinker. He believed in making big deals and huge investments in real estate because he saw potential. Although, Trump would land himself in debt, he would later on make even a stronger comeback. As a result, he became known throughout in the business world and became a TV personality as well.

A good leader should always think big as well. As Goethe once said, Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men. If you’re a leader and you wish to speak to people’s hearts, remember that you have to think big!

2. Energy
Donald Trump is a man of energy. He believes it is energy that drives passion, and passion is what will make the impossible happen.

Passion should be your driving force as a leader. You must be passionate about what you are doing and where you are heading. A passionate leader translates energy down to his followers as well, giving them motivation to run an extra mile, stay an hour longer, fight a little harder for the cause.

3. Bouncing Back
Although he went into bankruptcy, Donald Trump has enough self-belief that he could stand back up again, and where he is today is a testament to his tenacity to bounce back from a failure.

Failure is very normal to people, especially to leaders. If you’re a leader and you’re constantly breaking new ground, the chance of failing is far higher than if you were staying in your comfort zone.

The important question for you is to not about how you can avoid failure, but how you can bounce back after experiencing one. This alone defines you as a leader and sets you apart from the rest who would choose to stay in their defeat.

Related Books and Literature
on Donald Trump Leadership

Best Quotes from
Donald Trump Leadership

I mean, there's no arguing. There is no anything. There is no beating around the bush. "You're fired" is a very strong term.

It's tangible, it's solid, it's beautiful. It's artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate.

Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war.

When somebody challenges you, fight back. Be brutal, be tough.

I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present. That's were the fun is.

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

Without passion you dont have energy, without energy you have nothing.

I wasn't satisfied just to earn a good living. I was looking to make a statement.

Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make.

The point is that you can't be too greedy.

Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.

I could never have imagined that firing 67 people on national television would actually make me more popular, especially with the younger generation.

Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken.

Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make.

I don't make deals for the money. I've got enough, much more than I'll ever need. I do it to do it.

I have made the tough decisions, always with an eye toward the bottom line. Perhaps it's time America was run like a business.

A little more moderation would be good. Of course, my life hasn't exactly been one of moderation.

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.

Well, yes, I've fired a lot of people. Generally I like other people to fire, because it's always a lousy task. But I have fired many people.

What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate.

I'm a bit of a P. T. Barnum. I make stars out of everyone.

If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable.

You have to think anyway, so why not think big?

Video On Donald Trump Leadership

Donald Trump talks about his latest book, Think like a Champion:

Other Links

Wikipedia: A short account of Donald Trump’s life
Trump.com: Official Site of the Trump Organization

Other Business Leaders

» Jamie Dimon
Jamie Dimon is the current CEO and chairman of JP Morgan Chase & Co, the second largest bank in the United States by assets.

» Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs is the Chairman and CEO of Apple Computers Inc. and arguably one of the world’s most successful businessmen today.

» Ray Kroc
Ray Kroc is the man behind the multimillion dollar fast food empire, MacDonald’s. In his life, he has built the fast food chain from a simple hamburger restaurant to a multi-billion dollar franchise that has reached almost every part of the world today.

» Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was the father of modern steel and was one of America’s richest men. He started the Carnegie Steel Company, which later merged with Steel Company to become U.S. Steel.

» Walt Disney
Walt Disney is the famous founder of Mickey Mouse, the loveable cartoon character that has permeated almost every country and culture in the world. He is the co-founder of Walt Disney Productions and one of the most influential motion picture producers in the world.

» Henry Ford
Henry Ford is the founder of the Ford Motor Company and also the inventor of the modern day assembly line method of production for his Model T cars. He is also an inventor who has been credited with over 100 patents. During his time, he was one of the richest people in the world.

» Sam Walton
Sam Walton is the founder of Walmart, the international discounting retail giant. He is a model business leader who has changed the way big business is done.

» Donald Trump
Donald Trump is an American business magnate and television personality. He is the Chairman of the Trump Organization, a US-based real-estate developer. To date, Donald Trump has accumulated wealth of up to US$2.7 billion, primarily through his real estate investments.

» John D Rockefeller
John D Rockefeller is an American Oil Magnate and the first billionaire in the history of the world. In today’s dollars, Rockefeller is still considered the richest man in modern history. He was also one of the first few philanthropists in the world, giving back a huge portion of his wealth to the community.

» Warren Buffet
Warren Buffet is one of the world’s richest men, with assets totally up to US$50 billion in 2011. His main source of wealth comes from his company Berkshire Hathaway, a conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. His philosophy of value investing and prudence and influenced many investors worldwide.

Original post found here:

http://www.leadership-with-you.com/donald-trump-leadership.html

Read More

Here Are All the Billionaires Backing Donald Trump

    Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump

    John Moore—Getty Images

Here’s a list of the Republican presidential candidate’s wealthiest proponents.

On Monday, Warren Buffett attacked Donald Trump’s business acumen, saying a monkey could have done far better running a public company than the Republican nominee did. Buffett also challenged Trump to release his tax returns.

Buffett is one of a number of billionaires who have lined up in support of the Democratic party contender, Hillary Clinton. Her endorsers also include mogul and former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Still others are dissatisfied with both options for the executive office. At Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colo., this summer, the mega-wealthy industrialist Charles Koch, a longtime conservative backer, likened voting for either candidate to choosing between “cancer or a heart attack.” (We left him off the list.)

But when it comes to big bucks donors, Donald Trump is not going it alone, either.

For more billionaires’ thoughts on Trump, watch:

The Republican party candidate for president has more than a dozen of billionaire backers supporting his campaign. Though Fortune and others have questioned Trump’s own personal wealth claims, other members of the three comma club have thrown their weight behind him.

Who among them has raised the Trump banner? People on the list range from Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley investor of PayPal  PYPL 1.97%  and Facebook  FB 1.51%  fame who keynoted this year’s Republican National Convention, to Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas Sands Casino  LVS 0.44%  impresario, to Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets football team and heir to the Johnson & Johnson  JNJ -0.03%  fortune, to Carl Icahn, the rough-and-tumble activist investor and chairman of the eponymous Icahn Enterprises  IEP -5.18% . (Sorry, Martin Shkreli, the ex-CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, did not make the cut.)

Here’s the lineup of ultra-rich bigwigs championing the reality television star-turned-politician in the 2016 election.

1. Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.Photograph by Alex Wong—Getty Images

“Fake culture wars only distract us from our economic decline, and no one in this race is being honest about it except Donald Trump,” the Silicon Valley venture capitalist said onstage at this year’s Republican National Convention.

2. Carl Icahn

Billionaire activist investor Carl IcahnPhotograph by Victor J. Blue—Bloomberg via Getty Images

“I think you need somebody to shake up the establishment in Washington just like you do in corporate America,” Icahn told Fortune earlier this year.

3. Tom Barrack

Tom Barrack, chairman of Colony Capital Inc., speaking at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.Photograph by Daniel Acker—Bloomberg via Getty Images

The private equity veteran endorsed Trump, even though he said Trump once “played [him] like a Steinway piano” during a business deal.

4. Woody Johnson

Victoria’s Secret PINK model Jessica Hart, NY Jets Owner Woody Johnson, and his wife Suzanne Ircha JohnsonMichael Loccisano—Getty Images

The Johnson & Johnson jet-setter plans to host a fundraiser for Trump at his estate in East Hampton.

5. Stephen Feinberg

Stephen FeinbergCourtesy of Dow Jones Events

The cofounder and CEO of private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management previously pumped $200,000 into the political action committee that supported Jeb Bush.

6. Steven Mnuchin

Heather Mnuchin and Steven MnuchinPhotograph by Stefanie Keenan—Getty Images for LACMA

 
The hedge fund manager serves as Trump’s chief fundraiser and as head of his national finance committee.

7. Sheldon Adelson

Sheldon AdelsonPhotograph by Shahar Azran—Getty Images

“He’s our nominee,” the Sands casino magnate told the New York Times in May. “He won fair and square.”

8. Robert Mercer

Bob MercerAndrew Toth—Getty Images

 
This hedge fund manager and his daughter Rebekah have reportedly donated nearly $500,000 each to the Trump campaign.

9. T. Boone Pickens

T. Boone Pickens, chairman and CEO at BP CapitalPhotograph by David Paul Morris—Bloomberg via Getty Images

The 87-year-old Texas oil baron said that he’s “ready to take a chance on it,” and “just in case it’s a mistake, [I’ll] be gone.”

10. Stanley Hubbard

Stanley S. Hubbard and Lorne MichaelsPhotograph by Rahav Segev—WireImage

“I think anybody would be better than Clinton,” the media mogul told MinnPost, an online news outlet focused on all things Minnesota. “I think he’ll moderate himself.”

11. Darwin Deason

Darwin DeasonPhotograph by Hillsman S. Jackson — Southern Methodist University

The tech entrepreneur and his wife Katerina have reportedly donated nearly $500,000 each to Trump’s cause.

12. Wilbur Ross

Wilbur Ross, U.S. billionaire, chairman and CEO of WL Ross & Co. LLC.Photograph by Chris Ratcliffe—Bloomberg via Getty Images

The cost of a plate at a Trump fundraising luncheon held at the investor’s Southampton estate was $25,000.

13. Andrew Beal

CEO of Beal Bank Andy BealPhotograph by Matthew Mahon—Redux

 
“All these politicians with all these specific plans,” the banker groused to the New York Times when explaining his support for Trump. “I think it’s total [expletive].”

14. John Paulson

John A. Paulson, president of Paulson & Co.Rick Maiman—Bloomberg via Getty Images

Paulson, who made his fortune betting against the housing market before its collapse a decade ago, co-hosted a supremely pricey Trump fundraising event at Le Cirque, a French restaurant in Manhattan.

• 
  

Read More

Seven Minutes That Shook the Convention

He walked onto the convention stage Thursday night with his wife beside him, the Constitution to guide him and the pride of a father who knows he has a story to tell.

“Tonight,” said Khizr M. Khan, “we are honored to stand here as the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan, and as patriotic American Muslims with undivided loyalty to our country.”

That was the beginning of a 7-minute speech that became an instant sensation—eloquent, emotional and notably original, coming as it did at the end of four days of highly processed political cliche. Khan, a 66-year-old immigration lawyer from Charlottesville, told the story of his son’s death in combat in Iraq, but he turned that elegy into a viral rebuke of Donald Trump: “You have sacrificed nothing!”

And Khan delivered his broadside without using the teleprompter, with no written notes.

His speech, delivered in prime-time just before Chelsea Clinton, was practiced “in my head and in my mind” and “spoken from the heart,” Khan told POLITICO.

The story of how Khan, who is not even a registered Democrat, came to be standing on a stage where Hillary Clinton would moments later accept the nomination for president, began on June 8, 2004, the day his son was killed by a car bomber in Baqubah.

In 2005, Khan talked about his late son to the Washington Post. He recounted the family’s journey from Pakistan to the United Arab Emirates, and from there to Boston, where Khan completed his L.L.M at Harvard University. The family moved to Maryland in time for Humayun to go to high school. Even back then, Khan told the Post, Humayun “was the middle one, the comforter, the one the cousins would run to when they were being picked on. He gave swimming lessons to disabled children in high school.”

This sense of responsibility for others showed up again when Humayun joined the Army after graduating from high school. Humayun finished his four years of service and was preparing for law school at the University of Virginia when the Army called on him to serve in Iraq. He died there, four months after his arrival, while protecting his unit from a car that was speeding toward his men. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his courage.

Khan didn’t give another interview about his son for a decade, until Donald Trump, who had risen to the top of the pack of GOP candidates, called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. Muslim families like the Khans.

A reporter from Vocativ called Khan and asked him to retell his son’s story in light of the Republican frontrunner’s comments. “Muslims are American, Muslims are citizens…we are proud American citizens. It’s the values [of this country] that brought us here, not our religion. Trump’s position on these issues do not represent those values,” Khan said.

A few days after the article was published, Khan received a call from a member of the Hillary Clinton campaign. The staffer asked him if Hillary Clinton could use his remarks, exactly as written in the interview he had given Vocativ, in a tribute to his son.

“I said ‘Yes, of course.’”

In Minneapolis in December 2015, Hillary Clinton gave a moving tribute to Humayun Khan, who was one of 14 American Muslims who died serving the United States in the 10 years after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Clinton narrated the soldier’s story through his father’s words: “’We still wonder what made him take those 10 steps,’ Khan’s father said…. ‘Maybe that’s the point where all the values, all the service to country, all the things he learned in this country kicked in. It was those values that made him take those 10 steps. Those 10 steps told us we did not make [a] mistake in moving to this country,’ his father finished.”

Later, the Clinton campaign contacted Mr. Khan again and asked if he would be willing to let them use the same tribute during the Democratic convention. Once again, he answered "Yes, of course."

Then they called again: Would you and your wife, Ghazala, be willing to appear on stage after the tribute? The campaign thought it would send a strong message of support for the candidate. He didn’t hesitate.

The fourth time they called they asked: “Would you like to say something at the convention?”

Khan knew this was unusual honor. In an interview he gave the San Francisco Chronicle two days before his speech, he said, “Nowhere but in the United States is it possible that an immigrant who came to the country empty-handed only a few years ago gets to stand in front of patriots and in front of a major political party. ... It is my small share to show the world, by standing there, the goodness of America.”

The Clinton campaign offered to put him in contact with a speechwriter. He declined. He knew what he wanted to say. He practiced at home with his family, leaning on 40 years of experience as an attorney that taught him “how to control my thoughts, my emotions and my message.”

On the day of the speech, he grabbed his worn copy of the Constitution and slipped it in his jacket pocket. He carries it regularly, especially when he travels. “It’s my favorite document. I wanted to use it because I wanted to highlight the protections that immigrants have in this country.”

Walking on stage he knew the pocket-sized book was going to come out of his pocket before the evening was done.

“The main purpose of my speech was to bring awareness about the constitutional protections that each citizen of the United States enjoys and to try to prevent the scare that immigrant communities are feeling about the misinformation that one candidate had been pandering. So the effort was to put these worried minds at ease by asking that question: ‘Have you even read the constitution?’”

In the minute after he finished at 9:18 p.m., observers noted a spike in people searching Google for "register to vote." Andrew Sullivan of New York magazine called the speech “the fulcrum of this election.” Friday morning, as the Khans made their way home to Virginia, people stood in line in the Acela Club waiting room in Philadelphia to shake Khan's hand.

He sounded tired as he spoke to POLITICO by phone. “I’m a little overwhelmed by all the well-wishers.”

Asked if he thought he had accomplished what he had hoped with the speech, Khan responded, “I will continue to work on it, one step at a time.”

Original post found here:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/seven-minutes-that-shook-the-convention-214126

Read More

Dems suggest scrapping Trump’s intelligence briefings

    Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) speaks to reporters at the Capitol on Oct. 28, 2015 in             Washington, D.C. Photo by Gabriella Demczuk/Getty

A few weeks ago, in an unusually silly display, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) formally urgedDirector of National Intelligence James Clapper to block Hillary Clinton’s intelligence briefings ahead of the election. It didn’t take long for Clapper to dismiss the appeal as nonsense.

 

But the practice of providing intelligence briefings to the major-party nominees remains very much on the political world’s mind. Donald Trump, for example, during his ridiculous press conference yesterday, argued that Clinton shouldn’t have access to sensitive information because her top aide, Huma Abedin, “is married to Anthony Weiner, who’s a sleazeball and a pervert…. I don’t like Huma going home at night and telling Anthony Weiner all of these secrets, OK?”

 

Remember, this was an actual argument, presented publicly, by the Republican Party’s national nominee.

 

Soon after, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told the Huffington Post that Trump’s Russian ties create an alarming complication when it comes to these pre-election briefings. “I would suggest to the intelligence agencies, if you’re forced to brief this guy, don’t tell him anything, just fake it, because this man is dangerous,” Reid said. “Fake it, pretend you’re doing a briefing, but you can’t give the guy any information.”

 

Soon after, a House Democrat took the additional step of formally requesting the executive branch “withhold classified materials and briefings from Donald Trump.” Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced the move in a press release late yesterday:

“The Republican nominee’s call for hostile foreign action represents a step beyond mere partisan politics and represents a threat to the republic itself.  It suggests that he is unfit to receive sensitive intelligence, and may willingly compromise our national security if he is permitted to do so,” wrote Cicilline. “With this in mind, I respectfully ask that you withhold the intelligence briefing to Mr. Trump in the interests of national security.”

The letter went on to say Trump’s volatile actions “warrant a re-examination of his access to this sensitive intelligence. [Yesterday’s remarks from Trump] reflect more than just a lack of good judgment – it is an explicit call for intervention from an adversarial foreign power to undermine the American democratic process, and represents an action just short of outright treason.”

 

For the record, I don’t expect the appeal to work. Intelligence agencies wouldn’t want to take sides in a partisan fight during an election year.

 

But Trump’s own actions are raising concerns rarely heard about a presidential candidate.

 

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a Trump supporter, told CNBC’s John Harwood last week that Trump’s support for Putin may change after the presidential hopeful “begins to receive classified briefings” and learns some of the facts.

 

I’m still not sure how anyone can be confident the information Trump receives will be kept confidential.

 

 Original post found here:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/dems-suggest-scrapping-trumps-intelligence-briefings

Read More

What you need to know about Mike Pence

Tasos Katopodis | AFP | Getty Images. A top contender for Donald Trump's VP pick, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has presided over an economic recovery in his state.

Donald Trump 's likely pick for vice president is Indiana Gov. Mike Pence , a conservative politician with years of legislative and executive experience.

Pence will end up being Trump's pick, NBC News has learned . The announcement was originally scheduled for Friday, but has been postponed after a truck plowed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France .

 Follow

Donald J. Trump 

✔@realDonaldTrump

In light of the horrible attack in Nice, France, I have postponed tomorrow's news conference concerning my Vice Presidential announcement.

5:09 AM - 15 Jul 2016

 
•  14,82814,828 Retweets
 
•  41,92641,926 likes

While Pence is relatively soft-spoken compared with the other contenders for the number two spot, he would bring valuable political experience to balance out the ticket, and conservative bona fides that reportedly make him the favored pick of senior GOP officials. He also frequently speaks of his Christian faith, and could prove helpful as Trump seeks to court evangelical Christian voters.

He would also run on a strong executive record, having overseen an economic recovery during his time as governor of Indiana, cutting taxes and expanding early education funding.

Pence served six terms in Congress beginning in 2001, eventually rising to chair the conservative House Republican Study Committee and serve in leadership as the chairman of the House Republican Conference.

While in Congress, Pence also served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, giving him foreign policy and national security experience. Prior to his time in Congress, Pence hosted a conservative talk-radio show, where he called himself "Rush Limbaugh on decaf" for his lower-volume conservative views.

In recent days, Pence has been a strong supporter of Trump and even introduced him at a rally in Indiana this Tuesday. However, Pence previously said he was voting for Trump's challenger Sen. Ted Cruz in Indiana's Republican primary earlier this year. He has alsodistanced himself from some of Trump's policies, and on at least two occasions, Pence sent tweets in disagreement with Trump's policies that were already recirculating on Twitter as Pence's selection appeared all but certain Thursday afternoon.

 Follow

Governor Mike Pence 

✔@GovPenceIN

Trade means jobs, but trade also means security. The time has come for all of us to urge the swift adoption of the Trans Pacific Partnership

11:37 PM - 8 Sep 2014

 
•  1,1851,185 Retweets
 
•  634634 likes

 Follow

Governor Mike Pence 

✔@GovPenceIN

Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional.

9:30 PM - 8 Dec 2015

 
•  7,6807,680 Retweets
 
•  6,2176,217 likes

After more than a decade in Congress, Pence was elected as Indiana's chief executive in 2012, where he oversaw tax cuts and signed into law the first state funding for pre-K education.

He has presided over an economic recovery in the state during his time as governor that would give him a strong record to tout on the campaign trail.

While Indiana's economy falls roughly in the middle of the country, it has had to travel a longer road back from the Great Recession than many other parts of the country. Since 2009, the statewide jobless rate has fallen to 5 percent as of May, the latest data available.

And while governors are limited in how much their policies affect the local economy, Pence can take some credit for the state's economy and budget given his more than three years in the governor's mansion.

In terms of the budget, while other states across the country face huge unfunded liabilities, Indiana by contrast ranks among the lowest in the nation in overall debt and unfunded liabilities on a per-person basis.

Hoosier state residents also have a relatively low state and local tax burden. The average household in the state paid $3,585 in state and local taxes in 2012, the latest data available, compared with a U.S. average of $4,420, according to the Tax Foundation.

— CNBC's John W. Schoen contributed to this report.

Original post found here:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/know-mike-pence-184327892.html

Read More