The U.S. economy is in a shambles. There is little to no growth; our trade deficit with other countries balloons; and we are not creating enough decent jobs.
In fact, our job creation is pathetic. Last month the economy added only 38,000 new jobs – the worst number since 2010.
The unemployment number says 4.7 percent, but the real number is at least double that. Some claim it totals over 93 million people!
The participation rate is a better account – it measures more than those who have looked for a job in just the last four weeks. Increasingly, Americans are giving up and stop looking for work – and good jobs, that pay high wages, are even rarer to come by.
The chief economist for the National Association of Credit Unions called the U.S. economic outlook “gloomy” and said there is “no silver lining” looking immediately ahead.
Our wage growth has been nonexistent for more than a decade now. As Capital Economics put it, “the weakness in payrolls is widespread.”
And who is to blame for this? President Obama – along with his inept team who have failed to perform. He should stop all the chest thumping and globetrotting and go back to school. Private forecasters estimate that U.S. economic growth is running a meager 2 percent or less, down from a paltry 2.4 percent expansion over the past two years. This is plain unacceptable! We need a president who can realize 4 or 5 percent growth rates.
The U.S. economy frankly has failed to regain momentum. Some smart people are arguing we are in for years of “stagnation or stagflation,” with lower standards of living and an erosion of wealth for the middle class, which means little economic equality. And that doesn’t even admit to the risk of another recession looming on the horizon. What are Americans to do?
What we need is a new CEO. We should as an electorate use proven search techniques to find the next president.
If we did this the way a big company does it, we would hire a qualified executive search firm, the likes of Korn Ferry or another, to find us the best and most qualified person for the position.
And what would that search firm look for?
The job description they would follow would not be proscribed by the political parties or the media but dictated by the dire conditions we face.
America needs to find a vibrant, new CEO to address the personal, strategic and organizational drivers affecting its dynamics and performance. And, as noted, that performance has been worse than poor.
We need to achieve alignment on strategic direction and risk, secure the best people for the right executive roles (the Cabinet) and build the capabilities necessary to deliver superior performance.
Only this kind of focus will create good new jobs and deliver wealth for the country over the longer term.
The research indicates that there are three key elements that influence CEO effectiveness (and we need them in the next president): Focus, Dynamism and Strategy.
If we used a science-based assessment that predicts fit, the U.S. could accelerate the development of needed capabilities and improve the effectiveness of government. It could also demonstrably turn the economy around.
Truthfully, we likely need less government, less funding, not more, along with old-fashion excellence in government, the likes of which the private sector enjoys.
By optimizing overall effectiveness, a strong CEO as president could optimize effectiveness, impact and legacy. Optimizing performance through team composition, diversity of skill and talent, team dynamics and management processes, the next president needs to be a doer, not a politician who uses inflamed ideology or false ego to impede progress. He needs to be achievement-oriented not a legislative game-player or a tinhorn.
Using rigorous, research-based methods, a new Cabinet, as a coordinated executive team, should devise and articulate a clear, ambitious and compelling purpose, direction and business model for the country: a Contract for Growth.
The president should align roles with business-oriented strategies and operating structures. By assessing and properly planning for risk tolerance, the president could then be bold and forthright. Within 100 days, the president could begin to turn the economy back toward growth with the right policies and initiatives.
By enabling significant structural change (such as lower personal and corporate taxes, curtailment of limiting or duplicative regulation and movement to a balanced budget) and rapid, confident decision-making, a president, operating like a CEO, could navigate toward more effective governance. They could, working with Congress, in a word, get things done.
Putting the right people in the right positions and perfecting their management routines will make government both more appropriate and efficient. We need to stop doing many things, deregulate others, streamline still other processes and focus on one big thing: creating good jobs by growing the economic pie for all.
It is the president’s task to synchronize vision, mission and goals to ensure everyone is pulling in the same direction.
Picture a perfectly aligned crew that rows together. That kind of supreme effort, that kind of expert skill and that kind of motivation is what the country urgently needs in 2016.
And only an experienced business leader who has done it is up to the demanding, even daunting task.
We don’t need another politician of any ilk – left or right – we need something different this time around. Why? Because the stakes are so high and America has only one chance to stage a comeback, to be robust again.
We need a CEO to run the United States to work to create all these good jobs. It’s about jobs, stupid!
Donald Trump, you’re hired!
