The Live Debate - How Political Leaders Build Confidence

This week Ex President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris took part in the highly publicised, live debate on television in the US. So, who actually “won” the debate and how did they win?

A very good question and the debate still goes on in the media.

Inspiring Leadership - Helping Leaders Build Confidence

So how do leaders “win” people over? At GFB, our foundation stone of great leadership is the Schroder Model of High Performance. The cluster of behaviours linked to engaging and winning people over are the Inspires Cluster.

During the debate both candidates attempted to speak in a compelling and engaging way that would appeal to their audience. In many cases, this stood out and made attention grabbing headlines and was included in many popular posts on social media. In some cases, the attention was not for the most confidence building reasons, eating pets being one of the more bizarre “compelling” examples.

Building Confidence

The inspiring behaviour that stood out most in the debate was the Building Confidence behaviour and this was used very effectively by both leaders. They came across are decisive and at times defensive of their positions, and in pushing back and calling out when the other candidate was inaccurate and wrong. This element of the behaviour is important in how leaders outline what they will tolerate and what they won’t.

The impact is that others understand where the boundaries are and leaders who do call out poor behaviour, who put their head above the parapet and disagree, who stand their ground and push back are seen as strong leaders, who are firm and fair. What is really important is that when leaders do this, they need to explain why, and this explanation needs to be credible and relevant.

The Role of the Seconder

To further build confidence in the disagreement having a seconder or someone who can back up the argument with truth and fact can further build the confidence of the audience in the leader. The independent panel performed a big role in doing this during the debate. The follow up interviews afterwards also reinforced what was said, what the disagreements were and why, and these “seconders” further built confidence.

Exuding Confidence

Kamala Harris definitely dialled this up. She demonstrated confidence in her body language and that was easy to see at the start of the debate when she walked into Trump’s space and shook hands at the start of the interview. Positive and assertive body language is a strong indicator of personal confidence, and all political leaders are conscious of this.

Both candidates also communicated with confidence and were optimistic about their approach. However, there were several occasions where negativity crept in, but this was always directed at the other candidate. In fact, undermining the confidence of the other candidate seemed to be a strategy that was at play throughout the debate.

Being Decisive

So how decisive were both the candidates? As all leaders know making decisions can be tough, particularly big decisions about the future. Perhaps Trump stood by the decisions he had made in the past and why they were effective decisions. Harris focused more on the future and why her decisions would be effective. What is important is that leaders make timely decisions, explain the why, build optimism in the decision and then celebrate and recognise success.

Recognition and Celebrating Success

Trump did this very effectively, particularly afterwards in the Fox News “spin” room where he talked about his success in the debate and celebrated openly.

The Result

So, who did “win” the debate? I would say it depends on who you listen to and what social media channels you follow. In the end the real result will be realised on election day in November and there is a lot more Building Confidence to be done before then!

Do you use the behaviour of building confidence in your leadership behavioural portfolio? How effective is this behaviour used in your organisation?

If you would like to know more about leadership behaviours and how we can help you to identify, grow and develop great leadership please get in touch - - email info@gfbgroup.com or call us on +44 (0) 333 090 2580.