Just as there is such a thing as a national culture, or an institutional or organizational culture, there is such a thing as a leadership culture. Broadly speaking leadership cultures are composed of two parts – the general and the specific. So, for example, the leadership cultures of the president of the United States and the chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase are both rooted in American soil. In this sense they are similar. However, at the same time these two leadership roles are rooted in the specifics of their institution and organization. So, President Donald Trump’s leadership culture is that of the United States and of the American presidency. While Jamie Dimon’s leadership culture – he is CEO of JPMorgan Chase – is that of the U. S. and of his bank, JPM. As a result, while the leadership cultures in which Trump and Dimon are located have some things in common, they do not have everything in common.
Moreover, the two men are different. Dimon has led in harmony with his leadership culture. Under his leadership his company has thrived in virtually every aspect. Additionally, after more than two decades at the top, Dimon remains widely regarded as one of the most admirable and successful CEOs in American history. He looks, acts, and plays his part perfectly. Perfectly in keeping with the leadership culture in which he is situated.
Trump in contrast has led in disharmony with his leadership culture. There is a reason a scant 16 percent of Americans approved his having held a cage match on the grounds of the White House. It’s because it seems to them inappropriate. Out of keeping and character with what we think of as properly belonging in this time at that place. The occasion – celebrating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the United States – would seem to demand a sense of history and modicum of propriety. Trump was not, after all, elected referee or ringmaster. He was elected president, chief executive of a country with a flawed but, still, fabled history.
We should conceive of a “leadership culture” as akin to a “national culture” or “organizational culture.” While the concept of culture is somewhat vague – it cannot be precisely defined or easily quantified – we know it has substance. The national culture of China is obviously radically different from that of Argentina or Canada. Similarly, the organizational culture at Meta is obviously radically different from that of Mercedes or Merck.
The components of culture are nowhere written or otherwise enshrined. Still, there is broad agreement that they include loosely but nevertheless widely shared values, beliefs, attitudes and opinions. We similarly know that they include norms and habits that, while not codified, are nevertheless understood widely to apply.
In general, then, all American leaders are expected to abide by, for example, traditional American values such as democracy, and they are expected to act accordingly. At the same time while it is expected of some American leaders, notably those in the private sector, to make a lot of money both for themselves and for followers such as shareholders, other American leaders, notably those in the public and nonprofit sectors, are not expected to make a lot of money, not for others and assuredly not for themselves.
The accumulation of wealth, certainly great wealth, is – ostensibly – one of the things that most obviously distinguishes the leadership culture of the American president from the leadership culture of the chief executive officer of JPMorgan. The first is expected to be uninterested in and pay no attention to personal financial gain. The second is expected to be interested in and pay great attention to personal financial gain if only because their wealth is inextricably tied to the wealth of the companies they lead.
Trump has seemed to pride himself on shattering presidential norms, on breaking with the leadership culture that for generations has been associated with America’s chief executive. Dimon has done the opposite. He appears to pride himself on perfectly conforming to his company’s leadership culture – which is why, while history will treat Trump poorly, very poorly, it will treat Dimon kindly, very kindly.