[January 22, 2017] The study and observation of senior leaders in action is required for learning how to be effective leaders. This past Friday, I promised to provide feedback on the transition of Donald Trump into the presidency of the United States. I will occasionally come back to this. For today the topic will be President Trump’s Inauguration Address.
To be effective and successful in a speech, there are several long-standing criteria. It is interesting that a number of modern political criteria have recently entered speech making (like political correctness) that are changing the dynamics of senior leader communications. The question is whether these are working.
“From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, it’s going to be America First.” – U.S. President Donald Trump in his Inaugural Address, January 20, 20171
I’m not going to do a line-by-line analysis of Trump’s speech, although it might be instructive. What I intend to do is lay down a basic foundation for Trump’s communications. What he is doing is attempting to show, like any senior head-of-state would do, that he plans to carry out his campaign promises. For a politician, he is unusually clear in his words.
If you would like to go back to some of my earlier comments on how leaders can improve clarity, see links here, here, and here.
Overall, I think Trump’s speech was excellent, especially for a political speech, because he stated his vision and how to achieve it … he did this in plain, easy to understand language. His message was straight forward; America comes first. For doubters, he listed the ways he would make sure this is done; by starting to win again, to bring back our jobs and wealth, building new roads, highways, bridges, airports, tunnels, etc., getting people off welfare and back to work, and much more.
“This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” – U.S. President Barack Obama in his nomination victory speech, June 3, 20082
Many leaders cloak their messages in fantastic words (like past-president Obama) that make us feel good but have little substance or concrete action attached to it. Those same leaders complain about problems, promise to fix it, and then do nothing. Trump has promised to stop politicians from misleading the public. I doubt that can be done but the fact that he put them on notice is good to hear.
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- For the full text and video of President Trumps Inauguration Address, go to: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/politics/trump-inaugural-address/index.html
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/03/obamas-nomination-victory_n_105028.html