Power Sheet - September 17, 2015

If you had just landed from Mars last night at 8 pm EDT, having never heard of the Republican candidates or seen a polling number – if all you had to go on was what you saw in the debate on TV – whom would you have picked as the leaders?

You probably would have picked Donald Trump simply because of the attention all the others paid to him, plus the amount of talking he did, which was more than anyone else. And then you likely would have picked Carly Fiorina for her polished, presidential demeanor and command of policy issues, and Jeb Bush, who also talked a lot, spoke well about policy, and pushed back effectively against Trump’s bluster.

But I suspect you never would have guessed Ben Carson, who was hesitant, uncertain, and practically invisible in the early going. He got warmed up and asserted himself better as the interminable evening wore on, but he alone refused to attack Trump even when presented with obvious opportunities. And yet in all the polls – in Iowa, New Hampshire, and nationwide – Carson is the only candidate ranking anywhere near Trump in popularity.

A conundrum of this race, and a lesson for leaders everywhere, is that the two most successful candidates so far are the loudest one and the quietest one. That fact tells us a few things:

-There is no superior leadership style or any definable leadership personality. Style and personality are not what make a leader.

-Authenticity always comes through. As different as Trump and Carson are, they’re both real, and voters can sense it. They can also tell instantly, and generally dismiss, who’s delivering rehearsed, focus-group-tested talking points.

-Differentiation is key. Marketers will tell you that the most important factors in brand power are differentiation and relevance. Trump and Carson are in many ways at opposite ends of a spectrum, and much of their strength comes from being at the ends, not in the middle.

Other observations: Most of the commentary this morning focuses on Fiorina, and rightly so – she performed excellently and will certainly rise in the polls. It remains to be seen whether her record as CEO of Hewlett-Packard will become an issue. She and Trump sniped at each other over this until Chris Christie shut them down by calling their spat “childish” and irrelevant to the voters. He did Fiorina a favor by changing the subject because she was indeed a disastrous CEO. As she now gets more attention, we’ll see if anyone really cares.

Christie was hugely improved over the previous debate. But he still isn’t sufficiently differentiated.

Bush’s performance was once again a snooze until he went after Trump for bringing Bush’s wife into the debate. Then he became authentic and energized. A continuing problem is that he keeps talking about the importance of optimism, and it falls flat. He might heed some advice often given to writers: Don’t tell me, show me. That is, don’t talk about optimism. Be optimistic.

What We're Reading Today

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Microsoft hit with lawsuit over wage discrimination

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Apple will appeal to the Supreme Court...

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Building a Better Leader

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Recapping the Debate

Candidates jump at Trump

Many of the GOP presidential candidates came out attacking Trump for his policies, statements, and television shows. Trump fought back, attacking Jeb Bush's former-president brother, commenting on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's dramatic drop in the polls, and calling out Senator Rand Paul's appearance. NYT

Carly Fiorina stares her way into the spotlight

One of the big winners of the night was former H-P CEO Carly Fiorina. With strong answers on policy, she also invoked women's thoughts of Trump's recent comments about her looks. When Trump tried to backtrack, calling her "beautiful," Fiorina ignored him with a stare. It's possibly the first time Trump looked uncomfortable since his presidential campaign began. Washington Post

Ben Carson proposes a radical minimum wage idea...

…at least for Republicans, possibly raising the pay level to find a happy medium. Overall, substance returned to the debate, in which issues such as immigration and national security were also discussed. Fortune

Up or Out

Avis has named the president of its international business, Larry De Shon, its next CEO. He will begin the role in 2016, succeeding Ronald Nelson. MarketWatch

Jamie Miller, previously General Electric's CIO, has been promoted to CEO of GE's Transportation business. WSJ

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Vice President Biden says U.S. should give tax breaks...

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