What Can We Learn From Obama's Leadership Style? By Simon Oates At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Obama is without doubt one of the most effective leaders we have seen so far this century, and is already well on his way to becoming the contender for 'leader of the century'. The hype behind this man is huge, the media coverage at an almost obsessive level - but yet there is a significant amount of sincerity in the voices of his followers.

So how did such a man become the President of the United States of America? How has he succeeded at creating a leadership style that seems to appeal to more than just the 'middle' of America, but also the divided sides?

The answer is all down to his leadership style - which I will breakdown into the following 4 areas in this article:

Authority
Presentation
Charisma
Integrity

** Authority **

While Obama is considered 'young' as far as presidential hopefuls go, he still managed to win the trust of a fickle nation. Firstly, let me clarify that Barrack is by no means a young man at the age of 48, and this is displayed cleary in his body language.

Barrack despite being younger had clear authority over his rivals. This was because he was perceived as (and indeed is) being an intelligent individual with sound rational thought and wide knowledge of international affairs.

** Presentation **

Barrack Obama presents himself in a respectful and calm manner. This has the effect of enhancing his authority - but also generates more listeners. Leaders attract followers, they don't entrap them or somehow force them to listen. Those people are managers. Listeners prefer listening to those who aren't shouting or screaming for attention. Obama's calmness, patience and friendly presentation of himself therefore attracts followers.

** Charisma **

Now, modern authors will emphasise that charisma is not a necessary trait of a great leader. While I agree with this point - it's beyond refute that Obama's skill as an orator have helped him to not only catch the public eye, but to retain it, and earn it's trust.

** Integrity **

And a key part of winning that trust is by demonstrating integrity. All presidential campaigns engage in a level of 'dirt flinging' and by that, I refer to them bringing up and highlighting the weaknesses in the other parties decisions or character. While McCain campaign certainly delivered some negative messages in their expensive TV slots - their message was always rather shallow, because they failed to find a single instance where Obama had shown a blatant disregard for honesty and the truth.

These 4 elements form part of the leadership style that Obama has developing over the last decade, I turn to you now and ask, which, if any of these characteristics do you believe you demonstrate strongest in your day to day life? Now ask yourself, which characteristics do you believe that others see strongest in you?

You may come to the realisation that perhaps if you share a particularly brilliant trait with the greats - others may not see it due to the way you are making choices in your day to day life. A moral and ethic person could for instance, be driven to selling rip-off products to vulnerable citizens because they fear their house may be repossessed if they lost their source of income.

Our day-to-day choices may often feel restricted and limited. And in many cases they are. But when you step back and look long term - every individual reading this article has the opportunity to SCULPT their path through life. The clone employee sat in a box office who dreams of working for themselves as a kitchen fitter, or the barmaid who sees herself on stage everytime she closes her eyes, do have the power to reach their goals in the long term, if they start making the right choices right now.

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