Issue No. 476 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting spotlights a fascinating book just released today from Robert Orlando, filmmaker and author. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and click here for the new book from John Pearson and Jason Pearson, Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes—And What I Learned. See Mistake #2 below.
Orson Welles, writes Robert Orlando, “was a titan, all four faces of cinema’s Mount Rushmore: actor, producer, writer, and director.”
“Thank God for Movies!”
Filmmaker and author Robert Orlando confesses, “In the end, who’s to say this writer isn’t as subjective as [Orson] Welles and merely putting on another show just to entertain you? After all, just like Welles did with [Citizen] Kane, I am finding something familiar in Trump. As an author and filmmaker, I spend many hours competing for airtime and needing the stage as a place where we remind ourselves we are not alone.”
You gotta like this guy! (No, I don’t mean you gotta like Donald Trump. I mean Robert Orlando.) His fascinating book (and movie), Citizen Trump: A One Man Show, will challenge your deeply-held convictions—whether blue or red.
Robert Orlando focuses in on the dilemma of leaders who “lose awareness of their own corruptibility,” and the archetype of “the leader as trickster (or shapeshifter), one who can hold an audience without restriction.” He notes, “I wanted to capture that in this book, not only for those in my age group but with millennials in mind, those who do not have the length of life to see the patterns of those who come and go, rise and fall.”
“What I want to tell them is to be like Welles, bold and independent-minded. Forget the herd and find your own voice. And for God’s sake, watch the great films, the stories about ourselves and the hero’s journey. Thank God for movies,” he adds!
Last September 2020 (before the U.S. presidential election), Robert Orlando released his film, Citizen Trump, contrasting Trump with Citizen Kane—Trump’s favorite movie. Orson Welles’ acclaimed film received nine Academy Award nominations and won the Oscar for Best Writing.
The 2020 release date for Citizen Trump was intentional—before the election. Would the real ending matter? Would Trump rise or fall? Would the fall of the fictitious character, Charles Foster Kane (a composite character based on William Randolph Hearst and others), foretell Trump’s fall?
BREAKING NEWS! “Cancel culture” isn’t new. Hearst prohibited the 1941 film from being mentioned in his newspapers. Fast forward: many critics today still consider Citizen Kane to be the greatest film ever made.
View the trailer for Citizen Trump: A One Man Show here:
Click here to view the 90-second Citizen Trump trailer.
No spoiler alert needed. The 2020 election is history—and we know the results. Or do we?
Gratefully, Robert Orlando has now written the book (with 2020 in the rear-view mirror). And so with a historian/filmmaker’s insights, he spotlights key events in the Trump saga—skillfully positioning his camera to illuminate the Trump persona and the Trump/Kane contrasts. Did I mention it’s fascinating?
I’m addicted to U.S. presidential biographies (with Winston Churchill thrown in to properly position the grading curve). And while we don’t have five, 10, or 20 years for a proper look-back, Citizen Trump is a page-turner—and Orlando’s new book (just released today, June 15, 2021) prompted me to watch the Citizen Trump film one more time.
I’m more of a reader than a listener or viewer—so the Citizen Trump book is the perfect companion to the film. (Hmmm. The bibliography is immense. I wonder what all those authors think about Trump’s persona?) Orlando has done his research—extensive research—on our 45th president and it shows.
Orlando, the filmmaker and author of other works including Silence Patton and The Divine Plan, brings a unique voice to 2021. In my Sept. 9, 2020 review of the film, Citizen Trump (see the second article), I mentioned that Josh Shepherd, who covers culture, faith, and public policy for several media outlets (and previously worked at The Heritage Foundation and Focus on the Family), had recently interviewed Robert Orlando for The Federalist.
The headline: “Is Donald Trump Today’s ‘Citizen Kane’? ‘Citizen Trump’ Film Suggests Yes. Through the lens of the 1941 classic 'Citizen Kane,' a documentary filmmaker seeks to understand the life journey of President Trump and his successful venture into politics.”
Shepherd: “Watching the film, I kept waiting for it to shift. I thought, ‘This is where it’s going to become a Trump hit piece.’ Or, ‘Now it’s going to be a Trump ad.’ But it seemed to stick to facts and let the chips fall where they may. Why did you seek to avoid either extreme?"
Orlando: “As a filmmaker, I’m just telling a story about a person, warts and all. Why wouldn’t a documentary about real-life events reveal all sides of the narrative? It’s not for me to tell you how to make a political decision about it.”
The chapter titles in Citizen Trump are just too tempting! Thought-provoking chapters!
• A Modern-Day Kane
• Reality TV Kingpin
• The Trickster Candidate
• Channeling Trump
• The Faceless Enemy
• And more…
Many readers, I’m guessing, will equally appreciate the jam-packed appendix—with surprising background information and context. Orlando notes Trump’s appreciation for Carl Jung from Trump’s 2004 book, How to Get Rich. Trump writes, “I have to stress that I am not cynical, but I am aware. I hate being in situations where I’m asking myself, How could this have happened?" Trump adds, "This reminds me of my favorite quote from Napoleon about being surprised: A good leader shouldn’t be.”
So…if you’re a leader, maybe you won’t be surprised with the jewels in the appendix! Check out the mini-chapters:
• Rosebud Works
• The Mask Is the Message
• The Forgotten City on a Hill
• It’s the Media, Stupid!
Again, whether you lean red or blue—I urge you to read this book. Orlando’s intentions are trustworthy: “…my aim was not to produce a political film. As an independent filmmaker, I was more interested in pursuing a deep character study into one of the most controversial figures of our time. My template was not a Right vs. Left, faith vs. nonfaith, or even madness vs. sanity paradigm, but to explore the archetypes of storytelling as expressions of interior character, especially where Trump and Kane were so amazingly similar.”
After you read Citizen Trump (or view the Citizen Trump film), you’ll find it impossible not to view Citizen Kane again. Both films lend themselves to the perfect case study for your next weekly staff meeting—or perhaps late-night viewing at your next staff or board retreat.
Orlando writes, “My fascination with Kane began in film school when I first felt the power of sound, light, and action in the hands of a master. Welles—to me—was a titan, all four faces of cinema’s Mount Rushmore: actor, producer, writer, and director. He was also a theater and radio star.”
Orlando, again: “My pick for best film of all time goes to Citizen Kane, a seamless visual masterpiece and a technical inspiration. In this one film, Welles introduced myriad innovations, breaking form and storytelling in new ways. It was incomparable at the time, almost docudrama in style.”
He adds, “The film is a work of genius and also a cautionary tale.” We’ll wait another 80 years to see if the Citizen Trump film and book qualify for “a work of genius.” But…the Trump saga is clearly a cautionary tale. As I mentioned in my review and pop quiz of the book on White House staff conflicts, Fight House, remember this wisdom from Ecclesiastes:
“There’s nothing new on this earth. Year after year it’s the same old thing. Does someone call out, ‘Hey, this is new’? Don’t get excited—it’s the same old story.”
To order this book from Amazon, click on the title for Citizen Trump: A One Man Show, by Robert Orlando. Are you a listener? Pre-order the audio book on Libro.fm. And thanks to the author for sending me an advance manuscript.
Click here to view the film:
Citizen Trump: A One Man Show.
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS
1) According to a CBS News interview in 2008, Joe Biden’s favorite movie is Chariots of Fire (1981). Donald Trump’s favorite movie is Citizen Kane. Does this give you any clue about these two leaders? What’s your favorite movie—and why?
2) Robert Orlando writes with “millennials in mind, those who do not have the length of life to see the patterns of those who come and go, rise and fall.” Why might the millennials on your team benefit from viewing Citizen Kane and Citizen Trump? And what movies might millennials recommend that old geezers view?
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Mistake #2 of 25:
Reading…But Not Learning
Insights from Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes—And What I Learned, by John Pearson with Jason Pearson
Hot-off-the-press! Read the new book by John Pearson and Jason Pearson and then feature a “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” segment at your weekly staff meeting.
“I’ve always been a reader, but not a lifelong learner.” That’s the subtitle of Mistake #2 in the new book by John Pearson with Jason Pearson. Writing on “Reading…But Not Learning,” John quotes Peter Drucker:
“In the knowledge society, people have to learn how to learn. Indeed in the knowledge society subjects may matter less than the students’ capacity to continue learning and their motivation to do so. Knowledge society requires lifelong learning. For this, we need a discipline of learning.”
The Mistakes book also notes that “Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks, reads three hours per day. His goal is to find just one idea he can use to give him and the over 150 companies in which he’s invested an edge in the marketplace.”
Each chapter features a brief and personal “mistake story,” (often a hilarious management mistake), and then what John learned after reading a recommended fork-in-the-road book. He recommends one book for each mistake: 25 must-read books! The recommended book for Mistake #2 is My Ideal Bookshelf (read John’s review here).
Now you and your team members can avoid these 25 mistakes by leveraging the workbook format for your own professional development or at your weekly staff meetings. This “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning Workbook” includes a bonus chapter, a “Do-It-Yourself Mistake-Maker,” with a template for inviting your team members to present one of their memorable mistakes at future weekly staff meetings!
Click here to view the list of all 25 mistakes and read the introduction to Mastering Mistake Making. To order this book from Amazon, click on the title for Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes—And What I Learned (10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning Workbook), by John Pearson with Jason Pearson.
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JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Are you leveraging the power of storytelling to lavishly communicate your organization’s message and mission? Check in with Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video).
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