December 24, 2024 • 14 mins
Lessons learned: - side with winners - tune in to your instincts - be adaptable to your environment - 'hire the best from the best' - understand what appeals to people - leverage media to your advantage: 'getting press can be very helpful in making deals' - be pragmatic - be patient - show respect to religious leaders - traits that
admires: warmth and great political instincts
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey guys, very excited to be back with much better audio this time.
(00:06):
Audio you deserve.
Thank you for your time and for listening to this recording of Trump's accomplishments
and lessons we can take for our own lives.
So this is an exploration of a week at Trump Tower in 1987 as told in the art of the deal
and we're on Thursday.
(00:27):
So Trump is going to start his day and meetings, phone calls.
9 a.m. he gets a call from someone who wants to join politics and essentially he tells
his friend that he should not be resentful to the winner and that he should instead join
(00:50):
him.
Essentially, if you can't beat them, join them.
Something that Trump applied early on, he was one of the first donors to Chuck Schumer
as he reminded him recently.
He was also friendly with the Clintons back in the day.
Hillary Clinton came to his wedding in 2005.
So he always respected people who were successful and he does feel that in general it's good
(01:17):
to join with successful people.
So that's the advice he recommended to his friend.
Now the second point we see here is he gets a call from his investment banker and it's
about the share price of Holiday Inn.
In that conversation, we see that Trump has very sharp instincts, basically understands
(01:40):
that if the price goes down and look how subtle this is.
He says that if the price goes down, he's willing.
It's good for him because he's going to be willing and able to buy more.
If the price goes up, he's going to make a lot of money because he does have a significant
stake in that hotel chain.
(02:03):
So we see that he's attuned to his instincts.
A lot of people, the first instinct when price goes down may be to panic and not want it
to go down further.
So to kind of sell out, we know that we are more sensitive to price falls than to price
(02:28):
increases.
It hurts twice as much to lose money than we enjoy getting the same amount.
So we do have kind of a bias for loss aversion and that's kind of natural if you want to
survive.
You don't want to have too much downside in general.
But Trump here has sharp instincts because he knows that if the price goes down, it's
(02:51):
an opportunity for him to double down on his ownership stake.
And if it goes up, he knows there's upside basically.
If it goes up, he can just make a hefty profit.
Here we see that Trump is sensitive to optics.
(03:11):
So he has an incredibly sharp lawyer presenting him for an antitrust case.
He used to have a minor league football team and he will eventually say that it's better
to just join the NFL right away.
It's something that he thinks it was better to go straight to the NFL instead of trying
(03:32):
to build from a smaller league.
But in any case, his lawyer is overdressed and he feels that his lawyer being, although
he's extremely competent, the fact that he's too well dressed for the jury may play against
him.
(03:53):
So he's sensitive to optics here.
So here are the Wynn hotels and casinos.
So Steve Wynn is one of the best gaming guys in the United States and he has the top talent.
Trump basically wants to hire the best from the best and he needs someone to do a similar
(04:16):
job that he knows the person has experience for.
And he doesn't hesitate to recruit top talent.
Of course, that is with mutual consent.
He made an attractive offer that person accepted.
Essentially he knows that paying a premium for top talent can be justified.
(04:42):
And if you look at a more recent era, Netflix is known to pay in the 900Ks plus for top
engineering talent and their leadership is often going to say that an engineer who's
really in the top percentile is much better than an engineer in the middle percentile,
(05:05):
but in a significant difference in terms of output and outcomes.
So sometimes paying more is worth it when the talent really is exceptional and different
from the rest.
Again, there's going to be reference to optics.
So Trump has voluntarily built the Wolman rink, the ice rink by Central Park.
(05:31):
He took it over from the city, let's say the apartment that didn't manage to do the job
for years and for a lot of money.
And he did it very quickly.
And that's one of the achievements he's very proud of.
So there was a press conference to announce that it had been done.
(05:56):
And that was Wednesday.
But Trump knows that the public really wants to see the concrete pouring.
I guess that's like a phase to officialize a certain progress or completion in the rendering
of the rink.
(06:18):
And he knows that the cameras, the public really wants to see that, the concrete pouring.
So again, this is something that's recurrent in Trump's career.
He's willing to go at McDonald's, you can say a photo op, but it's really he knows what
the crowd wants to see.
He engages with the crowd like he did when he participated in a Wrestlemania or WWE event.
(06:49):
So he understands what appeals to the crowd.
And that's also if you see in Trump Tower, it's one of the few buildings owned by a billionaire
that you can actually go inside and enjoy the lobby, enjoy stores, enjoy take a coffee,
(07:09):
enjoy the waterfall, the beautiful stones that he imported.
There aren't many billionaires that you can just walk into the location where they live
and just enjoy.
So he made a public space out of where he lives.
(07:30):
And this just shows that you really understand what appeals to the public.
Here's another Trump's relationship to the press.
So he says, I understand that getting press can be very helpful in making deals.
I don't mind talking about them.
I just try to be very selective.
So he's going to speak to very prestigious media.
(07:51):
He knows that media is an important vector to get some points across.
So he's had a long relationship with the mainstream media.
Actually he used to work and The Apprentice was aired on NBC.
He was very much appreciated by people ranging from Oprah to the cast of The View.
(08:11):
So you can look that up on YouTube.
He was a favorite among these mainstream hosts.
So in any case, one of the things that Trump repeats throughout his books is that no one
will know your achievements unless you tell them.
So he is upfront about saying what he has done, what he plans on doing.
(08:38):
No one will find out your accomplishments unless no one knows your achievements better
than you do.
And it is kind of on you to let people know your accomplishments, what you have in mind,
what you plan to do.
Of course, to be very smart about it.
(09:01):
Trump plays chess, doesn't play checkers.
So he knows, controls the flow of information is something that he knows how to do well.
But in general, people don't know your success unless you tell them, of your successes unless
you tell them.
(09:22):
So Trump knows how to use the media on that front.
And again, he keeps it very brief.
Here's a nod to pragmatism.
So Trump had a very talented person representing him with City Hall for his project by the Hudson
River, so the West Side Yards.
(09:47):
And unfortunately, the person he had kind of running his team wasn't getting much done.
It wasn't getting great traction with the city.
And Trump eventually hired someone who had worked for the city planning commission and
who had been part of the team with whom he's negotiating.
(10:10):
And that's a nod to pragmatism.
So he's conscious that he has great talent on board with him, but that the logistics
for that deal requires a fresh perspective or someone who has a better relationship with
the team on the other side of the table.
(10:32):
And Trump wasn't dogmatically attached to the person.
Of course, he's someone who's extremely loyal, but he knows how to get things done too.
And in that case, just a practical sense and put someone who could get things done instead.
And finally, here we see Trump shows the quality of patience.
(10:55):
He knows that if the deal doesn't go through with this city planning commission, this current
city administration, all he has to do is wait for the next round of maybe elections, the
next team that's going to take over the city administration and negotiate with them because
he's confident in the value of his assets, value of properties on the plan that he has
(11:21):
for the city on that side of the Hudson River.
And he knows that if they're not going to be smart enough to get things done with him,
he'll be able to get it done with the next team.
So a major part of the deal is to be willing to walk away, to not want to do it at any
(11:42):
cost, to do it at the right cost and the right price.
And here he shows he's willing.
If he's willing to make concessions, that's fine, but he's not willing to do it at absolutely
any cost.
And if it takes patience, he'll show patience.
And to conclude his day, here's a nod to his respect for religious figures.
(12:10):
He excuses himself early because he's due to an early dinner and he doesn't want to
be late.
So he's invited at the St. Patrick's Cathedral and he's invited by the Cardinal.
He says at the end of the dinner, it's hard not to be a little odd.
(12:31):
We talk about politics, the city, real estate and a half dozen other subjects.
It's a fascinating evening.
As we leave, I tell Ivana, his wife, how impressed I am with the Cardinal.
He's not only a man of great warmth, he's also a businessman with great political instincts.
So he says this after having dinner with him and a half dozen of his top bishops and priests
(12:53):
in a private dining room at the St. Patrick's Cathedral.
We see here that Trump respects the Cardinal in his position and also appreciates just
in general people that have great political instincts and who are great businessmen, people
that know how to run organizations, how to get things done, how to get along with people.
(13:16):
This is basically what someone who's in business, one is good in politics, should be able to
do.
And as a recap on all of the above, here's what we learned today.
The side with winners.
So if you can't beat them, join them.
Tune into your instincts.
It's something that's going to be recurring.
Trust your instincts and tune into your instincts.
(13:37):
Your instincts are things that make you win or survive.
So you want to be sensitive to that.
Be adaptable to your environment.
So if you know that the crowd prefers seeing the concrete pouring instead of just a press
conference, be attuned to that.
Hire the best from the best.
That speaks for itself.
(13:59):
Understands what appeals to people, as we mentioned that earlier.
Leverage immediate to your advantage.
Getting press can be very helpful in making deals.
Be pragmatic.
Be patient.
Show respect to religious leaders.
And if you want to get respect from people like Trump, the quality you should cultivate
(14:19):
is warmth and a good political instinct.
Basically getting along with people effectively and being amicable at the same time.
So being someone that people like being around while being in a position where you get things
done.
There is a sweet balance in that and it's something that Trump respects and admires.
Hey guys, very excited to be back with much better audio this time.
(00:06):
Audio you deserve.
Thank you for your time and for listening to this recording of Trump's accomplishments
and lessons we can take for our own lives.
So this is an exploration of a week at Trump Tower in 1987 as told in the art of the deal
and we're on Thursday.
(00:27):
So Trump is going to start his day and meetings, phone calls.
9 a.m. he gets a call from someone who wants to join politics and essentially he tells
his friend that he should not be resentful to the winner and that he should instead join
(00:50):
him.
Essentially, if you can't beat them, join them.
Something that Trump applied early on, he was one of the first donors to Chuck Schumer
as he reminded him recently.
He was also friendly with the Clintons back in the day.
Hillary Clinton came to his wedding in 2005.
So he always respected people who were successful and he does feel that in general it's good
(01:17):
to join with successful people.
So that's the advice he recommended to his friend.
Now the second point we see here is he gets a call from his investment banker and it's
about the share price of Holiday Inn.
In that conversation, we see that Trump has very sharp instincts, basically understands
(01:40):
that if the price goes down and look how subtle this is.
He says that if the price goes down, he's willing.
It's good for him because he's going to be willing and able to buy more.
If the price goes up, he's going to make a lot of money because he does have a significant
stake in that hotel chain.
(02:03):
So we see that he's attuned to his instincts.
A lot of people, the first instinct when price goes down may be to panic and not want it
to go down further.
So to kind of sell out, we know that we are more sensitive to price falls than to price
(02:28):
increases.
It hurts twice as much to lose money than we enjoy getting the same amount.
So we do have kind of a bias for loss aversion and that's kind of natural if you want to
survive.
You don't want to have too much downside in general.
But Trump here has sharp instincts because he knows that if the price goes down, it's
(02:51):
an opportunity for him to double down on his ownership stake.
And if it goes up, he knows there's upside basically.
If it goes up, he can just make a hefty profit.
Here we see that Trump is sensitive to optics.
(03:11):
So he has an incredibly sharp lawyer presenting him for an antitrust case.
He used to have a minor league football team and he will eventually say that it's better
to just join the NFL right away.
It's something that he thinks it was better to go straight to the NFL instead of trying
(03:32):
to build from a smaller league.
But in any case, his lawyer is overdressed and he feels that his lawyer being, although
he's extremely competent, the fact that he's too well dressed for the jury may play against
him.
(03:53):
So he's sensitive to optics here.
So here are the Wynn hotels and casinos.
So Steve Wynn is one of the best gaming guys in the United States and he has the top talent.
Trump basically wants to hire the best from the best and he needs someone to do a similar
(04:16):
job that he knows the person has experience for.
And he doesn't hesitate to recruit top talent.
Of course, that is with mutual consent.
He made an attractive offer that person accepted.
Essentially he knows that paying a premium for top talent can be justified.
(04:42):
And if you look at a more recent era, Netflix is known to pay in the 900Ks plus for top
engineering talent and their leadership is often going to say that an engineer who's
really in the top percentile is much better than an engineer in the middle percentile,
(05:05):
but in a significant difference in terms of output and outcomes.
So sometimes paying more is worth it when the talent really is exceptional and different
from the rest.
Again, there's going to be reference to optics.
So Trump has voluntarily built the Wolman rink, the ice rink by Central Park.
(05:31):
He took it over from the city, let's say the apartment that didn't manage to do the job
for years and for a lot of money.
And he did it very quickly.
And that's one of the achievements he's very proud of.
So there was a press conference to announce that it had been done.
(05:56):
And that was Wednesday.
But Trump knows that the public really wants to see the concrete pouring.
I guess that's like a phase to officialize a certain progress or completion in the rendering
of the rink.
(06:18):
And he knows that the cameras, the public really wants to see that, the concrete pouring.
So again, this is something that's recurrent in Trump's career.
He's willing to go at McDonald's, you can say a photo op, but it's really he knows what
the crowd wants to see.
He engages with the crowd like he did when he participated in a Wrestlemania or WWE event.
(06:49):
So he understands what appeals to the crowd.
And that's also if you see in Trump Tower, it's one of the few buildings owned by a billionaire
that you can actually go inside and enjoy the lobby, enjoy stores, enjoy take a coffee,
(07:09):
enjoy the waterfall, the beautiful stones that he imported.
There aren't many billionaires that you can just walk into the location where they live
and just enjoy.
So he made a public space out of where he lives.
(07:30):
And this just shows that you really understand what appeals to the public.
Here's another Trump's relationship to the press.
So he says, I understand that getting press can be very helpful in making deals.
I don't mind talking about them.
I just try to be very selective.
So he's going to speak to very prestigious media.
(07:51):
He knows that media is an important vector to get some points across.
So he's had a long relationship with the mainstream media.
Actually he used to work and The Apprentice was aired on NBC.
He was very much appreciated by people ranging from Oprah to the cast of The View.
(08:11):
So you can look that up on YouTube.
He was a favorite among these mainstream hosts.
So in any case, one of the things that Trump repeats throughout his books is that no one
will know your achievements unless you tell them.
So he is upfront about saying what he has done, what he plans on doing.
(08:38):
No one will find out your accomplishments unless no one knows your achievements better
than you do.
And it is kind of on you to let people know your accomplishments, what you have in mind,
what you plan to do.
Of course, to be very smart about it.
(09:01):
Trump plays chess, doesn't play checkers.
So he knows, controls the flow of information is something that he knows how to do well.
But in general, people don't know your success unless you tell them, of your successes unless
you tell them.
(09:22):
So Trump knows how to use the media on that front.
And again, he keeps it very brief.
Here's a nod to pragmatism.
So Trump had a very talented person representing him with City Hall for his project by the Hudson
River, so the West Side Yards.
(09:47):
And unfortunately, the person he had kind of running his team wasn't getting much done.
It wasn't getting great traction with the city.
And Trump eventually hired someone who had worked for the city planning commission and
who had been part of the team with whom he's negotiating.
(10:10):
And that's a nod to pragmatism.
So he's conscious that he has great talent on board with him, but that the logistics
for that deal requires a fresh perspective or someone who has a better relationship with
the team on the other side of the table.
(10:32):
And Trump wasn't dogmatically attached to the person.
Of course, he's someone who's extremely loyal, but he knows how to get things done too.
And in that case, just a practical sense and put someone who could get things done instead.
And finally, here we see Trump shows the quality of patience.
(10:55):
He knows that if the deal doesn't go through with this city planning commission, this current
city administration, all he has to do is wait for the next round of maybe elections, the
next team that's going to take over the city administration and negotiate with them because
he's confident in the value of his assets, value of properties on the plan that he has
(11:21):
for the city on that side of the Hudson River.
And he knows that if they're not going to be smart enough to get things done with him,
he'll be able to get it done with the next team.
So a major part of the deal is to be willing to walk away, to not want to do it at any
(11:42):
cost, to do it at the right cost and the right price.
And here he shows he's willing.
If he's willing to make concessions, that's fine, but he's not willing to do it at absolutely
any cost.
And if it takes patience, he'll show patience.
And to conclude his day, here's a nod to his respect for religious figures.
(12:10):
He excuses himself early because he's due to an early dinner and he doesn't want to
be late.
So he's invited at the St. Patrick's Cathedral and he's invited by the Cardinal.
He says at the end of the dinner, it's hard not to be a little odd.
(12:31):
We talk about politics, the city, real estate and a half dozen other subjects.
It's a fascinating evening.
As we leave, I tell Ivana, his wife, how impressed I am with the Cardinal.
He's not only a man of great warmth, he's also a businessman with great political instincts.
So he says this after having dinner with him and a half dozen of his top bishops and priests
(12:53):
in a private dining room at the St. Patrick's Cathedral.
We see here that Trump respects the Cardinal in his position and also appreciates just
in general people that have great political instincts and who are great businessmen, people
that know how to run organizations, how to get things done, how to get along with people.
(13:16):
This is basically what someone who's in business, one is good in politics, should be able to
do.
And as a recap on all of the above, here's what we learned today.
The side with winners.
So if you can't beat them, join them.
Tune into your instincts.
It's something that's going to be recurring.
Trust your instincts and tune into your instincts.
(13:37):
Your instincts are things that make you win or survive.
So you want to be sensitive to that.
Be adaptable to your environment.
So if you know that the crowd prefers seeing the concrete pouring instead of just a press
conference, be attuned to that.
Hire the best from the best.
That speaks for itself.
(13:59):
Understands what appeals to people, as we mentioned that earlier.
Leverage immediate to your advantage.
Getting press can be very helpful in making deals.
Be pragmatic.
Be patient.
Show respect to religious leaders.
And if you want to get respect from people like Trump, the quality you should cultivate
(14:19):
is warmth and a good political instinct.
Basically getting along with people effectively and being amicable at the same time.
So being someone that people like being around while being in a position where you get things
done.
There is a sweet balance in that and it's something that Trump respects and admires.
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