Good Leadership

Our President Elect has taken aim at the good men and women of our intelligence community. Perhaps he is right that they got it all wrong.  But I am reminded of something I was taught as a brand new manager: good leaders praise in public, criticize in private.

Looking back over the campaign, Mr. Trump's tweets, comments, etc., it seems that he was absent the day that lesson was taught. What might be the outcome of such behavior? A dissolving base of support. First you undermine this party, then another and another. Soon you have no one supporting you but a very small group of sycophants. How long will the strongest minds in Trump's cabinet last? I worry for General Mattis, Rex Tillerson, and others. Will Trump hesitate to undermine them if he disagrees with something they say? We already saw his inability to hide his displeasure with Pence during one of the debates, so I doubt it.

Based on just these few data points, prepare for a revolving door in the White House, at the very highest levels.

May my prediction be wrong, and that Trump demonstrates the graces and soft skills of leadership and statecraft.