President Donald Trump: Taking His Business Lessons All The Way To The White House

Blog Post by Deb Dietz

You can’t open a newspaper or log onto your computer these days without reading something about Donald Trump, his views, his opinions or his politics.  Regardless how you feel about him as our President, you can’t ignore the fact that he is an extraordinarily successful businessman.  He’s written many books which have been best sellers, extolling how he became a self-made man, but many of his business principles are simple and straight-forward; principles learned from such greats as Henry Ford, Napoleon, Confucius, Oscar Wilde, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and even concepts defined in Webster’s Dictionary.  Let’s discuss one of Trump’s lessons, “Tempo”. He’s yet to be inaugurated, but he is already moving quickly in starting to solve America’s problems.

“Tempo: the rate of motion or activity” – Webster’s Dictionary.

In one of Trumps discussions about leadership, he talks about the job of a CEO.  He said CEOs are business leaders and must act like generals leading an army of employees.  But CEOs are also conductors, ensuring the tempo and the team all work well together to ensure a wonderful performance.

This notion of tempo is of critical importance in today’s business environment.  Organizations that do not move quickly, that are not agile, will get left behind in today’s competitive landscape.  As a leader in your business, would you define yourself and that of your team as “moving quickly”?  In conductor-speak, that would signify that your tempo is set at an ‘allegro’ pace.  Mr. Trump said his team takes their cues from him, so they work at the tempo that he himself sets.  He calls it his inner metronome that keeps consistent time no matter what’s going on around him and his team adjusts to his tempo.  It’s also referred to as “being in the zone”.  We all know the feeling, when perhaps you’ve procrastinated about a project and a deadline is approaching and all of a sudden you get a spurt of energy, get in the zone, and get the project done.  Something takes over and the work evolves.

If you find yourself and your team not working “in the zone”, perhaps you need an adjustment to your tempo-meter, or your speedometer.  You can’t achieve your objectives if you’re moving at an anti-allegro pace.  SMB Value Partners can support your efforts to meet your business objectives.  We can fill in your orchestra with our resources and ensure your team is working at the right tempo!