The press seems to have a huge problem that Trump is not listening to his coronavirus task force. They get up and say things… things based on science! And President Trump contradicts them or ignores them.
If you’ve had any private sector experience, you’d understand what’s happening here.
Most companies have corporate lawyers. Depending on how much power has been given to the corporate lawyers, and how much the executive team wants to involve them, most ideas, initiatives, or decisions are run by the corporate lawyers.
The job of corporate lawyers is, first and foremost, to cover their own asses. Second, and definitely related, it’s to tell the executive team the worst case scenario. In other words, the corporate lawyers are tasked with telling you the best path possible to avoid a lawsuit.
To this end, corporate lawyers are always going to be the safest, most conservative (not necessarily politically) people in the company.
And like corporate lawyers, none of the “experts” standing with President Trump know everything. They’re human. They’re fallible. Yes, the definitely have some experience in their areas. But they’ve also been at the top of a bureaucracy. They’re no longer on the front lines. They’re relying on their own team of experts, and there are people in the field with insights or ideas unknown to Trump’s team.
Most CEOs understand the role of the corporate lawyer. They also understand that, as CEO, it’s their job to decide how to proceed. They don’t have to listen to the corporate lawyer. The corporate lawyer has told them all the worst-case scenarios, and now it’s up to the CEO to make the decision.
I believe this is how President Trump is handling his corona task force. My guess is he gathers them, he listens to them, he asks questions, he pushes back, he doubts, and then he makes his decisions with the understanding that he is ultimately responsible. He also understands that while his team consists of specialists, they don’t necessarily have the right answer every time, either.
If you watch the daily press conference with Trump and the team, I think it’s clear this is exactly how he is managing his administration.
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