For all the nattering and chattering about how President Donald Trump and his minions are bullying individuals, organizations, and institutions, and for all the nattering and chattering about how these individuals, organizations and institutions are or are not resisting the administration, truth is that those being bullied have tended not to fight but to fold.
For this there are many reasons, many of which are good. Still, it’s become evident that even some of America’s strongest organizations and institutions have already been weakened by the strongman in the White House. Perhaps the most obvious examples are higher education as exemplified by one of the nation’s great universities, Columbia, and one of the nation’s top-ranking law firms, Paul Weiss. The details do not concern us here. What does concern us, or it should is that both powerhouses are perceived to have caved under pressure from the president.
Given that one of my mantras is “leadership from bad to worse,” it’s no sweat for me to predict that unless and until it is stopped, none of the bullying will get better. It will, inevitably, get worse. More colleges and universities will be targeted by the administration and more law firms will be attacked by it. The more people try to appease and accommodate leaders who lust for power the more leaders who lust for power will swallow them whole. And then, history testifies, they will go on to the next.
What is to be done? Get smart. Above all, get organized. Given the administration is powerful, if the powerless want to fight to win they must, instead of fighting each other, unite to fight their common enemy.
One example: we now know the main reason Paul Weiss accommodated the administration is because it feared that if it did not, it would be badly weakened by the competition. By other large law firms reportedly waiting in the wings to exploit the moment, to poach Paul Weiss clients. Which is of course exactly what the White House was counting on. First divide, then conquer. But this time-honored tactic works only when it works. Only when those under attack instead of uniting divide.
Last month I published a post titled “For Followers Who Want to FIGHT Not Follow.” (Link below.) It had seven suggestions, seven tips for individuals and institutions who want to take on those with more power than they. If one stands out it is that those who fight in tandem are far, far more likely to win than those who fight alone. Woe unto those unable or unwilling to learn this simple lesson.
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