Leadership Characteristics of Barack Obama †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Leadership Characteristics of Barack Obama. Answer: Introduction One of the people I consider to be most influential leaders in the world is Mr. Barack Obama. Historically he became the first African-American president of the United States of America. I consider him as a great and visionary leader who had a dream of bringing a change to the American people and within his years in office, many are the great achievement as he was able to deliver most of his manifestos. One of his greatest achievements was the fact that he rescued the country from the great economic recession which led to the reduction of unemployment rate in the US from 10 percent to 4.7 percent (Bowleg, 2017). He also helped over 20 million uninsured Americans to get insurance coverage by signing the Affordable Care Act. Characteristics of good leadership Ability to communicate Communication is the act of conveying information to an intended group of people or individuals with the aim sending s certain message which needs to be understood. Effective leadership calls for effective communication as leaders seek to communicate their ideas, vision and their goals to the public or the groups they are leading. It is important as it helps both the leader and the group of people being lead to having a clear picture of the objectives, goals, and visions their leaders have and therefore they are able to build their efforts as well as their expectations on the same (Solaja et al., 2016). In his term in office, Barack Obama demonstrated great communication skills, during his campaigns he was able to clearly communicate to the US citizens of his leadership objectives which were to bring change to the country. He could engage different stakeholders in dialogues to find solutions to the certain issues of concern for the Americans including the students and other internati onal diplomats. Effective communication skills, therefore, play a very important role in a leader successful. Self-motivation and confidence Self-motivation is the ability of a leader to be self-driven in his desire to achieve and finding joy in the accomplishment of certain set objectives. Self-confidence, on the other hand, refers to believing in ones leadership skills and ability to achieve objectives (LU, 2016). These two play a very important role in effective leadership as they create a self-driven initiative in a leader which is important in achieving goals, objectives as well as the visions of an organization or a country. When situations and circumstance are not good these leadership traits help a leader to believe and have a positive mind and therefore help them make sound decision making. In his leadership, Barack Obama had great self-confidence and motivation despite the many setbacks and changing economic as well as the political climate in the US. For example, he was determined and confident that he will end the Iraq war despite the many challenges he ordered for the arrest and killing of Osama Bin Laden (Om ilion-Hodges Baker, 2017). Self-confidence and motivation, therefore, helps a leader become more assertive and committed to his set goals and objectives without relying on the efforts of other people to deliver his promises to the people. Being courageous Courageous is an act of acting in accordance with one's beliefs without fear despite facing a lot of criticisms. Leadership is all about making bold moves and taking actions which may not be supported by many holding different or conflicting opinions. For effective leadership leaders are therefore called upon to be brave and courageous as it helps them make effective decisions in times of conflicts (Koesters et al., 2017). It is a trait that most people love to see in their leader as it helps them feel secure or have confidence in the leadership of their leaders. Leading a Superpower such as the US would not require less than having a courageous leader. In his stay in office, Mr. Barack Obama showed great courage in his leadership. One example was during the Iraq war which he showed great courage in leading Americans into war and successfully ending the war. His support for the LGBT Community to fight for Marriage equality rights faced so much opposition not only in America but world wide and especially from the religious spheres, yet he stood his grounds and supported and even passed bills on same-sex marriages (Zhu et al., 2016). Such a leadership characteristic is important in leadership as it produces unwavering leaders who can be dependent upon in times of difficulties. Taking responsibility/ being Responsible Responsibility is the act of taking an obligation to do something or even being the primary cause of something and be able to be blamed or credited for the same. Effective leadership calls for leaders who are responsible for their actions and can take full responsibility for their actions (HAMMOND et al., 2017). It is therefore important for a leader to be responsible as it guides his actions and ensures that whenever an action is taken out of the agreed framework or rules or guidelines one can be accounted for his mistakes. In his stay in office Barrack Obama took great responsibility in his duties as president and a leader of the great nation of US (Pennington, 2015). Most of the Bills he signed or passed or even supported such as the Obama Care, the LGBT Marriage Bill, and others despite attracting many criticisms from opposing leaders he took full responsibility in ensuring that those bills were done for the benefit of certain groups and the country at large. Even up to date he h as never turned or changed his mind about the things he did for the people of America. Conclusion To understand leadership, it is important for people therefore to understand the characteristics, the traits, and motives of effective leaders. A leader is therefore supposed to be self-motivated, assertive, courageous, self-aware, objective, responsible and above all a good communicator. Such characteristics are very or play a very important role in developing great leaders in society and enhancing effective leadership. Mr. Barack Obama is one of these great leaders who has shown these great leadership characteristics in their leadership and enabled him even to win the Nobel Peace Prize in the year 2009 for his efforts to strengthen international disciplinary and cooperation between people which shows great leadership skills. References Bowleg, L. (2017). President Barack Obama: Black Man Extraordinary and Ordinary. American Journal Of Public Health, 107(1), 20-22. Hammond, M., Clapp-Smith, R., Palanski, M. (2017). Beyond (Just) The Workplace: A Theory Of Leader Development Across Multiple Domains. Academy OfManagement Review, 42(3), 481-498. doi:10.5465/amr.2014.0431. Koesters, S. C., Shea, T., Satiani, B. (2017). IT'S ABOUT THE PEOPLE, NOT BEING THE BOSS. Physician Leadership Journal, 4(1), 24-27. LU, C. (2016). LINKING LEADER PERSONALITY TRAITS TO MOTIVATION TO LEAD: A SELF-CONCEPT APPROACH. Social Behavior Personality: An International Journal, 44(11), 1913-1926. doi:10.2224/sbp.2016.44.11.1913. Omilion-Hodges, L. M., Baker, C. R. (2017). Communicating Leader-Member Relationship Quality: The Development of Leader Communication Exchange Scales to Measure Relationship Building and Maintenance Through the Exchange of Communication-Based Goods. International Journal Of Business Communication, 54(2), 115-145. doi:10.1177/2329488416687052. Pennington, D. (2015). Barack Obama's Authentic Self as a Spiritual Warrior: Discipleship to the Apostolic. Howard Journal Of Communications, 26(1), 74-94. doi:10.1080/10646175.2014.986313. Solaja, O. M., Idowu, F. E., James, A. E. (2016). Exploring The Relationship Between Leadership Communication Style, Personality Trait And Organizational Productivity. Serbian Journal Of Management, 11(1), 99-117. doi:10.5937/sjm11-8480. Zhu, W., Trevio, L. K., Zheng, X. (2016). Ethical Leaders and Their Followers: The Transmission of Moral Identity and Moral Attentiveness. Business Ethics Quarterly, 26(1), 95-115. doi:10.1017/beq.2016.11.