Barak Obama is the 44th
president of United States and the first African American president. He was
born on August 4, 1961, in Hawaii, United States. He belongs to a multiracial
background as his mother was white and father was a black man. Barak Obama has
two daughters Sasha and Malia and a wife named Michelle Obama. Obama got his
early education from local Indonesian-language schools. In 1979, after doing graduation
from high school, Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles too. In
1981, he moved to New York City at Columbia University, and majored in
political science and specialized in international relations (Amble, 2011).
Barak Obama has been president of United States
from 2009 to 2017 and got a noble peace prize award for his efforts to build up
international diplomacy and collaboration among peoples. Barak Obama is one of
the most powerful presidents of United States who always been very kind to
people and interacts with them humorously. People loved him and believe in him
during his presidency. In this report, there would be a discussion on the Leadership
Styles of Barak Obama and what leadership styles and theories he followed
throughout his presidency period. There would also be a discussion on strategic
thinking and emotional intelligence factors of leadership (Greathouse,
2016).
The important thing is to define Obama’s
leadership style with MBTI personality type based on the theory presented by Myers-Briggs.
As per this theory, a leader can have four kinds of personality like he would
have a personality which has extroversion or introversion, sensing or
intuition, thinking or feeling, and judging or perceiving. Based on these
personality traits, the leadership style of Barack Obama is more near to ENFJ
styles, which means Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, Judgement. He is an
idealist, who believes in making decisions based on value, rather being
critical thinker. He has charismatic personality, and he has been someone, who
tried to have empathy and support for the poor section of society. His deisions
are supported by personal values, which mean that decisions are made on the
basis of feeling, rather keeping thinking in view (Jesmanowicz, 2013)Fundamentals of Leadership
of Leadership Styles of Barak Obama
The leadership is the science of directing
people towards a specific path. For being a successful leader, it is very
important to be supportive and inspiring for the people. The effective leaders
continually interconnect the fundamental values that inspire their vision. The actions
and vision of the leaders must be corresponding with these ethics. The effective
leaders also determine with their words and activities. Without cooperation, a
good leader always applies their energies to the success of the organization
and they expect a comparable devotion and sense of commitment from followers.
The Barak Obama was also one of the most inspiring leaders and he followed his
vision of the United States in his period of 8 years of the presidency (Husain, 2017).
Traits of leadership
of Barak Obama
According
to Lussier & Achua (2012), Leadership theory, the traits of leaders are
categorized in five dimensions that are dominance, sociability, emotional liability,
dependability and openness to experience.
Barak Obama was a very dominant leader
and powerful speakers that makes his personality very attractive to the public.
He has a very energetic and extrovert personality. Barak Obama has always been
a very organized and dependable leader who has successfully led the United
Nations for 8 years. Being a leader Barak Obama always try to be social and
connected with the people, many times he personal visit the people how have
gone through the tragedies (Meckler, 2013).
The Barak Obama has very strong emotional
abilities and always keeps calm and handles the situation wisely without
getting panic. During the political career of Barack Obama, whenever he fails,
he never loses his sense of being and tries to make things better. Being an
intellectual leader Barak Obama is very open to new experience and he always
been a supporter of change as it is his slogan "change we can believe
in" (Amble, 2011).Strategic Thinking of Leadership Styles of Barak Obama
Strategic Thinking is an important attribute of an
effective leader. The effective leaders often make decisions on vague and multifaceted
issues where there is a consciousness of difficulty with may be temporal or incomplete
data, and there is in decision regarding the solution or probable results of
their actions. According to the thinking model presented by the Herrmann, there
are almost 4 main thinking styles (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009). While
thinking styles presented by the HBDI are categorized in 4 colors green, red, yellow
and blue. Rational thinking is highly appreciated the quality of effective
leadership. Bradberry and Greaves claim that rational thinking are mainly
supported by healthy brains. Yoga and exercises generate chemicals in the brain
that strengthen the brain area and support a person to think rationally. The
leaders address all of the issues with these features and those that advice leaders
want to integrate the following 5lenses of thinking: Critical Thinking, Creative
Thinking, Ethical Thinking, Systems Thinking, and Thinking in Time (Husain, 2017).
The strategic thinking framework is likely to deal
with the different aspects of thinking. It is quite obvious that the leaders have to deal
with the different complex and difficult situation and it is very important for
them to carry out an effective strategic thinking approach to handle all
problems and issues that they have effectively. In order to conduct an
effective strategic thinking approach, it is very important for the leaders to
know himself, people and after analyzing the whole situation reflect in it. The Barak Obama is also a strategic leader
as he knows that what their people need and what is the best solution that he
can provide to the problems of people. Barak Obama always stays very clam while
making any decision, he has many advisers who assist him to make the best
decisions (Husain, 2017).
It can be said that Barak Obama is a very
effective leader and is also very good at strategic thinking while making any
major decision. In one of his speeches, Barak Obama said: “is going to require us to be strategic as to where we push hard”. One of the most dominant legacies of Barak
Obama is his contribution in decreasing the unemployment rate in the United States
that is only possible through his affect strategic thinking throughout his
presidency period (Meckler, 2013).
Emotional Intelligence
of Leadership Styles of Barak Obama
Emotional
Intelligence competencies
Emotional Intelligence is the ability to be aware of one's
emotions and control them effectively. For a good leader, it is very important
to be emotionally intelligent in order to express him in a good way and not be very
reactive in difficult situations. Emotional intelligence is essential to
develop and build effective relations with the public. As far as the leadership
traits of Barak Obama are a concern, he is one of the most emotionally
intelligent presidents of the United States. Throughout his period of the
presidency, he never gets panic or shows his weak emotions to the people, his
attitude is very chill. The speak of Barak Obama includes not only information,
promises or vision but is also full of humor that makes the public more loyal
and connected with him. He is a very humble leader and never seen taking
himself very seriously or being insecure and reactive to particular situations (Amble, 2011). It is important to
see that how emotional intelligence is shown by the leaders like Barack Obama. The
great example of his emotional intelligence is the fact when he stepped into
the White House. He was the first black man to achieve this feat. He was facing
so many challenges ahead like what he would do as country was facing many
issues related to financial crisis as well as terrorism. He remained cool in
these pressure moments, even he was asked to show his birth certificate. His
public profile was so strong showing emotional intelligence that when things
were on track, he showed humor & heart, and when things were looking wrong,
he showed strength & empathy. This is how a leader should respond with his
emotional intelligence skills (Davis, n.d.)
Here are some of the major areas of focus for the
emotionally intelligent leader:
Self-Awareness
It
is very important for the leader to be aware of his strengths and weakness. Self-awareness
is the most dominant attribute of leader because leadership is not actually
about knowing the problems and solution but to know himself and his intuitions
that can create the most favorable solutions for the problems. The Barak Obama
is a self-aware leader who knows his potential and approaches in life (Meckler,
2013).
Self-Management of Leadership
Styles of Barak Obama
The
Barak Obama is an organized leader, who always took the responsibility for his
actions. He never makes accuse of any of his failures and takes charge of all
situations come in his way. The self-management of Barak Obama is also helped
him to be more proactive and efficient in his work (Lewis, 2004)
Social
Awareness of Leadership
Styles of Barak Obama
Being
an effective leader, the social awareness is very important because it helped
the leader to understand the needs of the people. Barak Obama is the always
been very socially aware leader. Barak Obama has a good understanding of public
feelings is essential to emotional intelligence (Husain, 2017).
Relationship
Management of
Leadership
Styles of Barak Obama
For
a leader the effective relationship management with the people is very
important. There is no doubt that Barak Obama is one of the most loved presidents
of the United States. Barak Obama was a modern president and uses the latest
technology to connect with maximum people. He always makes sure to be aware of
the problems of people and try to solve them also (Meckler,
2013).
Barak Obama five best strategies are the
following:
·
Connect with people
·
Believe in change
·
Make it simple and humorous
·
Self-organization and awareness
·
Being proactive
Extrovert
According to the book of emotional intelligence 2.0 written by the Bradberry and Greaves in 2009, people having extrovert personalities usually have high EQ as compared to the people having introvert personalities. Personalities support the development of EQ in a person. Barack Obama has the trait that falls in the category of extroversion as he speaks from the heart and shares his views on social issues and governmental problems that makes his personality a fine example of extroversion (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009). Considering this it can be concluded that Barack Obama has high EQ level that makes him an effective leader for the people of USA
Conclusion
on Leadership Styles of Barak Obama
Summing
up the discussion it can be said that to be an effective leader it is very Barak
Obama is one of the most powerful presidents of United States who always been
very kind with people and interacts with them humorously. Without cooperation,
a good leader always applies their energies to the success of the organization
and they expect a comparable devotion and sense of commitment from followers.
Barak Obama was a very dominant leader and powerful speakers that makes his
personality very attractive to the public. Being a leader Barak Obama always
try to be social and connected with the people, many times he personal visit
the people how have gone through the tragedies. Effective strategic thinking
approach to handle all problems and issues that they have effectively.
The
Barak Obama is also a strategic leader as he knows that what their people need
and what is the best solution that he can provide to the problems of people.
For a good leader, it is very important to be emotionally intelligent in order
to express him in a good way and not be very reactive in difficult situations.
Throughout his period of the presidency, he never gets panic or shows his weak
emotions to the people, his attitude is very chill. The Barak Obama is a self-aware
leader who knows his potential and approaches in life. The self-management of
Barak Obama is also helped him to be more active and efficient in his work.
References
of Leadership Styles of Barak Obama
Amble, B. (2011, October 11). Leadership and
dominance. Retrieved from
https://www.management-issues.com/news/6310/leadership-and-dominance/
Bradberry, T., & Greaves, J. (2009). Emotional
Intelligence 2.0 Travis Bradberry; Jean Greaves;. TalentSmart. Retrieved 01
29, 2019
Davis, S. (n.d.). President Obama: Modeling
Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved January 29, 2019, from
https://www.allbusiness.com/president-obama-modeling-emotional-intelligence-14190203-1.html
Greathouse, J. (2016, March 23). 9 Fundamentals Of
Leadership Success. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngreathouse/2016/03/23/9-fundamentals-of-leadership-success/#27a006248e86
Husain, H. (2017, January 23). 6 Inspiring
Leadership Traits of Barack Obama. Retrieved from
https://blog.taskque.com/leadership-traits-barack-obama/
Jesmanowicz, L. (2013). Celebrity MBTI® Personality
Type: Barack Obama, ENTP or ENFJ? Retrieved January 29, 2019, from
https://careerassessmentsite.com/assessments/mbti/2404-barack-obama-entp-or-enfj/
Lewis, J. P. (2004). Project Leadership. Tata
McGraw-Hill Education.
Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2012). Leadership:
Theory, Application, & Skill Development (5th Edition ed.). Cengage
Learning.
Meckler, L. (2013, February 5). Obama Urges
‘Strategic’ Thinking on Immigration. Retrieved from
https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/02/05/obama-urges-strategic-thinking-on-immigration/