Donald Trump: Natural Born Leader

Donald Trump: Natural Born Leader

What does a leader look like? Well that’s simple they are tall, handsome, intelligent, Caucasian, and rich. They have beautiful wives and spend most of their time in the Bahamas on an enormous yacht. Now look again, minus the stereotypes. What does a leader really look like? Leaders come in all shapes, sizes, races, genders, and ages. Leaders can be found anywhere doing anything no matter how important or how routine the task. Leadership by definition is the ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute to the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members (McShane, S.L., & Von Glinow, M.A, 2005). This is the accepted definition created by numerous scholars from various countries, all agreeing that a true leader embodies at least one if not all of these characteristics. For the purpose of this work a well known business man will demonstrate the different ways in which leadership by definition is accomplished.

Long before, “You’re fired!” was a household phrase all over America, it was apparent Donald Trump had a gift. Donald Trump was born in Queens, New York on the 14th of June 1946. Donald was the fourth of five children of Frederick C. and Mary MacLeod Trump. Frederick Trump was a builder and real estate developer who came to specialize in constructing and operating middle income apartments in the Queens, Staten Island, and Brooklyn. Donald was an energetic, assertive child, and his parents sent him to the New York Military Academy at age 13, hoping the discipline of the school would harness his energy in a more productive manner. Trump did well at the academy, both socially and academically, rising to be a star athlete and student leader by the time he graduated in 1964. He entered Fordham University and then transferred to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania from which he graduated in 1968 with a degree in economics (Donald Trump Biography).

After the completion of his formal schooling Donald’s career path started through real estate work with his father Frederick. Here Donald sites his father for teaching the importance of business sense, “My father was my mentor, and I learned a tremendous amount about every aspect of the construction industry from him” (Donald Trump Biography). Donald worked with his father for five years making various real estate deals and was quite profitable in doing so. His father could see that his son had that spark of greatness stating, “Some of my best deals were made by my son, Donald... everything he seems to touch turns to gold” (Donald Trump Biography). While Donald was no miracle worker, what he did have was a remarkable business sense. Donald’s natural knack