Is Trump’s trump card presidential focus?

This article is part of the Contemporary leadership series

“I’ve learned to focus. When I had a financial turnround in the early 1990s, there were contributing factors, but I realised that I had lost my focus. I didn’t blame anyone but myself for that, focus is very important. I’m far more successful now than I ever was so a good lesson was learned. It’s also crucial to focus on the right thing: the solution, not the problem. It’s a form of positive thinking that works.”

So said President-elect Donald Trump in a 2008 interview. On this, at least, we can agree. As President, Mr. Trump will require focus of an unrelenting kind. Without it, he will fail.

Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez (antonionietorodriguez.com) specializes in project management.  He is Director of the Program Management Office at GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines and chair of the Project Management Institute. He is author of The Focused Organization; has taught at leading business schools (including Duke CE, Instituto de Empresa, Solvay Business School and Skolkovo); and is a public speaker.