Gage Skidmore / Foter / CC BY-SA

Gage Skidmore / Foter / CC BY-SA

Not playing by their rules is a way of life for Donald Trump.  And recently Ben Carson has been following Donald’s lead.

And now they’ve double-teamed the media and turned the tables on the media – who prefers to back the Democrat party and control the narrative of Republicans.

So what did Donald do?

Well CNBC who is holding the next debate proposed a format designed to control the conversation and not allow the Republican candidates to get their message out like the Democrats were allowed to do on their last debate.

And knowing how the media views the Republican side of the narrative, Donald knew that this was a recipe for failure.

So he did what he always does…change the rules.

So he got with Ben Carson (the other candidate who doesn’t take too kindly to the media dictating the narrative) and they recognized that together they had major power to push CNBC to structure the debate in a way that would work for Donald and Ben.

And in that letter they said,

“Neither Mr. Trump or Dr. Carson will participate in your debate if it is longer than 120 minutes including commercials and does not include opening and closing statements,”

Why did they want  that?

1. Over  two hours hurts in two ways.  First they have more chances to get tired and make a mistake that they’ll be roasted on later.  Secondly they know the  audience starts to tune out probably after an hour (Donald knows that from his TV shows and marketing savvy).
2. If they aren’t allowed to do opening and closing statements then the audience’s view of them is based on the choice of questions they are asked and the short rebuttal opportunities.  And in that debate format you rarely get much of a chance to give people a view into what you’re vision for America is.  And that is something that is often more important than the entertainment of the debate.  Especially from a candidate’s perspective.

So what did that mean to CNBC?

Well if the top two frontrunners back out of the debate, we already know Donald Trump is the main reason the ratings are so high when he’s on TV.  And CNBC knows that as well.  And for them Trump = Money.  And losing Trump and  Carson = major loss of money or an opportunity lost.

So they caved.

And Trump and Carson got a major win under their belt.  And I guarantee they both get more airtime on and off the debate stage because of this coup.

So what can you learn from this?

Ten Takeaways

1. There is always another route you can go if you think outside the box.
2. Recognize the leverage you do have (we often forget that).
3. Like on “Survivor” or “The Apprentice”, partnerships and alliances can make or break your success.
4. People respect and respond to strength and prey on weakness.
5. When you have the “bully pulpit” use it.  And as President they’ll likely need to use it often.
6. Leaders lead.  The rest of the candidates cowered.  And by doing that they have probably already lost.  Because who wants a weak leader?  You need to lead in your life as well.
7. If you don’t take informed and calculated risks you won’t win…and you won’t be in business for long either.
8. Action wins over inaction.
9. You can make a difference.
10. There is always hope.

Now go tackle your biggest problems.  You can make them bend to your will.