About this episode

Greg La Blanc and Jeffrey Sonnenfeld discuss Trump's leadership tactics and how to counter them.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is a professor of management and senior associate dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management. He is also the author, co-author, and editor of a number of books. His works include The Hero's Farewell: What Happens When CEOs Retire, Firing Back: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career Disasters, and, most recently, Trump's Ten Commandments: Strategic Lessons from the Trump Leadership Toolbox with Steven Tian. Greg and Jeff discuss why Jeff thinks leadership scholars and journalists misread Donald Trump. He argues the goal should be not to normalize or judge Trump but to understand Trump’s predictable, strategic patterns—often mistaken as impulsive—so they can be countered, and he criticizes the labeling Trump as “stupid” or “crazy” for helping create widespread complacency. Jeff recounts a contentious 30-year relationship with Donald Trump that began with his Wall Street Journal critiques of “The Apprentice,” and then continued through Trump’s attempts to win him over (including with a position at Trump University), and Trump’s use of tactics like divide-and-conquer, distraction, the “sleeper effect,” and “wall of sound.” The discussion contrasts…

People in this episode

Host: Greg La Blanc

Guest: Jeffrey Sonnenfeld

Topics covered

• leadership tactics
• Donald Trump
• management studies
• strategic patterns
• collective action

Keywords

• Trump
• leadership
• management
• strategic patterns
• collective action
• Jeffrey Sonnenfeld
• Yale

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Yale School of Management, Trump University

Books & works: The Hero's Farewell: What Happens When CEOs Retire, Firing Back: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career Disasters, Trump's Ten Commandments: Strategic Lessons from the Trump Leadership Toolbox

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