PRESIDENTIAL PERSUASION: The Future of Leadership in this New Decade of Millennial Ascendancy, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence

By Jeff Tippett

Presidential Persuasion is a compelling book that weaves together the lessons of history with the challenges of the future. Jeff Tippett is an entrepreneur and communications expert who lives out the lessons he teaches in these pages. Reaching back into American history to Abraham Lincoln, Tippett illustrates that the traits of a successful lead

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeff Tippett Enterprises, LLC
• Release date: Jan 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781733533829

Book preview

Prologue

I’m not a futurist. Well, not in the sense that the term is generally used. I believe most people consider futurists to be people who make predictions – with varying degrees of precision – about what the future will hold. I’m not that bold, nor do I have the qualifications to do it.

Perhaps that disappoints you. I admit, crowds love hearing a speaker prognosticate about the future. There’s comfort in having uncertainty erased. The irony of it is that we’re often comforted by predictions that are unlikely to come true.

Now that you understand I don’t have a crystal ball to gaze into the future, we can discuss what we all do have: an ability to reflect on the past as a tool to predict what future trends to expect. I have a passion for looking into history as a tool to better understand the context of today, and to look at what’s possible in the future.

For example, when it comes to political tides and currents, I look back and search for similarities from previous election cycles. I rarely believe a prognosticator who says things like, We’ve never seen anything like this before. Or, This is unprecedented. Maybe; maybe not. Regardless, we should use the past to measure the present.

In 1905, the writer and philosopher George Santayana cautioned, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Many business leaders today are pondering the future of the workforce. There’s no way you can deny that things are changing, and quickly. And often, the fear of change delays us from acting. We’re handcuffed to the past; we fail to take lessons from it that might guide us toward the future.

But here’s the thing: The fear of change is often subtle. You may not even know you’re holding yourself back by not changing. That fear often convinces us that nothing’s awry. We’re too busy, working long days and nights, to recognize that we’re stuck in a rut. The fear of change works overtime to convince us that change is bad.

This might manifest itself as anxiety, self-doubt, paralysis, fear of failure, losing control, feeling judged – or plenty more. Sometimes we’re afraid of losing, upsetting others or straying from our comfort zone. We may even feel guilt for success.

Or maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe we’re afraid we’ll succeed. Spiritual leader and Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson put it this way:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?

Many of us believe we encourage and embrace change. I like to think of myself as that person; but in reality, I fear change as well.

I’ve gone through several major business shifts in my career. And I must admit that, especially early on, the thought of impending changes was not only worrisome, it was, at times, paralyzing.

This past year has been that type of year for me. I’ve made a conscious decision to refashion my business in order to pursue the life I want to live. I believe that I can create the life I want. I constantly remind myself that the changes I’ve made in the past have, for the most part, served to create a better life. In fact, when I look back at where I was at various stages in my life and ask myself if I’d go back, I invariably answer, No. Though where I’ve most recently been has been comfortable, it’s time to move forward.

But I must admit that it’s not easy. Even with this dream of creating the life I most desire as the goal, I’ve found myself asking (more times than I care to admit): What if? What if this doesn’t work? What if this is the wrong decision? What if I really can’t create the life I want? What if the old model was the best, perhaps the only, model?

Yes, I recognize that what these voices in my head are telling me is nonsense. And, besides, what if they were right? What’s the worst outcome? It doesn’t work? Fine. That doesn’t mean I’ve failed. It means I’ve found what doesn’t work, which now informs what will work. I can profit from that.

Resistance to change is natural. There’s nothing wrong with you for being afraid of change. Everyone has been apprehensive, even those we consider pioneers. I want to urge you to accept that you’re enough – that you have everything you need to live to your full potential.

The author Gail Sheehy has said: If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living. I don’t know about you, but I want to live. And that change comes as we trust what we know inside to be true, and give space for this growth – all without creating any labels about yourself.

I tell you this because staying the same and refusing to live our best lives affects not only us but the people we lead and others around us. The people you most want to retain – those most gifted – are likely to seek opportunities that offer more space to change and grow.

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I travel the globe inspiring and equipping audiences to reach their goals, to become more effective in what they do, and to help grow their organizations – all through persuasive communication. I firmly believe that we all live or die based on our ability to persuade others.

But that persuasion doesn’t come by making others do what we want them to do. It comes by getting to know them, understanding what’s important to them and what they want to accomplish. And then helping to make that happen. That’s the difference between persuasion and manipulation. That’s what I emphasize. This is who I am as a leader and a professional. It’s why I speak, write and create videos – to help others get what they want.

Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a recurring theme: concern about the changing workforce. And I admit that within the narrow scope of today and tomorrow, it can be frightening. Forecasters predict that by 2025, millennials will comprise 75 percent of the global workforce. And since we know they approach work differently, we need to pay attention.

McKinsey estimates that from 2016 to 2030, some 400 million workers will have been displaced by automation. A study by Genesys anticipates that jobs in manufacturing, retail, telemarketing and data entry are the most vulnerable to the rise of artificial intelligence.

The good news is that many are awakening to these changes. They’re asking questions. I speak primarily to trade associations (with corporate being my second most demanded market), and I’ve found that, generally speaking, association executives are grappling to gain a vision of the workforce of the future. Answers are needed.

In this book, I hope to help you look back. We’ll take a little refresher course on changes in the American workforce – because the answer to the future is there. I’ve found, there in the past, a place of comfort and as much security about the future as can be offered.

Change is inevitable. It’s often said that everything changes yet nothing changes. I agree. While there’s no denying that this new decade will bring about radical change – and likely more rapidly than in the past – there’s also no denying that there’s a common thread in the past linking to today and extending into the new decade.

That thread is people. Regardless of any changes that may happen in the coming decade, history bears out that effective leadership will prevail. As such, if you want to effectively lead in an emerging period of millennial ascendency, automation and artificial intelligence, just look to the people around you. Helping them find their success has always been an effective way to lead, and that won’t be changing anytime soon.

In this book, we’re going to examine the particular skills of 10 presidents. Let’s explore and learn from these leaders. I believe they can serve as guides to the emerging decade. By design, I’ve selected five Republicans and five Democrats; there’s nothing political about this book. We’re focused strictly on leadership in the next decade.

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Over the course of this book, we’ll be exploring how these 10 presidents deployed various persuasive tactics and how those traits helped shape their success. I considered focusing on a single president who was a general master of persuasion – Franklin Roosevelt, perhaps, or Lyndon Johnson. But I think there’s value in examining specific traits in different individuals. I’ll offer a few reasons why.

First, though much of this book revolves around the idea that things have changed substantially in this nation over the past 150 or so years, one truth remains: Interpersonal communication is as important as ever. Though the way we interact differs year after year, the fundamental act of communicating is much the same. We’re conveying our ideas, emotions and more. Studying presidents from different eras underscores how different men have