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

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LEADERSHIP 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.

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LEADERSHIP 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

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LEADERSHIP 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