Larry D. Lauer

A colleague once told me that my problem was I thought every problem was a communication problem. After 50 years of working nonstop to understand the dynamics of communication I must say I eventually did conclude that big problems usually do have a communication dimension significant enough to be the main problem.

This spring I have been teaching a graduate seminar on the communication dimensions of leadership. When I first planned this seminar I had no idea that a very bizarre presidential election resulting in a very unconventional president would demand that I take a deep dive into trying to understand what was happening… especially from a communication perspective.

Constant outrageous remarks guaranteed daily media visibility. Widespread dissatisfaction with lawmakers in Washington guaranteed an audience willing to listen. Unpredictability appeared to be a strategy that was working. And for a period of time I must admit I began questioning the lesson I thought I had learned…  that a set of basic ideas which enabled some degree of predictability was necessary to establish and maintain leadership credibility.

After several months of reassessment, however, I am once again confident that my lesson-learned was correct: Telling audiences what they want to hear can gain temporary followers. But ultimately, credibility built on proven truthfulness and trust are essential for most followers to continue following. Performers without substance will be cast aside. And autocrats without trust will eventually be overthrown.

With this in mind it has been interesting to watch wishful pundits change their commentaries to “hopeful” after Mr. Trump flipped campaign promises to make several conventional military action decisions. But is it not true that 70 years of past behavior will clearly communicate a person’s mind-set and character? And what does it tell you when that behavior featured endless lying, cruel attacks, bullying, vulgar public remarks, and totally disruptive off-the-wall comments and tweets?

Fifty years of experience as a practitioner, writer, teacher and consultant tells me that this kind of unpredictable, disruptive, contradictory, and often cruel behavior does not produce a set of sustainable governing ideas or a trustworthy leader. We do not have “a failure to communicate” here. Rather, we have an embarrassing failure to recognize what was being communicated all along.