Justin Trudeau Executive Summary

MGMT 3516 - Team Trudeau | Carl Wiseman, Dienabou Diallo, Jeff Stevenson, Meng Sun, Trisha Rupani

JUSTIN TRUDEAU | POWER DYNAMICS

Executive Summary: This paper provides an analysis of the power dynamics at play behind Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Justin Trudeau is the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and has been prime minister of Canada since November 2015, at the age of 43. Shortly after he was elected Canada's prime minister, he landed a spot on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. He acquired and maintained power through having strong political access power, referent power, and a distinctive and contagious personality.

1. Circumstances and people in his earliest years that caused

him to seek power and gain power
Justin Trudeau was born on Christmas Day 1971 to a very affluent family. His grandfather made much of their wealth from the sale of gas stations to Imperial Oil in 1930’s and his father Pierre Trudeau leveraged that wealth to obtain his law degree in 1943 from Université de Montréal. Pierre Trudeau was later appointed as Minister of Justice in 1967 and then to Prime Minister of Canada in 1968. Justin’s mother, Margaret, was also influential as she was born to parents with political ties and powerful connections. Additionally, she had created her own circle of influence as an actress, a TV host, and an author. Consequently, there was no doubt that the support, influence, and successes of his family allowed Justin to have confidence and view the world as a place he could change for the better. This confidence gave him the power and motivation to chase his dreams and be eventually elected as the leader of the liberal party and the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada.
2. Major milestones in early professional life that helped gain power
Despite having a strong political access, Justin Trudeau stayed out of the political arena following graduation from college and was a teacher for many years. He taught high school math and French in British Columbia, which gave him valuable experience motivating people, speaking in front of groups, and connecting with people on a personal level (CNN Library, 2016). His first venture into a more public role was as the Chair of Katimavik, a national volunteer service program for young Canadians (CNN Library, 2016). In 2006, he entered the political world as the leader of the Liberal Party’s task force on youth renewal.
Trudeau’s experiences working with youth inspired him to seek more power in the Canadian government in order to create positive change.

In 2007, Trudeau began campaigning to earn a Parliament seat as a representative of Montreal’s Papineau district (Bio Editors, 2017). He won the seat and was elected to the Canadian Parliament in 2008 (Bio Editors, 2017). Being elected into the Canadian Parliament was a major milestone in Trudeau’s early professional life because it provided him with valuable hands-on experience. His vision was well received by his constituents and fellow parliament members who respected his views and admired his passion. As the Liberal Party Leader, Trudeau became more visible throughout Canadian politics and continued to gain more influence and power which would ultimately lead to his desire to run for Canadian Prime Minister in 2015 (CNN Library,

2016).
3. Gaining and maintaining power during professional years
a. A need for change and the anti-harper sentiment
Before Trudeau campaigned for the Canadian elections, Canada was tainted by a momentum for change from former minister Stephen Harper. There was an obvious anti-Harper sentiment with social movements such as the hashtag #StopHarperm. This momentum for change enabled Trudeau to strategically align his campaign and focus on creating a better Canada (Bobby Umar, Huffington Post).
b. Energy, character, and consistency
Many were surprised at how energized Trudeau looked after a 78-day campaign. Trudeau’s energy was evident in his support rallies where he talked with enthusiasm and passion about Canada. In Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't, Pfeffer mentioned that due to its contagious nature, Justin’s energy helped him gain influence. This energy coupled with Trudeau’s dauntless character made him defy the conventional wisdom that “the nail that stands up gets hammered down.” In 2011, he argued for unpopular causes such as women’s right to wear niqabs at citizenship ceremonies, the legalization of marijuana, and the protection of abortion rights. After becoming prime, he remained true to his character and commitment to bringing change to Canada by appointing half of his cabinet positions to women. Such high degree of consistency is normally associated with personal and intellectual strength (Cialdini, p.53).”
4. Characteristics that made Trudeau powerful
● Loyalty for the Trudeau name: Justin inherited a community of fans loyal to the Trudeau’s name. Trudeau's father, Pierre Trudeau, served as one of Canada's most popular prime ministers and dominated the country's politics from the late 1960s through the mid-'80s.
● Admiration and affection for Justin Trudeau: Justin Trudeau is loved and admired by many due to his amazing character and background. This character is a result of Justin adult life and his education. Even though his family had the means, Justin was not handed everything and sent to public school. This not only provided him with a humble foundation and made him work hard for his successes, but it also instilled in him values to which many other people respond to and admire. These values include the openness and compassion Justin demonstrated when he went to the airport to greet and hand coats to Syrian refugees arriving in Canada, when he joined Muslims were cutting their fast during Ramadan, and when he named the most gender-balanced and diverse cabinet his country and the world has ever seen.
● Charisma: While Justin’s good looks are a considerable part of his charisma, so are the unconventional events in his life. Justin once kissed a gay talk show host on national TV. He starred in a made-for-TV historical movie and admitted to smoking marijuana. Before politics, PM Trudeau was also a teacher, a non-profit leader, and a nightclub bouncer and snowboard instructor. This background made him significantly deviates from the traditional path to senior leadership roles and helped built a character that allowed him to connect with individuals from all backgrounds; crucial criteria given Canada’s diverse and progressive demographics.
Interestingly but not surprisingly, loyalty, admiration, affection and charisma are all characteristics illustrating the referent power dynamics. As we know, referent power refers to the ability of a leader to influence a follower because of the follower's loyalty, respect, friendship, admiration, or affection (Wikipedia).
5. Trudeau weaknesses in his use of power
a. Lack of experience
While Justin Trudeau landed a spot on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world, Forbes claims that he is not high up on the ranks of those leaders who hold the most power (Forbes, The World’s Most Famous People). Some believe that this was not surprising given Justin’s Trudeau lack of experience and that the only reason Trudeau was able to achieve such a high-level position was because of his father’s legacy. This weakness seems highlighted by the media that constantly portray Justin taking topless selfies on his vacations and attending many social events. This image of Justin led to a lack of trust with some of his conservative citizens on whether he is truly capable of the job.
b. Lack of international presence
Justin had been known to stay out of the international limelight, which was not expected behavior for powerful leaders. However, most recently, Justin had been correcting this lack of international presence by voicing Canada regarding international matters such as Fidel Castro’s death, the current refugee crisis and visiting Trump recently. While he was criticized for giving words of kindness to dictator Fidel Castro after his death, he was respected and admired by most for his response to the refugee crisis and the emotional intelligence he displayed while meeting president Trump.
These two weaknesses ultimately reflect a lack of expert power, a lack of power based on the perception that someone has a high level of knowledge that others do not possess. Given that most powerful leaders have the expert knowledge and international influence expected in the political arena, Trudeau’s biggest weakness would be his lack of expert power. This weakness could be further illustrated by Trudeau’s erroneous forecast that the economy would see a $1 billion surplus before his election and a $17.7 billion deficit forecast after the election. While this might be an honest mistake due to his lack of experience, some believed that Justin might have intentionally lied to the public to get the votes. Another example of Justin lack of expert power was the Elbow Gate Incident where he manhandled two members of the Parliament. This made it seem that under pressure, Justin could not control his emotions.
6.

Key takeaway from Trudeau’s power dynamics

a. Referent power can outweigh expert power

While Trudeau lack of expert power is being highly criticized, it did not stop Canadians from electing him as a prime minister. Therefore, it seemed that referent power (the ability to connect and influence people at the emotional level) heavily outweighed expert power. This trend was also reflected in the recent US election inexperienced president candidate Trump defeated Hillary Clinton who had significant more political experience. However Trump’s connection with Americans was different from the connection Trudeau built with Canadians; one is around nationalism, the other about openness and positivity.

b. Positivity can be a strength

While most of the developed world had been fearing refugees and closing their borders, Trudeau not only welcomed refugees but went to the airport to welcome Canada’s first Syrian refugees as they arrived in the country. Trudeau led through a lens of positivity, which created a system under which a diverse group could assemble and thrive. Trudeau’s cabinet is also a reflection what the modern day government should look like: culture and gender

diverse.
c. Soft power can work
While Trudeau is indeed powerful, his power is more on the soft side and in par with leaders with soft power - the ability to influence by inspiring rather than coercion or the use of force. Can such a power be used in organizations? As we have learned from Pfeffer that nice people often do not have an advantage and that sometimes it is necessary to be coercive and mean to gain power, it would seem that it does not always have to be that way and that soft power can be actually quite effective. This aligns with the type of power discussed in Zapp, a soft power that can inspire and empower on a grand scale.
As MBA students, we can ultimately learn from Trudeau that there is no such thing as the traditional resume anymore. Being nice, authentic and unique even when it is controversial can enable us to connect with others on an emotional level, which leads to the ability to influence them and eventually gain power. And since organizations are like political governments, these takeaways should be applicable to the corporate world.