prolific politician | Assignment

Running Head: LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: A STUDY ON BARACK OBAMA
LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: A STUDY ON BARACK OBAMA
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: A STUDY ON BARACK OBAMA
Introduction
1.1
Barack Obama became the 44th U. S. president, holding a consecutive of two terms at
the office as a prolific politician (Allison and Goethals 2014.). He had always remained a
leader in the real sense. He was revered by the public of America especially by those from the
state of Illinois, his home state and those from Chicago. Chicago was the place from where
Obama was selected as the senator. He was getting involved in community services and
helping in the upliftment of the community. This turned him into a public figure and soon a
Democrat Politician, all across the country of U. S. The position of a President of the United
States of America (henceforth, U. S. A.) continues to be the most powerful position in the
world. This is so because the country fairs well in terms of trade, economy, and development.
1.2
Leadership philosophy is a set of principles and beliefs that helps in the evaluation of
an information besides responding to situation and the people. It enables one who hears this
to gather an understanding of the leaders values, approach to decision making and priorities
from their point of view, made in consideration with the organization with which they are
associated (Allison and Goethals 2014.). Personal leadership philosophy can be both
inspiring and challenging. Leadership philosophy enables the creation of value based ideas
about how a leader should be or act, keeping in mind their sources of power. Leadership
philosophy encourages and guides others to follow a specific path (Zehndorfer 2013). The
chosen leader for the discussion below is Barack Obama and his leadership philosophy.

2LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: A STUDY ON BARACK OBAMA
Discussion
2.1
In the year 2008 when Obama was selected for the Presidential campaign the slogan
“Change we can believe in” surfaced as the popular belief that was conveyed to the common
public. Obama focused on the belief that one must have a firm belief and faith in what they
are doing and if they think they are on the right track, they can influence others and get their
message across (Kulz 2017). This might take some time but success will come eventually. An
example of this situation is his stand on the United Nations (henceforth, U. N.) resolution
based on the conflict of Israel and Palestinian. This influenced the people who agreed with
his rationale.
2.2
The concept of ‘change’ soon became popular with Obama’s campaign that became
successful. The word ‘change’ emerged as a buzzword, which became synonymous to Obama
with the success of the program. The situation resulting in the word ‘change’ resonating to
Obama. In the 8 year of his Presidential tenure, Obama continued to apply an aspect of
change to every program in running the country (Kulz 2017). This was also associated with
the work he was doing for the general people. Obama’s critics continued to mention that he
did not deliver on all his promises; however, he did what most of what he could while being
in power as the House and the Senate was in Republican control during the later stages of his
second term.
2.3
Obama focused on the use of ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ while he delivered his speech to the
public sector and tried to connect with the mass (Street 2015). The President took some
marvelous measures where he tried to eradicate gender inequality, support queer ideas and

3LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: A STUDY ON BARACK OBAMA
gay rights besides racial discrimination and other social issues of education problem, medical
treatments, drug abuse and such things that will help the social health (Heith 2015). Removal
of differences is a vital outlook for a leadership quality as a leader aims to work in a cohesive
and collaborative atmosphere, providing equal status and opportunity to everyone.
2.4
The financial crisis in the year 2008 was severe and President Obama entered the
office as a President of the United States of America in the year 2009. This went ahead with
the immediate launch of the Affordable Care Act, which was a very ambitious project.
Nevertheless, the backlash continued till there was a gain in the Congressional majority in the
year 2010 with a majority of the Republicans. The campaign “Yes We Can!” that was
launched in the year 2008 had depicted many promises that established Barack Obama as the
true leader (Fortune 2019).
2.5
The $787 billion package was an economic stimulus that helped the economy during
its time of recession in the year 2008, cutting down taxes, extending unemployment benefits
and by funding projects of public works. Dealt in an intelligent way, this recession ended
soon, in July 2009 as the G. D. P. growth reflected positive results (Rich 2016). The
Reinvestment Act and American Recovery pumped an amount of $241.9 billion to the
American economy. This increased the economic growth during the early 2010 by a
percentage of 3.9 and almost all of these funds were spent by 30 March 2011 that was an
approximate of $633.5 billion for the betterment of the economy (Fortune 2019).
2.6
On January 30, 2009, Obama bailed out the U.S. auto industry. The General Motors
and Chrysler were taken over by the federal government that led to a savings of three million

4LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: A STUDY ON BARACK OBAMA
jobs. This led to making the companies more fuel efficient and globally competitive. The
modernization of the auto industry led to a significant boost in the U. S. economy as
automobiles hold a major share of the U. S. economy’s G. D. P. However, in the recent times,
the trade war by Trump has led to a situation where the automobile companies have suffered
severe loses and has been a major recession.
2.7
Obama was even awarded with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in the year 2009 on
October 9 (Fortune 2019). This led to strengthening of the international cooperation and
diplomacy between nations and their people. Obama’s initiatives of reducing 10 percent of
the nuclear warhead stockpile as well as withdrawal of the troops in the year 2011 from Iraq,
were lauded by the people and the international organizations. Obama took measures to
reform the health care services of the people with the launch of the above-mentioned
‘Affordable Care Act’ on March 23, 2010 that revolutionized the healthcare services. By the
year 2014, the economy benefitted by having a percentage of 95 from the total population on
the list of health insurance.
2.8
The measures initiated by Obama benefitted the people immensely as medical
facilities in this region was significantly high (Gerston 2014). The opportunity to avail
preventive medical care facilities enabled the people to avoid the expensive emergency room
visits. This evidently brought down the cost of healthcare on every person in the U. S. This
was more so because Medicaid continued to reimburse for the emergency cases in the
hospitals. The advantages of Obamacare helped to achieve a better social and economic
stability as the rising costs were threatening to draw the entire federal budget. This was a
prime reason for the bankruptcies in the economy.

5LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: A STUDY ON BARACK OBAMA
2.9
Regulation of Big Banks by improving the eight major areas, leading to financial
crisis by Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act in the month of July in 2010 tried to control the
financial barriers (Karlsen 2013). The harmful practices of the Consumer Financial Protection
Agency lead to the reduction in the use of mortgages for availing loans or credit cards. The
regulation of hedge funds as well as banks by the Financial Security Oversight Council
became increasingly essential when the banks became too big for failure. This strengthened
the banking system of the U. S., which was suffering from a situation of high risk.
2.10
The cut down of the taxes in December, 2010 of $858 billion by Obama and the
Congress provided a new stimulus to the country (The Balance 2019). It had three major
components that comprised of the Bush tax cuts of $56 billion for the extension of
unemployment benefits while there remains a reduction of $120 billion in the payroll taxes of
the workers. Tax cuts of $140 billion for the improvements in capital and that of $80 billion
in the research and development part has aided in the development of the financial sector,
stabilizing the economy for a long run. Exemption of estate taxes by up to $5 million besides
the additional credits for children and college tuition helps in attaining a status of social
security (Lipman 2015).
Application Theories
The “Great Man” Theory speaks of a leader who is born great while the Trait
Theory speaks of a leader who depicts certain essential qualities that a leader always depicts.
Contingency Theories focus on certain variables present in the environment that guides a
leader to choose a certain type of leadership that is best suited for a certain category of work,
people and culture. Situational and Behavioral leadership portrays a leadership quality that

6LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: A STUDY ON BARACK OBAMA
is acquired with respect to the situations and beliefs of a person. Bureaucratic Leadership
Theory is a more formal way of assimilating people to ensure a certain responsibility under
specific rules and guidelines. Similarly, Participatory Leadership Theory emphasizes
leadership based on participation and contributions from others. Transactional Leadership
Theory focuses on supervision, organizational and management theories that builds leaders
through trainings and practical applications of skills and knowledge. Relational Theory
focuses on creation of a leader by engaging in communication with others and building
contacts. Similarly, Skills Theory focuses on the development of abilities that is acquired
through learning (Amanchukwu, Stanley and Ololube 2015).
The application of various theories noticed in the leadership ability of Obama is
essentially focused on the Trait Theory, Participatory Leadership Theory and Relational
Theory (Allison and Goethals 2014). Obama remains the first black President in the history
of American Governance through his excellence in work and ability to communicate and
relate to the people in a very positive environment (Ross and Cozzens 2016). His success
remains as an example to the people of America that hard work and merit enables one to
break the barriers. The people of America might be dissatisfied and unhappy in the regime of
Donald Trump but that essentially marks the efforts and stature of Obama as a successful
President and brings out his leadership abilities in clear contrast. It was evident from the fact
that America provided the worst kind of healthcare services. It remains as one of the 33
developed nations that remains without a universal health care. President Donald Trump had
promised to repeal and replace the Obamacare. However, he failed to do so even by 2018 by
passing any legislation (Fortune 2019).
Elimination of the threat from Osama bin Laden and withdrawal of the troops from
Iraq and Afghanistan wars has led to the creation of the peaceful status and reduction of $800
billion on the military troops that were sent in these regions of hostility (Stern 2015). This

7LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: A STUDY ON BARACK OBAMA
was followed by the increase in the fuel efficiency with a savings of $1.7 trillion for the
drivers as well as aiding in the reduction of the emissions of greenhouse gases, which are
responsible for climatic changes (The Balance 2019). Reduction in the Carbon emission
levels through the ‘Clean Power Plan’ in 2015 and ‘carbon reduction regulations’ in 2014
targeted to bring down the level of carbon emissions by a percent of 32 by 2030 (Karlsen
2013). Obama considered nuclear Peace Agreement with Iran and renegotiation of the Trans-
Pacific Partnership that would have replaced NAFTA as the largest free trade agreement of
the world in 2015. International Climate Change Agreement was another significant initiative
by Obama with other 196 countries to work towards looking into the damages being caused
by climatic changes (Nünlist 2016).
Recommendation
The leader is a person who has excellent oratorical powers and one, who is listened to,
by the people of the nation or the mass, in general. The people of the country are in desperate
need of a leader who has excellent abilities to control and manage ties of the U. S.
government with other countries so that the economy and the country are both in a better
position (Zehndorfer 2013). Despite the support of the cabinet, aides and advisors, the
President remains the face of the public, who not only take the accolades for the positive
things in the country or the economy but also faces the ire and wrath coming from the
common people for any mishap or negative situation. The qualities and habits in Barack
Obama makes him a statesman and a leader of the highest repute. It is this reason why people
from countries who do not share a friendly relationship with the U. S. A., also continue to
admire him. However, Trump’s policies continue to increase the economic problems in the
international trade market, thereby inviting recession and an economic depression, coupled
with unemployment and communal disturbances based on race, gender and ethnicity
(Latham, 2014). The leadership problems can be solved only if the leader starts by

8LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: A STUDY ON BARACK OBAMA
considering him one among the many and abides by the rules he sets for the functioning of
the State and the people or the organization, as a whole. Communication between the leader
and his or her people is the most essential criteria to eradicate the gap existing between the
two ground and the pedestal. A leader is one among the mass and a representative of the
mass, hence, he needs to come down to the level of the people and understand the effects of
various policies on the people and take measures, accordingly. It is equally essential for the
common people to be able to relate to the leader and trust him or her, without being afraid of
him or her or their policies. Democracy remains as the best idea of leadership. Briefly, a
leader is just an ordinary person with some extraordinary abilities.

9LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: A STUDY ON BARACK OBAMA
References
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