Who’s at the Table? (More Leadership Lessons from President Trump)

Once again, the President of the United States provides learning relevant to anyone in a position of leadership.

During an interview conducted by Andrea Mitchell, Intelligence Chief Dan Coats, learns that the President of Russia will be visiting the White House in the fall. The Intel Chief also has no idea what President Trump and President Putin discussed during their private meeting in Helsinki.

Coats handled his reaction pretty well with nervous laughter but I can only imagine his inner voice saying, “WTF” followed by some less than complimentary comments about his boss, or soon-to-be-ex-boss.

Possible lessons learned from this example:

1. Think about who is needed to carry out a decision and invite them to the table.
2. Be a trustworthy leader and have a set of good people close by that you can confide in and trust. It was sad that the head of American Intelligence couldn’t give an affirmative answer when asked if he knew what Trump and Putin discussed in their private meeting.
3. If you’re not good at including relevant people at the table when decisions are made, or you’re lacking skills in how to handle matters of national diplomacy, find people with these skills and then listen to them.