Clinton Vs. Trump: Profs On Leadership Styles

A CALL FOR VISION AND ‘INSPIRING IDEAS’

Dave Ulrich, the Rensis Likert professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and a partner at The RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations and leaders deliver value, studies leadership impacts on organizations. Talking by email from Norway, he told Poets&Quants that “leadership is not about the leader, but how the leader helps others be better.”

Ulrich, who has published over 200 articles and book chapters and over 25 books, for the most part spoke only in general terms about leadership; he did not name either Trump or Clinton. “Leaders create leadership by getting others to adopt and adapt their ideas,” he says. “Leadership value is defined by the receiver of the leader’s ideas more than the leader.”

Ulrich, once ranked the “No. 1 management educator and guru” by BusinessWeek and selected by Fast Company as one of the 10 most innovative and creative leaders, says if one of the candidates can win by inspiring, that candidate will be more successful than one who wins simply by being the “lesser of two evils.”

“I visited an organization who said that their strategy was ‘to be the least worst in their industry.’ We seem to be moving this way in this presidential election,” Ulrich says. “It is better to win through inspiring ideas of a great future than to not lose by creating fear and building negativity in the other candidate.

“It would be delightful if a candidate shined a light on a vision for the future and how to get there rather than belittling the other.”

SNAPSHOT: HOW THEY CLOSED THEIR CONVENTION ACCEPTANCE SPEECHES

Sydney Finkelstein, Julie Hennessy, and Dave Ulrich — like most of the country — have learned most of what they know about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump from press accounts and from observing the candidates’ public events and public behavior, forming profiles based on those observations. Here’s a snapshot of how the candidates ended their respective convention acceptance speeches in July.

Donald Trump: “No longer can we rely on those elites in media, and politics, who will say anything to keep a rigged system in place. Instead, we must choose to believe in America. History is watching us now. It’s waiting to see if we will rise to the occasion, and if we will show the whole world that America is still free and independent and strong.”

Hillary Clinton: “We lost my mother a few years ago. I miss her every day. And I still hear her voice urging me to keep working, keep fighting for right, no matter what. That’s what we need to do together as a nation. Though ‘we may not live to see the glory,’ as the song from the musical ‘Hamilton’ goes, ‘let us gladly join the fight.’ Let our legacy be about ‘planting seeds in a garden you never got to see.’”

DT: “My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: ‘I’m With Her.’ I choose to recite a different pledge. My pledge reads: ‘I’M WITH YOU — THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.’ I am your voice.”

HC: “That’s why we’re here … not just in this hall, but on this Earth. The Founders showed us that. And so have many others since. They were drawn together by lover of country, and the selfless passion to build something better for all who follow. That is the story of America. And we begin a new chapter tonight.”

DT: “So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every child who dreams for their future, I say these words to you tonight: I’m With You, and I will fight for you, and I will win for you. To all Americans tonight, in all our cities and towns, I make this promise: We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again. Thank you.”

HC: “Yes, the world is watching what we do. Yes, America’s destiny is ours to choose. So let’s be stronger together. Looking to the future with courage and confidence. Building a better tomorrow for our beloved children and our beloved country. When we do, America will be greater than ever. Thank you and may God bless the United States of America!”

SEE ALSO THE B-SCHOOL PROFESSOR AND DONALD TRUMP or WHARTONITES CONDEMN ALUM DONALD TRUMP