The psychiatric field has been quiet since being Converged into believing patriarchy is a mental disorder. Time to check on them! Ronald Riggio isn’t just a licensed shrink writing for Psychology Today; he’s also Director of the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College in California, a high-status private college, and associate editor of Leadership Quarterly, so when he called Trump a bad leader I took notice. And made popcorn.
The standout feature is that vertical line between his eyebrows, the determination line. Interestingly, the top “intellectual” third of his face is the smallest; the “ambitious” middle and “pragmatic” bottom are matched for size. Hooded and baggy eyes indicate a long history of pain and defensiveness. Flared nostrils can indicate a tendency to hoard wealth. Mouth is small with this lips, so he’s lacking in passion; the quiet type. His red nose suggests he spends leisure time outdoors. Some pessimism in the mouth corners. Flat eyebrows thicker on the inside for a “visionary” approach to work rather than “managerial”.
My read is personal issues prompted his choice of the psychology field. He then went into the “show business” side of the work (low intellectual interest, high routine/ambition interest, not a passive personality) rather than the clinical side (doesn’t talk or smile much). His life story confirms this, although I would not have predicted his focus on the topic of leadership. Natural leaders tend to have strong cheekbones. But not always:
Riggio doesn’t have a triangular face shape so I wouldn’t have predicted him to have Trump Derangement Syndrome, either. Perhaps his unknown internal problem incited that? Peer pressure?
9 Terrible Leadership Lessons From Donald Trump
By Ronald Riggio, PhD, 18 October 2019
As a psychologist, and a parent, I am always concerned about the lessons that young people learn from observing our nation’s and world’s leaders. Leaders who are ethical, honest, inspirational, and accomplish great things are positive role models. Leaders who are self-serving, dishonest, lack empathy and blame others for failure send a negative message to young people.
I’m neither a psychologist nor a parent, yet I still value competent leadership. Thus, I will helpfully correct his upcoming mistakes for posterity.
What about leaders that fit both categories? You can be ethical and honest for purely selfish reasons… because there is a God in Heaven who rewards that kind behavior. Similarly, cruel tyrants sometimes have impressive accomplishments. Those Pharaohs built some damn fine pyramids.
I.ve actually been thinking about the lessons that Donald Trump teaches young people for some time. Although I was vaguely aware of “the Donald” from news about his real estate dealings and seeing him on TV and in movie cameos, he first got my serious attention with his television show, The Apprentice. Students in my class seemed to be taken with the show and his catchphrase, .You’re fired!.
Little-known fact, Trump tried to copyright that phrase and failed.
Having never seen the show, I decided to watch it. As an organizational psychologist, I was worried about the message it was sending, and that led me to the first of the 9 terrible lessons that Donald Trump has taught young people.
*checks* Yes, this is a recent article. Why is Riggio wasting our time with old news? Nobody watched that reality show for leadership principles.
1. Competition and Elimination of Opponents Leads to Business Success. The reason I was concerned about my students watching The Apprentice was that it emphasized competition over collaboration, which ended in the elimination of team members. Although I understand that this was a competitive game show, I was concerned that it promoted lots of bad behaviors . finger-pointing, scapegoating, backstabbing . and ended with team members being fired for relatively minor problems/issues.
Um, yeah. I was ready to snark this but he’s right even though he doesn’t want to be. How can an organizational psychologist and expert in leadership think competition is a bad thing? That’s like a mathematician who can’t make change.
As Donald Trump became Presidential Candidate Trump, I learned more about him and started to find out about other bad lessons that he was imparting to our youth by virtue of his celebrity status and the amount of media attention he was getting.
2. Throw Money at Problems to Make Them Go Away. Presidential Candidate Trump allegedly paid off a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair so that it would not tarnish his image during the election campaign. This suggests that, rather than facing the consequences, wealthy individuals can get away with bad behavior and less fortunate people cannot.
Allegedly? This is a nothingburger. Ronnie, the incompetent socialists you vote for are the people who throw money at problems to make them go away. Titans of the construction industry, not so much.
Real 2. People think positively of you when they see you with big-chested escorts.
When I run for office, my “running mates” will be Sugar Trixie and Danielle Outlaw. Prostitution will be a legit business expense! California!
Oh wait, Danielle Outlaw is the police chief of Portland. I shit you not. Nice rack, though. She keeps her radio in it.
3. Loyalty Is Overrated. If a subordinate disagrees with Trump, he/she is often fired. When investigations are underway, Trump’s associates and underlings take the criticism and blame. A good leader takes responsibility for the actions of team members (think of Harry Truman’s slogan “the buck stops here.).
Trump is the executive officer. His subordinates exist only to assist him. Career bureaucrats acting independently of official leadership is the very definition of a Deep State.
Real 3. There’s no “I” in team. There is only “meat”.
4. Creating Enemies Can Solidify Your Support. A well-known psychological finding is that having a common “enemy” or “threat” can increase in-group solidarity. Donald Trump points out to his supporters a long list of enemies (e.g., Muslims, immigrants, political adversaries, etc.). But this .we-they. effect can fuel divisiveness. a critical problem in our country right now that is getting worse, not better.
I would’ve accepted this one except Trump didn’t do anything to create enemies other than win a big election and boink hot-10 whores. By the way, Ronnie, all those enemies of Trump have a list with two names on it: “white male Christians” followed by “everybody else”. We didn’t select them as enemies; they selected us because we were wealthy and altruistic. Two problems that white America is swiftly being cured of.
Real 4. Organizing against enemies is why we have government in the first place.
5. You Can Lie Without Repercussions. This one is quite puzzling . and I’m an expert on deception.
Oh, really? Then you know what projection looks like:
Where other presidents and government officials are condemned when they lie and often face the consequences, President Trump seems to get away with bald-faced lies with little pushback. At this point, there are so many lies that another obvious lie doesn’t get much notice. This sends the message to young people that it is okay to lie if you can get away with it.
Everything he accuses Trump of is what the Clinton/Obama Machine has actually been doing for years, not to mention most politicians from the beginning of history. In fact, many atheists don’t believe the concept of lying even exists. Ref. postmodernism.
He cited no examples of Trump lying. I know that Trump frequently does lie, but usually as a tactic to smoke out his enemies. It works very well because despite all the accusations of Trump being a liar, Leftoids are continually surprised when he actually does lie.
Real 5. Words are weapons.
6. Opinions Are Just as Good as Facts. When making decisions, President Trump often seems to go with his gut rather than relying on data. As a social scientist, one of the prime lessons that I try to teach students is that opinions and observations are biased (by your own experiences/orientation) and that good decision making should be based on objectively collected data. Trump also seems to eschew the recommendations of experts in favor of like-minded friends and relatives, who provide opinions.
Did Trump ever go wrong with his gut? Has he made obviously bad decisions by trusting his instincts over his advisers? *crickets*
Riggio can’t be a competent researcher with that attitude. There’s no such thing as objectively collected data. Wasn’t he required to design a double-blind study at some point in his academic youth? When I was in college doing my general ed, the grad students practiced research methods on us Psych 101 students. A good learning experience for everybody.
Conversely, opinions don’t come out of nowhere. Trump’s instincts and personal judgment have built him a real estate empire. That sort of thing is so valuable that it’s why we elect our executive officer instead of promoting the oldest bureaucrat in the Redundant Ministry of Redundancy.
Lastly, my blog is chock full of times I outperformed nationally recognized experts… typically by looking to God or remembering “that didn’t work last time”.
You academic cogs are all the same, Riggio. You think that because many smart people have told you what to believe, your beliefs correspond to reality more closely than the people who experience reality for themselves. Like yesterday’s three Nobel Prize-winning economists, none of whom had ever run even a lemonade stand.
Real 6. Don’t trust the Ivory Tower.
7. The Best Defense Is a Strong (Legal) Offense. In many ways, Donald Trump acts like a bully . belittling opponents or those who disagree with him, turning his supporters against his enemies, threatening people who criticize him with lawsuits. The fact that he so often gets away with this behavior sends a terrible message to our young people.
Riggio, are you accusing Trump of doing evil… or of his being able to get away with it while you are not? Seeing as you self-identify as an expert on deception.
Trump doesn’t even have time to file lawsuits; meanwhile, treasonous judges trip over each other to thwart his every attempt at reducing illegal immigration WHICH IS HIS JOB while his on-paper allies stand with the Democrats until Trump stops rocking their boat, the SS Sinecure.
Real 7. Crush you enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentations of women like Ronald Riggio.
8. Others Are a Means to an End. Donald Trump has burned through more cabinet members and advisors than his predecessors and has a tendency to hire and then discard and disparage people. Good leaders value team members, support them and work to develop them and their capacity as team members and future leaders.
Riggio is showing his reality-bubble limitations here. “Member of Trump’s Cabinet” is not a lifetime appointment that needs to offer growth opportunities. At the high levels, you’re supposed to already be expert, and when your specific skillset is no longer needed… to say nothing of attempts to backstab the boss… it’s perfectly normal to be scooted out the door at the executive officer’s convenience.
Trump isn’t running a kindergarten for precious snowflakes and thank God, he doesn’t act like it either.
Real 8. Mission focus is essential to good leadership.
9. If You Are Famous/Powerful/Rich, You Can Get Away with Anything. I am almost quoting Donald Trump here. Philosopher and leadership scholar Terry Price talks about how power is associated with .exception-making. . believing, because of your status/power, that the rules that apply to everyone else don’t apply to you. This is the main reason why leaders willfully engage in unethical, and sometimes illegal, behaviors . believing that they are the exception.
Very true in the mortal life, and it is what Trump lives… his spiritual adviser was the Bride of Cain, last I checked… but there is a God in Heaven who has appointed Judgment Day so that nobody will get away with anything.
Real 9. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
What, no #10?
Riggio has obviously never been a leader, despite holding the title of Director, and his apparent allergies to competition and expectations of performance explain much about his choice of career.
Real 10. Don’t expect Bubble Boy to run with the wolves.
So, if these are 9 bad lessons from a powerful leader, what defines a good leader?
Good leaders:
1. Unify and Don’t Divide.
Good leaders do not create divisions in their constituents.
Trump didn’t create division. He wanted to preserve the existing division between USA and the rest of the world. By definition, unity is a globalist priority, not a nationalist priority.
2. Achieve Results, But Limit Collateral Damage.
A good leader is effective, but not at the cost of hurting the well-being of followers, or harming the environment, or turning friends into foes.
Translation, a good leader’s first priority is upholding the Narrative.
3. Share the Leadership With Followers.
They work with followers, consulting with them, caring for them, and developing their shared leadership capacity.
4. Leave the Team, Organization, or Nation Better Off Than They Found It.
Oh, like whores!
That ends the article but let’s go back to #3 with Boromir’s facepalm. That’s care-based morality. Practical leadership, what Riggio has been refuting all through this article, is a hierarchy. Leaders lead, followers follow. The leader provides the resources but he’s not their mother. He’s got a job to do in the face of problems and/or opposition and anybody not useful for that job is off the team. That’s masculine.
Riggio’s conception of leadership is feminine. Why the team exists is less important than everybody playing nice with each other, helping each other’s career, taking turns planning the bake sale, cooperating and sharing. Neither winners nor losers. Unity uber alles.
We see how women can contribute to the family and other organizations. They keep it running smoothly, make it a pleasant place, alleviate the burdens. But they don’t LEAD. They don’t call the shots and don’t honestly want to. The mantle of authority is too heavy for them even though they lust for it. The work is too hard and injurious.
There are no leaders except male leaders willing… and permitted… to kick ass when asses need kicking. I bet that’s why Riggio has that strong determination line on his forehead. He wants to be a leader but for whatever reason, failed or wouldn’t try. Or was filled with too many lies, too soon.
So he ended up a kitchen bitch, a man acting like a woman, a male feminist, repeating Adam’s sin of accepting female leadership. That way lies ruin for him and everybody.
Danielle Outlaw is the police chief of Portland, Oregon? By this point, I’d guess that she has heard every pun that there is about her surname, but still – I’m grinning in disbelief.
Here is her official bio from the City of Portland; apparently, she started as a cop in Oakland, California, where she worked for 20 years before she moved to Portland. She’s a regular Californian, Gunner!
You will also be thrilled, no doubt, to hear that she gave a TEDX talk (which you can find here) titled “Policing in America: The Road to Reconciliation”. I concur with you Gunner about her rack, but beyond that the mayor of Portland is very satisfied with her work, but petitions that she learn even more about local politics:
Mayor gives Portland police chief top marks, but tells her to learn more about politics
Also from the Oregonian/Oregon Live: Portland police chief Danielle Outlaw on police shootings, protests, and staffing shortages. Both of these articles published just today, and written by a certain Ms. Maxine (((Bernstein))).
Well…
The memes really do write themselves, don’t they?
Thanks for the post.