Our Parallel Presidents' First 100 Days

This past week, two very different portraits of leadership made headlines. In The New York Times, Peter Baker chronicled the first 100 days of President Donald J. Trump’s second term — a flurry of executive orders, sweeping institutional shifts, and unrelenting urgency. Meanwhile, The Athletic ran Elise Devlin’s inspiring story: an inside look at Steph Curry’s approach to leadership — grounded in joy, humility, and connection. Together, these two snapshots offer more than news. They offer a contrast — and a question:

What kind of leadership do we value — amid the domestic and international storms and in the daily undercurrents that shape our communities, workplaces, and democracy?

Imagine, for a moment, that Steph Curry had also been sworn in this January. In this parallel America, President Steph Curry and President Donald J. Trump are 100 days into their presidencies. Both have reshaped the nation — just in very different ways.

President Curry: Servant Leadership in Action: President Curry’s leadership style centers on trust, humility, and emotional intelligence — traits that reflect servant leadership and transformational leadership models. His first major initiative? A Lead with Joy campaign — focused on expanding youth mentorship, mental health resources, and community sports.

He prioritizes relationships over rhetoric. Rather than pushing through sweeping orders, he convenes town halls. He doesn’t command attention — he earns it. His cabinet includes teachers, coaches, and community organizers. Policy is co-created, not top-down. And when a disagreement arises, he doesn’t escalate — he passes the ball, listens, and adjusts.

His superpower? The ability to lead without making it about himself. This isn't fantasy — it's rooted in Curry's real-life track record and consistent with his real-life off-court leadership. His nonprofit work, investment in youth programs, and approach to team culture show how a leader can inspire performance through empathy and connection. In the Curry model, credibility comes not from charisma or coercion but from consistency.

President Trump: Commanding with Conviction: President Trump, in contrast, exhibits characteristics of authoritative and transactional leadership — focused on clarity, decisiveness, and control. After winning reelection with a clear popular mandate, he's pursued an ambitious agenda to reshape the federal government and reassert national sovereignty. His executive power has been sweeping: restructuring agencies, revisiting trade deals, reshaping immigration enforcement, and asserting a bold new foreign policy doctrine. His supporters view him as a man of action, unafraid to challenge entrenched systems and move quickly.

He's not focused on consensus — he's focused on execution. While critics argue that this style sidelines collaboration, others see it as a response to gridlock and institutional drift. Either way, there's no denying that Trump leads with a singular vision and is unapologetically results-driven.

Different Models, Different Outcomes: Neither approach is inherently right or wrong — they reflect different values, different assumptions about power, and different theories of change.

• President Curry believes leadership is about inspiring others to rise — much like he has been on the court for over a decade.
• President Trump believes leadership is about shaping outcomes directly — often by defying convention and pushing institutions to their limits.

One model builds team culture. The other tests institutional resilience. One leads through inclusion. The other is through assertion.

To be sure, both models appeal to different instincts — and both have merits. In times of crisis, authoritative leadership can cut through red tape. In moments of drift, servant leadership may lack the urgency some demand. President Trump commands a broad base for a reason: many Americans want strong, decisive action.

A Mirror and a Blueprint: This thought experiment reminds us that leadership is not limited to the political arena. Our President Curry example helps us imagine a civic culture where empathy and empowerment are not signs of weakness but strengths worth celebrating — even at the highest levels. This isn't about fantasy or fandom. It's about the models we elevate. It's about what kind of leadership our institutions — and our democracy — truly need and when.

We may never see President Curry behind the Resolute Desk. But his example offers something increasingly rare in public life: leadership rooted in trust, humility, and the belief that empowering others is not a liability but a legacy. Leadership styles may shift with the moment — but the most enduring leaders stay grounded in their values. They don't demand the ball to prove power, whether in crisis or calm. They pass it to build trust. And in an often-divided world hungry for connection, that’s a play worth running again and again.