The role of an executive in any organization, especially the chief executive, is to have a vision and be able to articulate it in a way that makes others want to be a part of making it happen.
The question is how to get people on board with it, not just mechanically doing their jobs that they’ve been assigned in the process, but truly buying into the vision, and being inspired enough to take action.
Last night was the fourth and final night of the RNC, and in his (nearly two-hour) acceptance speech for the nomination, Donald Trump did an exceptional job of demonstrating many of the elements that it takes to do exactly that.
Let’s look at where he delivered in spades, where there was room for improvement, and the relevance for how we can apply those lessons in our daily responsibilities as leaders, personally and professionally.
LAYING OUT A VISION
First and foremost, Trump delivered on articulating a vision that got people excited.
First and foremost, Trump delivered on articulating a vision that got people excited.
He outright stated that our “expectations are not big enough. Time to start expecting and demanding the best leadership in the world.” Then he illustrated what that would look like, ranging from lower taxes, inflation and crime to increasing manufacturing, oil production and national security. The examples were clear, simple, and concrete.
He also addressed the “what’s in it for us” value of achieving his vision (e.g. national safety with a stronger southern border wall), and the projected pain we would experience if the current administration continued (e.g. more fentanyl deaths, more violent crime committed by illegal immigrants.)
The pictures he painted were vivid images with palpable consequences, for better or worse.
PASSIONATE, BALANCED DELIVERY
Second, his delivery was strong, consistent and passionate, yet, ironically, more subdued than anything we’ve seen from him in the last 8+ years. I didn’t feel like he was yelling at me the entire time, like I did with far too many other speakers over the last four days.
There was a lack of vitriol in his voice this time, and it was disarming, making skeptical listeners more open to hearing what he was saying (whether or not it impacted how they processed the meaning of what he said.)
Was he humbled a bit, with a slightly new perspective on life and responsibility after a failed assassination attempt last Saturday? Maybe. Was it for show? I don’t know. I do know, though, that it was a welcome change that made it much easier to listen.
“TWEETABLE AND REPEATABLE” REFRAINS
Back in 2016, arguably, his greatest campaign messaging strategy was what I referred to as his use of “tweetable and repeatable” messages: short phrases with simple concrete images, that were easy to understand, remember, and repeat for all.
In the 2020 race, for whatever reason, he abandoned most of them, with the exception of his exceptionally effective campaign slogan: Make America Great Again.
Now in 2024, he’s figured out how to milk that slogan for all that it’s worth with a simple adjective substitution: Make America _____ Again:
- Strong
- Safe
- Wealthy
- Free
And the list goes on… but no matter what adjective he or other party members used throughout the convention, it just worked. It’s catchy, meaningful, memorable, and reinforces any image he wants to paint of the future. That makes it powerful.
(Note to the Democrats: “Build Back Better” was a terrible slogan for more reasons than I can list here.)
Now, that’s not to say that he didn’t say or do things that also undermined or otherwise detracted from his credibility and effectiveness.
UNDERMINING YOUR OWN CREDIBILITY
For example, Trump’s favorite rhetorical device is using superlative forms, describing something as “the best/worst/biggest/most beautiful ___…” and often further emphasizing the magnitude with “…in the history of the country/world/time.”
When leveraged effectively as a bit of artistic license, it can inspire things like pride and hope and or pain and fear were necessary, to get people to move in different directions A convention hall or rally event that’s full of “uber-fans” was the perfect place to leverage that tool and play to his audience.
To others listening, however, (and if any of us were to do it int he workplace,) that degree of hyperbole undermines credibility, taking the statements from simply being exaggerations to being utterly eyeroll-worthy.
And when he uses that kind of hyperbole not just once or twice, but no less than 48 times (yes, I counted; there could have been more that I missed) in the approximately one hour and 40-minute speech (that’s 100 minutes), that brings the rate to nearly one instance every two minutes!
That’s a lot of cheers if you’re preaching to the converted, so to speak, or a buy-in-destroying number of eyerolls if you’re not.
And, of course, there is a difference between a statement that is exaggerated and one that is outright nonsensical.
At one point he claimed that “107% of all jobs that are being created are being taken by illegal immigrants.”
Um… huh?
(Either that was a rather egregious misstatement, or, well, something he just made up. There might be a third option, but I’m not sure what it could be.)
If the integrity of the content stated is so blatantly called into question, that obviously can undermine the inspirational impact.
A convention is supposed to be a giant pep rally, getting people excited, hopeful, and motivated to go out and vote. As always, love him or hate him, he did that exceptionally well.
The question for us is: How can we use these lessons to inspire our employees, board members, clients and collaborators, and of course VOTERS, so they genuinely want to hear our story, see our vision, and get on board with it?
