Leadership and Decision-Making: Analysis of Barack Obama's Leadership

This report delves into the concepts of leadership and decision-making, using Barack Obama as a prominent example. It begins by exploring Obama's leadership qualities, including perseverance, conviction, motivation, inspiration, and communication skills, and then examines his cross-cultural and transformational leadership styles. The report also analyzes Obama's decision-making approach, highlighting his reliance on information and contemplation. The second part of the report involves a self-assessment of the author's leadership skills through tests like leadership skills and emotional intelligence, identifying strengths such as communication and presentation skills, and weaknesses such as being overly relationship-oriented. Based on the assessment, a leadership development plan is proposed, aiming to improve leadership abilities. The report concludes with the author's reflection on their leadership capabilities and areas for improvement.

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND DECISION-MAKING
LEADERSHIP AND DECISION-MAKING
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Introduction
It is important that we understand the importance of leadership and the literature
associated with it. When it comes to leading a team, a country, a group or a company, it becomes
extremely important to have a strong and prolific leader. Leadership is a skill that comes from
hard work and determination. Along with leadership, decision-making is also an important and
essential trait to have being a leader. In this assignment, I will discuss the two components –
leadership and decision-making while focusing on a prominent leader namely Barack Obama.
Barrack Obama is the former President of the United States who had served the country from
2009 to 2017. He has been known for being a spot free leader without having a single
controversy against him.
This assignment is divided into three parts. In the first part, I will highlight the leadership
story of Barack Obama including his leadership traits, leadership style and his decision-making
style. In the second part, I will conduct three tests using three diagnostic tools to assess my own
leadership effectiveness and overall effectiveness as an individual. These include leadership
skills test, locus of control test and emotional intelligence test. This part will also include the
strengths and weaknesses that I have as a leader. After assessing the strengths and weaknesses, I
will develop a leadership development plan that will include my goals towards becoming a better
leader. The last part that is, part three will have a leader’s feedback on my development plan.
Part 1:
Leadership qualities in Barack Obama
Perseverance and conviction

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Perseverance refers to the quality of not giving up something in spite of delay and
difficulties and achieving success. This quality is considered one of the most powerful leadership
traits because leaders with this quality always strive for excellence. Conviction means being
certain about anything. A leader without conviction is not a leader. Barrack Obama had both
perseverance and conviction. He started his political campaign in 2008 with the slogan “Change
we believe in” and he truly believed in this slogan (Theguardian.com, 2019). In an instance when
he had to take a stance on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the world listened to him because of the
conviction with which he spoke.
Motivation
Motivation is something that could help people achieves anything in the world.
Motivation is a quality that comes naturally and for that, one has to lead by example. Barack
Obama was an example of motivation from a very early age when he was not even the president.
It was never easy for Obama, coming from a mixed community, to complete such a long journey
towards becoming the leader of the world’s most powerful country (Pbs.org, 2019). Obama was
always optimistic about things and he used to motivate other people especially those who had
faced racial discrimination not to feel low.
Inspiration
A great leader has the ability to inspire people with both his actions and words. Inspiring
people is not very easy and Obama did it easily. His rise from a biracial boy to the President of
the United States is itself inspirational. He hailed from a multiracial family with members
belonging to different parts of the word. His father was from Kenya while his mother was born in

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Kansas. He had to face some hardships but he never gave up and reached where he always he
wanted to reach. He has always inspired others through his words.
Good communicator
It is true that unless one becomes a good communicator, one could never become a good
leader. Communication is a very essential trait for a leader. Without this quality, a leader could
not be able to motivate or inspire others. When it comes to Obama, he is an excellent
communicator. He is clear about what he says and expresses his intentions without any chaos.
One of the biggest qualities of the leader is that he is a calm listener. When one listens carefully
and calmly, it becomes easier for communicating. In 2008, Advertising Age awarded Obama
with the Marketer of the Year Award for his election campaign (Theguardian.com, 2019). This
was all because of his hold in communication.
Leadership style of Barack Obama
The leadership style of Barack Obama has characteristics of a cross-cultural and
transformational leadership. The cross-cultural leader is the one who allows members of other
cultures to express their ideas and thoughts and values them. The leader having cross-cultural
style of leadership always shares the responsibility of decision-making with other members and
makes sure that people from all cultures are included (Eisenbeiß and Brodbeck 2014). Obama
had worked very hard to improve the image of his country as an inclusive country with respect
for every culture. Prior to Obama’s administration, America did not have much to boast about in
cross-culturalism (Elkatawneh 2016). Obama made sure that he established good and positive
relations with all the nations and enhance the country’s image as a welcoming country.

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President Obama also had transformational-charismatic leadership. He had the charisma
to become the president of the country and that was discernible from his political campaigns. He
was able to attract huge crowds owing to his charismatic personality (McCleskey 2014). He was
able to bring in the youth and convince them into supporting his campaign. His political
campaign was attracting people not only in the US but also in other nations as well (Elkatawneh
2016). Many seem him as a transformational leader because he was able to transform the
electoral game. From being a party representative to receiving immense support and finally
becoming a party leader, Obama did transform the political scenario in the country. It also needs
mentioning that he became the first biracial US President and that in itself shows the
transformation that he was able to bring about.
Decision-making style of Barack Obama
The process of decision-making is a complex process because one could not just make
any decision. a leader in particular has to be extremely cautious in making any decision because
it concerns the fate of his followers as well. The leader does not make any personal decision but
his decisions always affect the followers. Hence, it is important to analyze the decision-making
style of the leader.
In 2009, a survey was conducted on the decision-making style of Barack Obama and it
was found that he “goes with head, not gut” (Washingtonpost.com, 2019). This implied that
Obama makes decisions in a slow manner relying mostly on contemplation than going with the
gut feeling. President Obama, while speaking about decision-making himself stated, “You have
got to make decisions based on information and not emotions” (Washingtonpost.com, 2019). He
has often been criticized for slowing the process of decision-making. Many had questioned his

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ability to make decisive decisions especially during the decision on Afghanistan. However, many
were there who stated that his decision-making on Afghanistan was desired at that time because
it was a sensitive issue.
Part 2:
Leadership skills reflection
When it comes to my own leadership, I could proudly state that I am quite a confident
leader. I have had experience of leadership when I was in my college. I led a team of students for
the campaigning of a social cause. I was able to win the support of my local community with my
leadership in the campaign. However, I must state that no single person is perfect and that
includes a leader too. I am also far from being a perfect person, let alone a leader. In this section,
I will discuss the strengths and weaknesses I have as a leader.
Strengths as a leader
One of my biggest strengths is that I am a good communicator. I am clear and concise in
communicating my ideas to others. In addition, I am confident when I am communicating with
others. When I say something to my followers, they do not need to hear it the second time. The
other quality that makes me a good communicator is that I like to observe people and I observe
them quite clearly. This allows me to communicate my ideas and thoughts in a more clear and
precise manner. Being a good communicator also means being a good listener. Listening
carefully to someone allows me to take note of even the minute things the other person has said.
In this way, I would be able to point out any mistake that the other person made and
communicate it effectively to that person. One of the other strength of my leadership is that I am
very good at giving speech. I do not have any stage fear. In all the projects, that I have been a

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part of, I was the one giving presentation is the seminars because of my ability to deliver
effective speech. This strength is further enhanced because I am a good communicator as well.
My Weaknesses
Along with the strengths, I have numerous weaknesses in my leadership as well. The first
weakness is that I am too relationship-oriented. The second weakness that I could think of is my
inability to have a clear vision about the future. In simple terms, I lack the vision that a leader
must possess. Being too inclined to relationships as a leader is harmful for the followers
especially when it comes to leading a country or a vast team. Relationship-oriented leaders focus
mostly on the emotions of their followers. They make sure that they instill a positive and
motivated feeling amongst their followers. This is a nice thing to do but being overly inclined on
it might harm the followers. It then becomes a weakness. I am more inclined towards
maintaining positive relationships with my followers and this has caused me distress because
some of my followers have betrayed me. In addition, I am quite unsure about what I want to
achieve although I have achieved well in my first experience as a leader. I lack conviction I
could say.
Further revelation of my strengths and weaknesses as a leader is revealed from the three
tests that I have undertaken.
Leadership skills test
The leadership skills test, also known as the team leadership skills test is conducted to
assess the abilities of an individual in leading a team. The test reveals a score of 54 for me,
which is an average score. This means that I am not a great leader when it comes to having team
leadership skills. The score means that although I might have a clear vision about my company

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or work, I find it hard to communicate the plans with my team members. It further reveals that
when I present my ideas to my followers, they hardly are motivated by hearing it. The test
cleared many wrong notions that I had about myself and helped to work on it further.
Emotional intelligence test
Referred also as EI or EQ, the emotional intelligence test is conducted to assess the
ability of the individual in terms of being emotionally active and responsive. Four quadrants of
emotional intelligence are there – self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and
relationship management.
Self-awareness – In this quadrant, I scored 7, which means that I am quite aware of my
own self. I succeed in passing on the positive vibes to others although sometimes I might not be
able to deliver my ideas in a succinct and concise manner and this might make others feel that
my ideas are overly strategic.
Self-management – My score in this quadrant was 4. This is not a good score because this
means that I am not able to manage myself effectively. I am not mature to be able to handle my
emotions and not let it affect others, as per my score.
Social awareness – I had a high score of 8 in social awareness. This means that I have the
ability to actively participate in and lead social activities. The score is justified by my activities
that I had mentioned previously, which is, leading a team for a social cause. it also means that I
could have an impact socially as a leader.
Relationship management – In this quadrant too, I scored an eight. With the
responsibility of leading a team, I have the ability to manage conflicts effectively and establish a

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strong working environment. I am skillful in establishing strong bonds amongst my team
members.
Leadership development plan
GOAL Strengths/Weaknesses ACTIVITY TIMEFRAME MEASUREMENT
1. Achieve
competency in
balancing
between
relationship
and task
Weakness: Too much
relationship-oriented
Activity 1: Join
a session on
leadership
styles and
qualities.
Having a clear
view about
maintaining
balance
between
relationships
and task.
Activity 2:
Engage in
sessions with
task-oriented
leaders.
Observe how
they manage to
Period 1:
Starting from
week one and
continuing
until week four
Period 2: From
week four to
week five
Indicator 1:
Feedback from
professors and
peers

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lead effectively
without being
inclined
towards
maintaining
relationships
2. Enhancing
communication
skills
Strength: Good
communicator
Activity 1:
Organize
working
sessions with
peers where I
would act as a
leader and
communicate
my plans
Activity 2: Visit
the company of
my uncle and
observe the way
he
Period 1: To
continue until I
gain
confidence that
I have refined
my skills
Period 2: Once
in every week
for two weeks
Indicator 1:
Feedback from
peers and uncle

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communicates
with his
employees
3. Having a
good
conviction
Weakness: Not good as
a visionary
Activity 1:
Attend seminars
especially
involving
visionary
leaders
Activity 2:
Watching
videos of
visionary
leaders and
learn what
makes them
visionary
Period 1: From
week four to
week five
Period 2:
throughout
week six
Indicator: Depends
on the success of
my future projects
Part 3:
Feedback from a leader

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND DECISION-MAKING
YES NO UNCLE
AR
Are the goals set out clear and achievable? Y
Are the activities set out clear and doable? Y
Are the goals aligned with the strengths or weaknesses set? Y
Are the activities aligned with the strengths or weaknesses set? Y
Is the timeframe for the activities and goals reasonable? N
Are the measurement indicators appropriate and measurable? U
Would I do the same as the student? Y
Overall, is the development plan feasible/reasonable/appropriate? (e.g. does the proposed
plan address the strengths and weaknesses?).
Y