Working Wounded: Smart Doesn't Always Equal Success
Nov. 15, 2006 — -- For the last few years, Donald Trump has towered over the business landscape, bombarding us with hit TV shows, books, hotels and office buildings -- sometimes it's hard to go through an entire business day without having to deal with the "King of the Comb-over."
Ironically, when it comes to what it takes to be a successful leader today, "the Donald" must take a back seat to, of all people, another Donald. Donald Rumsfeld.
Rummy has a stellar resume -- Naval aviator, Congressman, two-time defense secretary, CEO. And there is one thing that everyone can agree on when it comes to Rumsfeld: he is a heckuva smart guy. Really smart. Smarter than you or me. Probably one of the smartest people anywhere. And if you don't believe me, just ask him.
But there is a big difference between this Donald and you and me. We've still got our jobs. If you've just emerged from a sensory deprivation chamber and haven't heard the news, Rumsfeld lost his last week.
Ironically, I think his downfall is directly related to how smart he is. His intelligence managed to do something I thought impossible. I just may eliminate gridlock in DC. Rumsfeld proved that there was one thing that both Republicans and Democrats could agree on -- that it was time for him to leave Dodge.
His fall from power can teach us a lot, even if we aren't Mensa members. Like many corporate leaders, he came to believe too much in his own intelligence. And this is a dangerous development in business as well as the political world.
Rumsfeld managed to turn his intelligence into a weapon, instead of a tool. According to someone who worked with him in the Pentagon, his nickname within the defense establishment was "wire-brush treatment."
Movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn once said that he wanted people to tell him the truth even if it cost them their jobs. Rumsfeld lived this philosophy. So it was no wonder that the generals didn't ask for more troops, because the one who did early in the war, General Eric Shinseki, was dumped from his job.
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