Two of the all-time great coaches were in the news this week. Leadership lessons could be learned from both men.
Greg Popovich. The coach with the most wins in the NBA is Greg Popovich. He retired this week. I learned several interesting ideas from the coverage of his retirement.
He began his career in the college ranks. His record was 2 wins and 22 losses his first year. Five out of his seven seasons were losing records. He gave up the head coaching job and worked as a graduate assistant for a Hall of Fame coach in order to become a better coach. The courage to make the change led to his success.
He was not afraid to walk the road less traveled in other ways. He employed a female as a full-time assistant in the NBA. He became the standard in scouting and pursuing international players.
He encouraged his players to get different perspectives before making decisions. One of his players was getting married and asked Pop for advice. He encouraged the player to interview people who had been married for a few years, several years and many years. Listen and learn “what works” and “what does not work.”
He was particularly skilled at noticing and rewarding the little things that made a difference. A seldom used player told of the time he played in the first half of a game and then did not get in the second half. After the game Pop told the team that the player was the difference in their success.
He held everyone accountable – both the stars and the role players. He pushed everyone to be the best they could be. He taught the team to love and have trust in teammates.
He was a great leader and being the winningest coach was not an accident.
Nick Saban. Another great coach who retired a year ago is Nick Saban. He gave a few remarks at the University of Alabama commencement ceremony before President Trump gave his address. His message was brief but to the point. First, have compassion for others. He admitted that sometimes he failed at this. Second, be responsible for your own self-determination. Third, competition is not as much about beating the other person as it is about being the best you can be.
Internal Analysis.To find fault with an opposing position is easy. Republicans easily find fault with Democrats and Democrats easily find fault with Republicans.
In my opinion, at the present time there is a paucity of internal analysis in the Democratic party. They are more interested in telling how terrible Trump is than proposing better solutions to the problems that Trump is attacking. There is some (see This and That below) but not much thoughtful Democratic analysis of their own perspectives.
It takes insight and courage to analyze your own side. I am more interested in conservatives analyzing conservative positions than liberals finding fault with conservatives.
Previously I reported how surprised I was to read a Mo Brooks commentary with a good critique of some Republican ideas. He was a speaker at the January 6, Save the Steal rally. He is a conservative.
Well, Mo did it again. This time he wrote in support of working on the problem of tariffs but gave a thoughtful, detailed critique of how it is happening. Tariffs are important to all of us. His commentary is worth reflection by both sides of the aisle.
A Mo Brooks opinion column.
The public loves Trump’s border security efforts. But the public hates Trump’s tariff tax hikes, trade war, and economic failures.
For emphasis, Trump deserves credit for fighting for trade balances. Too many presidents avoid the issue. But Trump’s goal is not the problem. Balanced trade is good. The problem is that Trump fumbles the fight.
Trade deficit data
America’s worst trade deficits are:
- $422 billion – China
- $135 billion – Mexico
- $124 billion – Vietnam
- $ 92 billion – Canada
- $ 78 billion – Germany
- $ 74 billion – Japan
- $ 67 billion – Ireland
- $ 49 billion – South Korea
- $ 47 billion – India
- $ 44 billion – Italy & India (each)
Each of these offending nations use unfair trade practices (blocking American imports; using cheap or slave labor; stealing American intellectual property; etc.) to America’s detriment, causing America’s economy to hemorrhage a trillion-dollars/year that would otherwise stay in America and benefit Americans.
Trump’s trade war blunders
Successful trade wars start with good, wise leaders who craft sound strategies they pursue until victory is achieved. Unfortunately, Trump’s trade war strategy has been poorly led, planned, and executed.
Trump’s blunder #1 is making the trade war America versus the world.
In a one-on-one fight (even with America’s #1 trade foe: China), America is more likely to win because America’s economic might is greater than any other nation on earth. That economic strength disparity is leverage that enhances America’s ability to win.
Unfortunately, Trump’s “America versus the World” strategy forces our economic foes to unite and collectively battle America. Since the world’s economy is far larger than America’s, economic leverage shifts against America in favor of the world and increases America’s risk.
Trump’s blunder #2 is inconsistency.
Consistency and perseverance help persuade competitor nations that America is committed to winning the trade war, thus encouraging compromise.
Unfortunately, Trump’s trade war is anything but consistent, as tariff rates move up and down, tariff product targets change impulsively, and countries targeted for tariffs change regularly; all seemingly at random; all seemingly on a moment’s notice.
Trade war competitors interpret Trump’s vacillation as weakness. Weakness emboldens them to reject America’s fair-trade demands.
Trump’s blunder #3 is that the magnitude of his sudden, off-the-charts tariffs are counter-productive (perhaps “void of economic thought and reality” is more descriptive). The tariff magnitudes hurt America, not help it, because they reduce public support for Trump’s trade war, which increases trade war loss risk.
Incrementalism is key.
It takes time (often years) for new American manufacturing plants to be built and supply chains to form that replace products supplied by foreign competitors.
Until those new supply chains form, essential products like medicines and electronics, and even discretionary products like Christmas toys, become prohibitively expensive or disappear from shelves.
That’s bad for America and American consumers. Hence, gradual increases in tariffs until trade balances are reached is a much less painful and much better strategy, but a strategy Trump unwisely discarded.
Trump’s Trade War Damages America. Trump’s trade war significantly hurts Americans in myriad ways. That’s why, if you start a trade war, you better win it. Otherwise, the self-inflicted economic damage is for nothing.
Higher Taxes Hurt Families. While no one knows how badly Trump’s tariff tax hikes hurt Americans (because Trump’s tariffs seemingly fluctuate daily), the Tax Foundation estimates Trump’s tariffs will: raise $2.1 trillion in revenue over the next decade on a conventional basis ($1.5 trillion on a dynamic basis) and reduce US GDP by 0.8%, all before foreign retaliation. Including foreign retaliation announced as of April 10, the tariffs reduce US GDP by 1%. That’s a lot of disposable income taken from struggling families that worsens living standards.
Alienating America’s Allies. It is one thing to alienate America’s geo-political foes, it is another to alienate America’s allies. Trump’s “America versus the World” trade war, coupled with the unnecessarily brash and insulting way Trump prosecutes it, alienates America’s allies that we may need at any time. That’s very unwise, particularly when better strategy options exist.
Worsening Debt Service Risks. Trump’s trade war worsens America’s already bad deficit and debt crisis. America suffers from a $36+ trillion debt and $952 billion in annual debt service costs.
Roughly 24% of America’s debt is owned by foreign entities. Trump’s “America versus the world” trade war motivates foreign debt holders to not finance America’s debt. Fewer creditors mean higher debt interest rates to finance debt.
Since Trump announced his April 2 “Liberation Day” tariffs, 10-year Treasury Bill rates have increased from 4.2% to 4.4%. While a mere 0.2-point rate increase may not seem like much, on a $36 trillion debt it’s an additional $72 billion/year debt service cost (roughly three NASA budgets – poof, money gone).
Some argue T-Bill rate increases motivated Trump to flip-flop his tariff tax hike details. In any event, let’s hope T-Bill rate increases are a short-term blip not a trend. Time will tell.
Americans’ Net Worth Hammered. Much of America’s retirement plans and wealth is in stocks. Since Trump’s inauguration, and largely because of Trump’s trade wars, the stock market has lost roughly $10 trillion in value. That’s bad.
Falling Dollar. Under Trump, the dollar has fallen 9% in value in 2025. A falling dollar means higher inflationary pressure, which, in turn, reduces the purchasing power of American paychecks. None of that is good.
Stocks hammered. Falling dollar. These things add up, causing GOP megadonor Ken Griffin, the founder and CEO of Citadel, to say America “has become 20% poorer in four weeks.”
I don’t fully agree with Ken Griffin’s assessment, but he is 100% accurate on his basic principle: America’s economy is in reverse, and all of America will eventually suffer for that unless there is a major course change.
Falling public support risks Trump agenda In my view, Trump’s unnecessary, self-inflicted economic damage is causing Trump’s public support to fall.
Real Clear Politics’ daily average of reputable polls reveals Trump’s job approval plummeted from January’s net positive 6.2% favorable rating to a net negative 7.1% unfavorable rating, which adds up to a 13.2-point deterioration.
Similarly, Trump’s personal unfavorable rating dropped further from an inaugural 0.2% net unfavorable rating to a 5.4% net unfavorable rating, a net 5.2-point drop.
Approval rating drops of these magnitudes in just three months are political dynamite and undermine a president’s ability to achieve his goals.
As one blow-back example, Trump’s plummeting public support contributed to bad special election results in Wisconsin (Supreme Court) and Florida (Congress), which, in turn, panicked Trump into torpedoing Congressman Elise Stefanik’s U.N. Ambassador nomination out of fear the GOP will lose the House.
Conclusion and forecast Proper trade war strategy is to focus on one country best to beat, win that fight, message that victory to the world, and then negotiate for fair trade practices that cause balanced trade, all without fighting a second trade war.
If one trade war fight is insufficient, then pick the second-best country to fight, win that trade war, and repeat the process until negotiated victories are achieved world-wide.
Trump’s poor strategy and bungling means America will likely lose Trump’s “America versus the World” trade war. Perhaps it can still be won. But, if not, then America will continue to hemorrhage wealth because of unfair trade practices. That’s bad.
Even if America loses Trump’s trade war, be ready for Trump to do what Trump does best: deflect and blame someone else, like Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, for the self-inflicted economic damage Trump himself caused.
Mo Brooks served on the House Armed Services Committee for 12 years and the Foreign Affairs Committee for six years. Brooks graduated from Duke University in three years with a double-major in political science and economics (highest honors in economics).
https://reader.mobilepressregister.com/0430-mo-brooks/content.html
This and That
Advice for Democrats from Democrats (and a former Democrat)
James Carville says Democrats need to stop letting Bernie Sanders and AOC define the party
Wikipedia. I recommended an article in Wikipedia about the Trump Foundation in my blog two weeks ago. A reader wanted me to be sure I knew Wikipedia is left-leaning. He cited John Stoessel for his concern. I am aware of Wikipedia’s as well John Stoessel’s leanings. However, in writing the blog I reviewed articles in several sources and still believeWikipedia had the best facts as well as the least commentary on the topic. If I am wrong and there is a better analysis, please let me know. I would be glad to share it. As always, I thank a thoughtful reader for taking the time to express a concern.
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