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Lesson 367 May VS. Trump: A Communicator’s Perspective

Posted in International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Public Affairs, Strategic Communication on January 31, 2017| 1 Comment »

The new British Prime Minister, Theresa May, recently came to the US on a mission. Her first stop was the United Nations, and she came prepared. Her address was comprehensive, articulate, and carefully shaped to reveal the UK’s position on a wide range of international issues, from Russia to NATO to Syria. It was a major address, well crafted and effectively delivered. And it set her up for a visit the next day to the White House.

The purpose of her visit to the US was to lay the groundwork for a strong partnership with the new Trump administration. At home she will be managing the consequences of Britain pulling out of the EU, and she sees similarities with what happened in the American election. Both situations were driven by voters who felt left behind by globalization. Both voters saw their jobs being lost when companies moved operations abroad. And both voters were also fearing the impact of immigration and large numbers of refugees.

But can this Trump-May partnership work?  Can the earlier Thatcher-Reagan duo be their model?

From a communication perspective it was interesting to observe the difference in presence and body language between the two at the press conference following their White House meeting. She stood tall looking and sounding like a Prime Minister. She even demonstrated a little gamesmanship by noting that Trump offered his support for NATO in their private talks, thinking he would not mention it with reporters present. But what was most striking was that her remarks were about issues. And when Trump began to explain his position he suddenly seemed to be lost for words. Then he quickly uttered something like “it’s going to be really good,” and stopped talking.

What’s new in this fast-moving digital world is how a leader with real substance and solid experience on a wide range of issues may not win the day over one who simply conveys self-confidence and makes repeated bold assertions. May wants the US to be her partner. But at the end of the day who will be the lead partner… the one with substance or the one with endless daily tweets?

We could conclude that bold might win at first but substance will win the day. But the truth is we really don’t know. What we do know is that in the short run we will be living in a world where explaining well thought-out ideas and actions is on the decline, and creating confusing chaos with disruptive tweets is becoming the norm.

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Lesson 366 Polarization is Self-Perpetuating

Posted in Leadership, Lessons Learned, Public Affairs, Strategic Communication on January 26, 2017| Leave a Comment »

A number of years ago the political parties formed Republican and Democratic districts all across the country.  This meant that elections would almost guarantee party victory and eliminate the honest discussion of competing ideas right at the outset.

Newly elected legislators would then arrive in Washington in the middle of a competitive partisan environment, discovering that huge amounts of time would be spent on political fighting, continuous fundraising, and there would be little if any time for governing or for cross-party socializing. The result was gridlock, and a situation where our representatives would not even know each other very well.

People all across America found this appalling. But somehow legislators missed or just ignored this growing discontent. Many of these people had real problems requiring solutions.  Companies had moved out of their towns creating high unemployment. Salaries were not keeping up with overall economic growth. Poverty was increasing. Drugs were destroying lives. Gangs were more violent, and problems with some police departments were not being addressed.

This opened the door for a Washington outsider like Donald Trump to gradually find these people and promise to solve their problems. It did not matter that he verbally attacked innocent people, made outrageous pronouncements, and even was vulgar. His promises to solve all these problems was enough to secure their support.

Now president, he is giving endless executive orders everyday that disrupt government operations and social programs. They target the promises he made, but disrupt more than they solve. And in addition he makes threats that serve as attention diversions, putting the press in a quandary about what and how to report. Even his own party has to ignore his daily rants in order to move its partisan priorities ahead. So polarization continues and both parties remain caught up in it.

What we have now is a self-perpetuating cycle that’s generating chaos at home and abroad. And the social and leadership communication dynamics of the situation may already have taken on a life of their own. In fact, it could be that this entire situation will have to self-destruct before a more rational system can emerge.

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Lesson 365: Trump: A Communication Analysis

Posted in International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Planning, Public Affairs, Strategic Communication on January 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Somewhere in the avalanche of pundit commentaries following the inaugural address I remember ‘hearing the words “Trump is more interested in America’s competitive interests than in our founding values.”  From my perspective as a communicator, that characterization rang true.

In fact, listening carefully to Trump’s actual content it seemed to me that he made “America first” his primary value, and possibly his only one. He asserted that coming together was important but there was no empathetic content or even tone there to support it.

He made firm promises to literally fix all of America’s infrastructure problems… from roads, to overpasses, to bridges, to tunnels, to organizations. All of them.  He also said all the problems of the inner cities… from poverty, to drugs, to police violence, and all that “carnage” will be fixed immediately. And he further asserted that beginning right now it will be “America first” in all dealings around the world.

Thinking as a communication analyst, experience teaches me that with speeches like this audiences will fall into at least three response categories: First, there are those who see these pronouncements as huge over statements; they don’t expect much of this to actually happen; but they are willing to hope that some improvements will be made. Second, there are those who are in really dire situations and actually do expect significant improvements in their personal lives. And finally, there are those who see all of this a pure theatre; they see the lies, personal attacks and vulgarities of the campaign as character traits, and therefore find that the tone of “America first” so aggressively stated to be a threat to the world order, and maybe even world peace.

If poles were completely reliable we could use audience research to see how many people are in each of these categories. We could then determine each category’s preferred media, and we could contact each of them… learning from and responding to interactive dialogue. In this way pragmatic problem solvers could try to work gradually at adjusting each overstatement to doable improvements.

But alas, the campaign proved that our polling is not yet accurate enough to accomplish this. And extreme polarization in congress currently continues without any hope of collaborative pragmatic planning. So from a communication perspective, we are beyond “calculated risk” well in to “high risk” territory.

Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal” argues that keeping the other guys guessing is good. But the entire history of foreign policy, diplomacy, and at least two world wars would warn that this approach could result in international chaos, or even worse.

 

 

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Lesson 364 Communicating Institutions in 2017

Posted in Leadership, Lessons Learned, Strategic Communication on January 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Will the “repeated lies sound true, vicious attacks are OK, and vulgarities are common place” dynamics of the recent presidential campaign influence strategic communication practices in the days ahead?  Only time will tell. We all need to become analysts. And we must be prepared to adjust.

For institutions, name visibility and authentic brand identity will be more important than ever.  Mr. Trump’s name is his brand, and also his primary business asset. But his asset will come under intense scrutiny, and therefore will be vulnerable. What about your institution’s brand?

In this environment institutional leaders must be prepared for their institution’s brand authenticity to be tested. Effectiveness in today’s world will require cutting though messy clutter with simple, clear and consistent messages, and by staying focused on priority market segments… using their preferred multi-media platforms and tactics.

In these cluttered and confusing times I also suggest forming educational and non-profit/NGO partnerships, but doing it carefully. I am recalling how a small private university in the east formed a partnership with the United Nations Association which instantly lifted the visibility and credibility of its new international studies program. I believe the same result can be achieved in other creative ways with the right non-profits, NGOs, or associations.

It’s especially important now to understand that “everything communicates,” institutional name, leadership behavior, message, tone, and even the right partnerships. Trump’s future success will be determined by an evolving landscape. Yours may be too. But you should have better odds for success because of the authenticity of your brand, and your understanding of how to use multi-media platforms and tactics effectively.

One final thought. You may need to make adjustments as you monitor this changing landscape. This reminds me of the work of MIT Professor Peter Senge and his thoughts about becoming a learning organization. Processes that keep your organization learning about critical changes in its business and markets are especially important right now. I recommend that you google, Peter Senge!

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Lesson 362 2016: A Year of Misinformation and Confusion

Posted in Leadership, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Public Affairs, Strategic Communication on January 2, 2017| Leave a Comment »

The one thing that characterized 2016 more than anything was a complete breakdown in political communication. Cool Hand Luke’s famous line “What we have here is a failure to communicate” was a reality every day in every way.

While communication always breaks down initially, some understanding is possible over time with clarity, consistency and persistence. Between a constant flow of lies, fake news, 24/7 breaking news clutter, and politician initiated miscommunication, the citizen consumer had no frame of reference  from which to understand much of anything.

Responding to the belief that Americans are tired of assuming the burden of other countries’ wars, Obama began a policy of seeking to form coalitions of countries to assume the responsibility. When that was not working well enough many pundits criticized, and then later suggested much the same thing.

Mr. Trump was one of those critics, yet much of his attacks amounted to a series of daily contradictions. CNN defended its out-of-balance coverage of the Trump “rallies” by arguing that his outrageous comments were always news and had to be covered and fact-checked. But we quickly learned in 2016 that after the rally fact-checking never gets back into the news strong enough to correct the situation.

Reporting remarks about building a wall between the US and Mexico, immediately eliminating ISIS, fixing inner city problems, belittling the UN, threatening NATO support, etc. without explaining implications and contradictions suggests the need for a whole new approach to journalism.

For example, is it responsible to give Mr. Putin credit for achieving a ceasefire in Syria as if it’s a victory over the US when he authorized air strikes in Syria that killed thousands of innocent civilians and children to achieve it?  Too many reports had a dramatic tone of declaring a winner who sidelined the US, rather than communicating the complexity and contradictions of the total situation. One analyst reinforced this misleading tone by suggesting that Putin will continue hacking because he is winning and outscoring the US.

In the past, balanced television reporting was simply putting both sides on camera and letting them argue. In the digital age, however, this has only led to extreme polarization, outrageous remarks, lies, and consumer confusion.

2017 will require the news media to think beyond the headline potential of outrageous remarks and tweets. The main lesson of 2016 teaches us that politics and policy can no longer just be about star making and personality contests. We must now focus on evaluating the substance of ideas… and we will need the help of very smart journalists to do it.

 

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Lesson 361 Christmas: A Time for Sorting Things Out

Posted in Leadership, Lessons Learned, Public Affairs, Strategic Communication on December 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Santa Claus is a really big idea, one that sometimes has to be explained to children. As a child I had all the questions about flying reindeer and fat men coming down chimneys. But the very the image of a truly generous character representing gift-giving, wonderful Christmas colors, decorations, music, and family traditions every year had me believing in Santa Claus very quickly. “Yes,” I would  eventually tell my grandchildren, “he is as real as anything else!”

But what about two other really big ideas that must be dealt with this time of year, God and Jesus? Well, eventually the wonder of a living world with communicating plants and thinking animals and conscious human beings was evidence enough for me. And Jesus’ connection to God was evidenced by the consistency of his behavior, a story told and retold in mostly the same ways for centuries. His fundamental message that human wealth is not about money or always winning just makes sense. Rather, human riches are better found in the “Golden Rule” and helping others. Isn’t it interesting that many of these ideas also drove the thinking of our own founding fathers?

So this year after reminding myself that I had already sorted out these big ideas, I found myself struggling to reaffirm my belief in another really unique and beautiful one… the “idea of America,” the one that our founders had in mind.

We have been through rough times this past year. We experienced a mean-spirited and gridlocked  Congress followed by an election that brought out the worst language and embarrassing behavior imaginable. My fear at this holiday season is that we are very close to losing our big idea, the one that the world admires most.

America is not fundamentally about the superiority of business success, winning at all cost, or personal wealth, or fame. While these can sometimes be celebrated, they are not fundamental. The unique and compelling “idea of America” is simply in its basic commitment to genuine equal opportunity, personal freedom, and justice for all.

During this holiday season it is critically important that we resolve to not lose our way in 2017.  We must reaffirm and reassert our true values.

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Lesson 360 Truth… or Consequences!

Posted in Leadership, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Public Affairs, Strategic Communication on December 20, 2016| 1 Comment »

You may have heard reporters describe their job as simply reporting what people say and do. The implication is that if things are said that are not true it is up to someone else to point that out. Then the press can report it. In other words, it is not the reporter’s job to be the truth police.

But the “new media” and 24/7 cable worlds have demonstrated that reporting endless untruths on both sides only leads to extreme polarization, gridlock, vulgarity, and consumer confusion. In other words, reporting alone has not solved the problem.

The president-elect is fond of Twitter. He tweets day and night. So, does this practice allow him to bypass the press? The press seems concerned. But truthfully the situation is much worse!  The press actually has been treating his tweets as “breaking news” press releases. They reprint them word-for-word right up front, and TV reporters display them prominently on the wide-screen.

Just as manipulative has been his practice of inviting all types of people to visit him in Trump Tower.  Anticipating a little drama, the press sets-up live cameras in the lobby just to photograph the traffic. Grabbing the most surprising visitors for comments becomes a stream of breaking news blurbs. In the end this is nothing more than brilliant hotel advertising and star building manipulation from the Trump camp.

Maybe the time has come for reporters to face the fact that if they do not call out lies and ethics violations no one else can with enough long-term sustainable visibility? Let’s face it, significant traditional American values are suddenly missing from our political discourse and it’s critically important that this be given ongoing coverage. After all, what is omitted from the founders’ fundamental “idea of America” is also important news!

Maybe broadcast organizations should now borrow from newspapers and establish editorial boards to aggressively investigate and factually report such matters every night in prime time. In the final analysis, when lies proliferate and repeated manipulation is tolerated, news too frequently becomes indistinguishable from “fake news.”

So can the press help us understand this new media world and find the truth in it… or must we suffer the consequences of vulgar language, lies, clutter, and chaos? A better educated media consumer could be another answer, but I am afraid we no longer have enough time.

 

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Lesson 359 Themes of a Trump Presidency

Posted in International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Public Affairs, Strategic Communication on December 12, 2016| 1 Comment »

Recently I attended national security programs in Washington at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Atlantic Council. Together they provided helpful context for understanding the likely priorities of a Trump presidency and how to compensate for the uncertainties.

My take-a-way was that we can expect much less presidential interest in leading with traditional American values (i.e. human rights and participatory democracy), a significant and rapid military build up, and much more emphasis on individually negotiated bilateral trade agreements, including with China.

From my vantage point as a strategic and international communication professional, writer, and teacher, I concluded the following:

(1) If the Trump administration has little interest in championing human rights and democracy, advancing the American brand of “individual freedom and justice” will get little attention.

(2) Without American domestic and foreign policies based on fundamental human values there will be little hope for the U.S. retaining its leadership of the free world.

(3) Our allies in Europe, the Middle East and Asia will no longer have a way of anticipating our response to the inevitable crises that will be threatening them.

During years of international teaching and consulting I experienced just how much people around the world admire the basic “idea of America.” People everywhere wear American jeans and T-shirts until they wear out, listen endlessly to “American songbook” music and jazz, and watch every Hollywood movie that comes their way, all because they admire the human values and promise of freedom they symbolize.

One major speaker at the CSIS program summed it up this way. He pleaded for hundreds of NGO’s, associations, universities, institutions and individuals to plan major activities and events that will compensate for a predictable lack of focus on the most basic of American values in the Trump administration’s approach to governing. In other words, in this time of uncertainty we must all become citizen diplomats and demonstrate that the “idea of America” that the world admires is still very much alive!

 

 

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Lesson 358 Yes, Mr. Trump, Words Matter!

Posted in International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Public Affairs, Strategic Communication on December 5, 2016| 1 Comment »

Now that the election is over pundits are pointing out that what was said during the campaign will fade away to the background. They explain that from the very beginning name calling was common and false accusations were always made. Campaigning was one thing. Governing was something else.

In today’s digital world, however, language powerfully defines one’s character. And strong images of questionable character linger for long periods of time. Now that the president-elect is taking his reality show campaign act out on a victory tour, that same gross and crude character will be recalled and indelibly stamped into too many heads… much the same as compelling song lyrics linger there for years.

What’s more, how does someone like this with an unbridled, irreverent, and mean-spirited bent  function as a legitimate and effective leader of the free world?  How does such a person pull allies together and inspire them to do wonderful and bold things just because they are noble and right? Truly, how in the world can ethical republicans rally around such a nightly “tweeter” of untrustworthy rhetoric?

The basic founders’ idea of a free, democratic, and equally just America constitutes a brand identity that is admired around the world. It is all about trust, reliability, and authenticity. And the bearer of that message must be just as authentic. What he says will either reinforce this promise, or it will cancel it out.

Political parties in the future must require a much higher level of decorum and rhetoric from any candidate they endorse. We simply must protect the integrity of the American brand, and continue our hard-earned right to lead the free world. Yes, Mr. Trump your words really do matter.

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Lesson 357 Leaders Who “Tweet”

Posted in Leadership, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Public Affairs, Strategic Communication on November 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Is it possible for leaders to use new media technology such as Twitter to communicate directly with their constituents, and thereby ignore the news media?  The answer is yes, and no!

Since the digital technology revolution changed the world, strategic communicators have been using new media tools to communicate directly with their audiences with great success. These tools certainly mean that institutions and governments no longer have to rely on the press to connect with their constituents. It is indeed possible to send messages to audiences exactly as leaders shape them. The president-elect did not invent this idea… it’s been going on for a long time.

However, the need to have strong relationships with the press cannot go away. It is deadly to think otherwise:

First, those relationships are necessary because dealing effectively with issues and crises require it.  Otherwise, relentless investigative journalism will ultimately undermine a leader’s credibility. Leaders must look like they know what they are doing in a crisis, and they cannot do it without handling themselves confidently with reporters.

Second, 24/7 news media will be writing stories with or without the cooperation of leaders, and will be using the same technology tools to reach their constituents directly.

Third, third-party endorsements are powerful on those occasions when it is possible to get your  message to the public through the news media.

And fourth, there always will be huge numbers of people reacting negatively to leader “tweets” and thereby getting energized and mobilized by the digital and traditional media they follow. Special interest websites, cable channels with viewpoints, cause driven bloggers, and endless other issue-focused social media sites will be building and activating their own followers in opposition.

The fact that a president of the United States stays up all night “tweeting” to avoid talking to the press will not insulate him from the daily negative impact of endless messages generated by a relentless army of 24/7 journalists using the same technology.

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