Leadership Reflection Essay

Leadership Reflection Essay

Introduction

A good leader exemplifies attributes such as proactiveness, integrity, honesty, and earnestness. An educated leader demonstrates the ability to assess other group’s talents and skills aimed at utilizing them in accomplishing a shared purpose or goals. Barrack Obama rose in the American political landscape not only as of the first black senator and President of the United States but also as a great leader. Among the successful accomplishments, he pioneered include the universal health program. Barrack Obama is recognized as a great leader since he is a diligent and persuasive worker [1]. This reflective essay delves into examining the leadership style of the 44^th President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama, throughout the eight years of working to realize his promises to Americans.

Barrack Obama’s Leadership Practices and Style

Obama’s tenure was characterized by social, economic, and political tensions involving an overlap of crisis and severe historical events that led to significant changes at both external and internal levels. His leadership characteristics owe to his diverse interaction with cultures from around the world, which in turn created a new vision of life.[2] Within the context of American politics, it is evident that being the President of the United States required the implementation of various leadership styles wherein the personality of the President leader must be exemplified in all events, crises, and situations. [3]On the other hand, the ability to lead a large country like the United States rests on a President’s transformational leadership style that focuses on restructuring the complex organizational structure of the administration as well as dealing with several issues at both external and internal levels[4]. Moreover, embracing an effective leadership style is crucial in helping the President to address internal issues concerning the well-being of the citizens in addition to the coordination and cooperation with the arms of government, including the judiciary, the executive and legislature. Therefore, President Obama’s leadership practices and styles can be summarized into charismatic-transformational leadership style and cross-cultural leadership.

Charismatic Leadership Style

President Barrack Obama’s leadership personality is marked by a charismatic figure whereby he had the highest ability to bring both Americans and foreigners to his side, thus accomplishing tasks efficiently. In reference to the 2008 Presidential election, it is evident that Obama had the highest ability to lure and persuading young individuals to volunteer in his campaigns. This is also exemplified in how the change icon became a significant tool to voice the interest of the young American populace.[5] Moreover, Obama’s charismatic figure had a vital impact on influencing other politicians to support his candidacy during the first and second election campaigns. As a charismatic leader, Barrack Obama was extremely skilled at communicating with others through his eloquent speeches in which he lured and led the Americans at a profound emotional level. This helped him to articulate a captivating and compelling vision that aimed at developing domestic and foreign policies that would capture the dynamic interests of the country. Alongside having the ability to induce strong emotions in their followers, President Obama demonstrated a unique ability to dissect and to decipher any inefficiency within his administration. Significantly, these visionary attributes linked to a charismatic leader ideally emanates from critical thinking skills and the ability to compile facts and find ways of solving a broad spectrum of problems.

Transformational Leadership Style

President Obama is also considered as a transformational leader due to his ability to institute change in American politics. According to Wright et al., the transformational leadership style plays a vital role in causing a change in people and social systems.[6] Typically, a transformational leader focuses on creating valuable and positive change in the followers with the ultimate objective of transforming them into great leaders. This idea shows that transformational leadership is directly correlated to charisma. According to Weber’s definition, charisma entails a kind of social authority wherein transformational leaders derive their acceptability through their character and behavior instead of formal traditions, rules, and positions in society. The idea of “change” emerged during President Obama’s campaigns. [7]The quality of change that he depicted played an important role in driving social change. Indeed, Obama’s critics and represented strong arguments to the extent that, even though he did not deliver all the promises in his manifesto, he did what was in his power as the members of the Senate and Congress to bring social change. Furthermore, the transformational leadership style was evident in his notion of “we” rather than “I.” Obama’s 2008 presidential elections were synonymous with the “Yes We Can” mindset. The phrase influenced the entire country, particularly concerning the United States economy at a time when it was recovering from the global financial crisis. Similarly, during the campaigns, the US was characterized by high levels of unemployment due to the Lehman Crisis in 2008[8]. As such, the phrase epitomized a can-do attitude that inspired and stimulated change creating among the Americans a perception that all things are possible despite the challenges.

Cross-Cultural Leadership Style

Apart from being a charismatic and transformational leader, Barrack Obama was also a cross-cultural leader. A cross-cultural leader exemplifies a strong desire to recognize and approach differences in addition to their willingness to be flexible[9]. As a cross-cultural leader, Barrack Obama was influenced by his own individual personal experiences and attributes, the expectations of the American people as well as his desire of improving the image of the US globally[10]. In his bid to integrate diverse culture in which his interests and those of America are expanded into global issues including humanity, President Obama developed cultural policy towards ensuring that the interests of Americans were not only limited to the country’s borders but widened to encompass the concerns and problems of other nations around the world[11]. Like-wise, the President’s served a crucial role in improving the image of the country to foreigners. He continuously visited other countries abroad and paid attention to the cultural traditions, norms, and values of foreign countries. Additionally, through consensual policies, and the interplay of his leadership attributes such as humility, substance, and confidence, Barack Obama concentrated on improving relations with other countries.

Trait Models of Barrack Obama

The trait leadership model depicts the personality attributes of a leader. Millon’s Eight Attribute Domains provides a comprehensive analysis of the attribute traits that great leaders demonstrate. These attributes include expressive behavior, interpersonal conduct, cognitive style, temperament/mood, Self-image, and regulatory mechanisms.[12] Equally, Millon also proposed that object representation and morphological organization are crucial dimensions that depict a leader’s personality trait. President Obama’s personality traits correspond to Millon’s Eight attribute dimensions through his interpersonal conduct, expressive behavior, cognitive style, and self-image. While the expressive behavior refers to how the person typically appears to others, or what the person unknowingly or knowingly reveals about themselves, the interpersonal conduct encompasses how the person ideally interacts with others, the prompt, the attitudes that underlie as well as the techniques the individual uses to interact with others.

On the other hand, Barack Obama had a cognitive style that enabled him to focus and allocate his attention to policy and policy reforms that needed priority attention. The cognitive style also enhances Obama’s effective communication skills, and how he organizes his thoughts, processes information in addition to making attribution. [13]Indeed, this style has been the source of the President’s eloquent and moving speeches that made him win the two elections. Apart from these traits, Barack Obama was also a visionary leader with a compelling vision for the entire country[14]. He could see beyond challenges and developed an empowering picture for future America. Considerably, as a visionary leader, President Obama was inspirational, emotional, intelligent, resolute, open-minded, imaginative, collaborative, bold, and optimistic.

Conclusion

Barack Obama’s leadership style involving a charismatic, transformational, and cross-cultural leadership style was fundamental in transforming the country’s social, economic, cultural, and political landscape. His charisma served a great purpose in luring the citizens, especially young people, to volunteer in his campaigns across the country. On the other hand, he embraced a visionary approach that enhanced his transformational style. For instance, the attribute of change he depicted played an essential role in driving social change. Notably, Obama’s critics and represented strong arguments to the extent that, even though he did not deliver all the promises in his manifesto, he did what was in his power as the members of the Senate and Congress to bring social change.

Bibliography

Brown, Christopher B. “Barack Obama as the great man: Communicative constructions of racial transcendence in white-male elite discourses.” Communication Monographs 78, no. 4 (2011): 535-556.

Elkatawneh, Hassan. “Bridging Theory and Practice Leadership/Barack Obama.” Barack Obama (November 8, 2016) (2016).

Green, Daryl D., and Gary E. Roberts. “Transformational leadership in a postmodern world: The presidential election of Barack Obama.” Academy of Strategic Management Journal 11, no. 1 (2012): 9.

Hanson, Sonja Lucinda. “Transformational leadership and communication: Barack Obama case study.” Ph.D. diss., San Diego State University, 2014.

Popa, Adrian B., Michael Hazel, Lachlan Whatley, Anthony Andenoro, and Heather Crandall. “What is the role of perceived leadership capacity in presidential politics? Young voters’ perceptions of candidates’ leadership practices and the 2008 US presidential race.” Journal of Leadership Studies 5, no. 3 (2011): 25-39.

Quader, Mohammed Shahedul. “Perception of leadership styles and trust across cultures and gender: A comparative study on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.” South Asian Journal of Management 18, no. 2 (2011): 30-59.

Tourish, Dennis. “Leadership, more or less? A processual, communication perspective on the role of agency in leadership theory.” Leadership 10, no. 1 (2014): 79-98.

Winter, David G. “Philosopher‐king or polarizing politician? A personality profile of Barack Obama.” Political Psychology 32, no. 6 (2011): 1059-1081.

[1] Winter, David G. “Philosopher‐king or polarizing politician? A personality profile of Barack Obama.” Political Psychology 32, no. 6 (2011): 1059-1081.

[2] Quader, Mohammed Shahedul. “Perception of leadership styles and trust across cultures and gender: A comparative study on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.” South Asian Journal of Management 18, no. 2 (2011): 30-59.

[3] Green, Daryl D., and Gary E. Roberts. “Transformational leadership in a postmodern world: The presidential election of Barack Obama.” Academy of Strategic Management Journal 11, no. 1 (2012): 9.

[4] Quader, Mohammed Shahedul. “Perception of leadership styles and trust across cultures and gender: A comparative study on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.” South Asian Journal of Management 18, no. 2 (2011): 30-59.

[5] Green, Daryl D., and Gary E. Roberts. “Transformational leadership in a postmodern world: The presidential election of Barack Obama.” Academy of Strategic Management Journal 11, no. 1 (2012): 9.

[6] Elkatawneh, Hassan. “Bridging Theory and Practice Leadership/Barack Obama.” Barack Obama (November 8, 2016) (2016).

[7] Popa, Adrian B., Michael Hazel, Lachlan Whatley, Anthony Andenoro, and Heather Crandall. “What is the role of perceived leadership capacity in presidential politics? Young voters’ perceptions of candidates’ leadership practices and the 2008 US presidential race.” Journal of Leadership Studies 5, no. 3 (2011): 25-39.

[8] Brown, Christopher B. “Barack Obama as the great man: Communicative constructions of racial transcendence in white-male elite discourses.” Communication Monographs 78, no. 4 (2011): 535-556.

[9] Winter, David G. “Philosopher‐king or polarizing politician? A personality profile of Barack Obama.” Political Psychology 32, no. 6 (2011): 1059-1081.

[10] Brown, Christopher B. “Barack Obama as the great man: Communicative constructions of racial transcendence in white-male elite discourses.” Communication Monographs 78, no. 4 (2011): 535-556.

[11] Elkatawneh, Hassan. “Bridging Theory and Practice Leadership/Barack Obama.” Barack Obama (November 8, 2016) (2016).

[12] Tourish, Dennis. “Leadership, more or less? A processual, communication perspective on the role of agency in leadership theory.” Leadership 10, no. 1 (2014): 79-98.

[13] Brown, Christopher B. “Barack Obama as the great man: Communicative constructions of racial transcendence in white-male elite discourses.” Communication Monographs 78, no. 4 (2011): 535-556.

[14] Winter, David G. “Philosopher‐king or polarizing politician? A personality profile of Barack Obama.” Political Psychology 32, no. 6 (2011): 1059-1081.