Leadership Profile of Barrack Hussein Obama
Context of leadership
The presidency of the United States of America is one of the highest institutions of leadership, management and power. The United States of America, being the world superpower has enormous responsibilities and roles to discharge both internally and externally across the globe. The military prowess, the economic prosperity and the democratic space existent in the United States makes the institution of the presidency one of the most difficult roles to execute. The presidency determines the economic, political and social policies to pursue within the United States of America. The presidency is also America’s number one diplomat in international affairs. The office has full representation in international organs such as the Security Council, The larger United Nations Organization, The Great Eight leaders, among other institutions of the world.
The presidency is a political and managerial office. The office leads the United States of America’s approximately three hundred million people. In addition, the office makes policies and decisions that have influence and effects on the entire globe. In that token, it can be argued that the presidency of the United States of America does not only lead the citizenry of the United States. Rather the presidency leads the entire world. Some of the facts in support of this argument include the presidency’s military role which include the declaration of war against nations and institutions or bodies such as Al-Qaida, the financial bailout decisions that have affected Europe’s economic policies and numerous foreign policies that have often forced nations and state governments to conform to the requirements of the United States of America.
Barrack Obama’s leadership qualities
The president assumed office after the November 2008 elections and was inaugurated on 20th January 2009. Barrack Obama came in office amid turbulent times for the United States of America. The nation’s economy was on a free fall from a spiraling depression. America’s image had been tainted internationally after the failed war in Iraq. China’s aggressive economic prosperity was threatening the super power position of America. The United States was yet to withdraw from Afghanistan and the Iran- Israel relations continued to worsen. The president’s leadership abilities have been observed and appreciated by all and sundry through his management of the American situation. Some of the attributes that have come out strongly on the president’s demeanor include the following:
Good communication skills:
The president has been credited for his proper and effective communication. The president has adopted a culture of communicating with the citizenry and the political leadership. Obama is usually seen by the public as being in touch and aware of the problems of citizens. He goes through painful sessions in the media through radio talk shows, television appearances and advertisements in which he explains and communicates to the citizenry his opinion and the rationale for his decisions. The president uses presidential speeches at various occasions to communicate not only to the citizenry but also to the entire globe. The president has the ability to specifically and precisely communicate his point ad drive his message home. Of course the ability comes with his charismatic and eloquent oratorical abilities.
Calmness
The institution of the presidency must and should be ready to react and decide upon the occurrence of crisis in the world. The president has demonstrated the ability to be clam even in the face of the most difficult challenges. Incidences have occurred in the world that has disturbed the peace and stability of the world. The Arab spring revolution and the simmering Iran-Israel relations that threaten to escalate into full blown war have effectively created instability and uncertainty in the world. The president has always maintained his calm. He has been able to pursue a foreign policy that essentially gives diplomacy a chance. Barrack has assisted in overt and covert ways to minimize the effects of the Arab Spring revolution. Closer home, the president has calmly dealt with criticisms and attacks from extremists and rivals. All manner of criticism and accusations have been thrown to the direction of the presidency. Critics have ignited debates ranging from the real birthplace of the presidency, the intention of the Obamacare health act to issues surrounding America’ poor economic performance amid the recovery from the economic depression and the threatening possibility of war between Iran and Israel. The president has, however, maintained his calm and continued in the spirit of service and hard work.
Fairness
The president can be arguably credited as being America’s fairest president. Despite the societal differences on races, economic classes, origins, educational backgrounds, among other factors, the president has been able to bind the American citizenry along the common purpose and ambitions. He has created avenues for the people to be able to work so as to earn decent incomes, for every citizen to have healthcare funded by the able citizenry and provided opportunities to thousands of citizens who had previously given up. The president’s tax plans which intend to reduce taxation on the middle class and companies that provide employment at home while increasing taxes on the upper classes and companies that export labor externally serves as the best illustration of the president’s fairness.
Charisma
The president is arguably the most charismatic the United States has ever had. He listens to all and talks honestly to them. The president is reputed for his ability to cooperate and charismatically engage with his rivals, enemies and opponents. An example lies in his appointment of Hillary Rodham Clinton as the Secretary of State in charge of Foreign Affairs. This is despite the latter’s aggressive campaign against him in the democratic primaries for the presidential ticket. In addition, the president supports the application of diplomacy on Iran instead of engaging the latter in a war. His charisma enables him get in touch with the citizenry who easily resonate with his down to earth approach to issues.
Personal lessons learnt
The character and abilities of Barrack Obama during his tenure as the president of the United States of America teaches me a lot of lessons. For starters, it shows the essence of calmness in the midst of disaster and challenges. Managerial positions would never exist without disasters and challenges. The way in which one reacts to the challenges exposes his ability as a leader. One must show calmness and restraint in his actions. Secondly, the president’s leadership demonstrates the essence of fairness. One must be fair in his decision making if he intends to lead effectively. Everyone has interests to be served; however, one need not necessarily serve his interests at the expense of others. The president’s ability to fairly administrate and lead America suffices as a good precedent. Finally, the presidency remains one of the toughest assignments in the entire globe and the skills demonstrated by Barrack Obama reflect his good managerial and leadership abilities.
References
Niven, S. J. (2009). Barack Obama: A Pocket Biography of Our 44th President. New York: Oxford University Press.
Robinson, T., & Rich, W. C. (2009). Barack Obama: 44th U.s. President. New York: ABDO.
