Leadership and Sustainability: A Study of Barack Obama's Presidency

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Barack Obama's leadership style during his presidency. It begins with an introduction to the concept of leadership, emphasizing the qualities of an effective leader, such as decision-making capabilities, emotional intelligence, and transparency. The essay then focuses on Obama's leadership, highlighting his effective communication, decision-making skills, cultural sensitivity, and positive attitude. It examines his campaign slogan, "Change we can believe in," and how it inspired the nation, emphasizing his inclusive approach, clear vision, and commitment to equality. The essay delves into Obama's leadership style, identifying democratic and coach leadership styles, and linking them to trait and behavioral leadership theories. It explores the traits associated with democratic leadership and the emphasis on individual strengths in coach leadership. Furthermore, the essay discusses key lessons learned from Obama's leadership, including the importance of courage, a positive attitude, being down-to-earth, and taking responsibility for one's actions. The essay concludes by summarizing Obama's leadership legacy as an inspiring and impactful leader who influenced others to perform better and achieve their goals.

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Leadership and Sustainability [Pick the date]
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Barack Obama as a leader...........................................................................................................................2
Change.....................................................................................................................................................2
Inclusive and all-together........................................................................................................................2
Clear vision and mission..........................................................................................................................3
Equality...................................................................................................................................................3
Leadership style and leadership theories.....................................................................................................3
Democratic leadership style.....................................................................................................................3
Coach style leadership.............................................................................................................................3
Trait theory..................................................................................................................................................4
Learning’s from Barack Obama..................................................................................................................4
Courage...................................................................................................................................................4
Positive attitude.......................................................................................................................................4
Being down to earth.................................................................................................................................5
Own up....................................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................5
References...................................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
A leader is someone who inspires others. A leader is someone who influences others. Leadership
is a task to lead people in a positive way to accomplish standards and goals. For example, an
orchestra can play perfectly by themselves they need a person to guide them. Leadership requires
both practical skills and knowledge about area working. Leadership requires decision-making
capabilities, emotional intelligence, and transparency. This discussion will discuss the leadership
style of 44th US President Barack Obama. Barack Obama has always been a true leader, even
before becoming president he was a prolific politician. Barack Obama is said to have effective
leader habits and that made him US president. In last, there is a detailed analysis of trait and
behavioral leadership theories.
Barack Obama as a leader
Barack Obama was born on 4th august 1961. He is an American attorney and served as 44th
president of the United States. He was the first African American president. Barack Obama had
no mean achievement, has always been a true leader. Mr. Obama always could communicate
effectively, taking tough decisions, being culturally sensitive and always had a positive attitude
(Watson et al., 2014). To be able to listen and react accurately is another great leadership quality.
Change
“Change we can believe in” was Obama’s presidential campaign with the slogan "yes we can" in
2008. In 2008 the unemployment rate was high in America and the chant "yes we can" became
the motivation for many Americans (Schmidt & Nosek, 2010). The campaign inspired the whole
nation. This states that Mr. Barack Obama inspired his followers. This signifies his positive
attitude and can-do attitude. This campaign became very popular because of its positive vibe and
motivational approach.
Inclusive and all-together
From the very beginning of his tenure, he was extremely inclusive in his decisions. He made sure
to include his followers and team members in the decision making process. This made followers
feel connected and interested in his decisions. He included all the backgrounds and ensured that

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all the bases were covered while making a decision. Teamwork was always considered as a
priority.
Clear vision and mission
President Obama had a very clear vision and mission from the beginning. He was very clear
about bringing the change in society and his clear mission was to establish gender equality and
equal opportunity for everyone (Dilliplane, 2012). He managed to express his vision is a very
simple and understandable manner with McCain’s great policies. In every speech, Barack
Obama, spoke his heart out and captured people's hearts and gained followers. He always used
“we” instead of “I” in his speeches.
Equality
Giving equal opportunities and treating people equally is the key to social progress. Barack
Obama believed that “all are equal, all are free” and “all deserve a chance (Schwartz et al.,
2010). A true leader always promotes equality. President Obama established gender equality and
won the heart of the nation. Obama became a perfect example who supported and promoted
equality.
Leadership style and leadership theories
Leadership style is the approach and manner of how plans and actions are to be implemented.
Leadership style determines what kind of strategies a person is adopting to become a leader
(Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy, 2014). Barack Obama evidentially practiced democratic
leadership and coach leadership style. And theories involved were trait theory and behavioral
theory.
Democratic leadership style
In democratic leadership, style leader makes decisions only after listening and discussing to
every team member. Democratic leadership is exactly like what it sounds. Leader himself makes
the decision but each team member has equal say on the situation (MALOŞ, 2012). The final call
was always taken by president Obama but before the final call, every team member's thoughts
were undertaken. President Obama had specific traits like honesty, intelligence, courage, and
creativity that established him as a democratic leader.

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Coach style leadership
In coach-style leadership, the leader tries to identify and nourish individual strengths. They focus
on making strategies that will strengthen the team. This style of leadership encourages the
commitment and responsibility in the employees (Harper, 2012). This leadership style helps team
members in growing on the individual level. President Obama worked in a team and became a
successful leader for two terms (2008-2017).
Trait theory
This approach says "leaders are born, not made" (Colbert & Judge, 2012). According to trait
theory traits present in a leader are, intelligence and decision making ability, eagerness to accept
challenges and responsibility, commitment for helping others, talent to motivate others, and
creativity in oneself and team members (Day, 2012). In 2009 president Obama signed first bill
“Fair Pay Act” become a law. The bill addressed the issue wage pay gap between men and
women and that conveyed the message of equality. Another courageous decision made by
president was legalizing same sex marriage in 2015 (Encarnación, 2014). President Obama has
all the required traits to be a true leader.
Learning’s from Barack Obama
Courage
In this world, people like to play safe. Instead of choosing an ethical and hard way people choose
a way that is easy and unethical. President Obama mentioned the importance of taking a risk in
his book "The Audacity of hope". To take the risk it requires proper pre-analysis because only
calculated risk taken can be proven successful. President Obama is a perfect example of taking
risks in his life and gain benefits from the acts rather than failing.
Positive attitude
It is very easy to chant the slogan "you should have a positive attitude", but in reality, it is
difficult to maintain a positive attitude. Taking Barack Obama for example, he turned endings
into new beginnings dozens of times. Everyone has to deal with problems in life but only those
succeed who keep a positive mindset until the very end. A leader can never get satisfied with his

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work. In most of his speeches, you will notice the phrase "Let's get back to work" this means to
just keep going (Dionne Jr., 2017).
Being down to earth
Barack Obama was one of the most powerful positions in the world, as the president of the
United States of America. In his tenure, he was very down to earth. He was captured while
playing with kids, bopping to songs with students, establishing a friendly relationship with his
team members, and interacting with people while doing day to day president activities. This is
how a true leader carries oneself. In two years he achieved a lot but never took the credit alone,
always said: "We did it together".
Own up
All take bad decisions in life and that is normal, but owing up and rectifying the errors made is
all that matters. Being honest with oneself is difficult but necessary to succeed in life.
Conclusion
This discussion explains leadership styles and theories of leadership adopted by the 44th US
president. President Obama's two terms have ended but his teachings and legacy remain. Above
mentioned traits and abilities are just brief explanations of his leadership style. All can relate to
his understandable leadership skills. In conclusion, a leader is a person that inspires and attracts
people by their actions and decisions. Leadership serves and inspires others to perform better in
life and accomplish what they desire.

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References
Colbert, A.E. & Judge, T.A., 2012. Assessing the trait theory of leadership using self and
observer ratings of personality: The mediating role of contributions to group success. The
Leadership Quarterly, 23(4), pp.670-85.
Day, D.V., 2012. Leadership. Oxford University Press., 1(1), pp.696–729.
Dilliplane, S., 2012. Race, Rhetoric, and Running for President: Unpacking the Significance of
Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” Speech. Springer, 15(1), pp.127-54.
Dionne Jr., E.J., 2017. We Are the Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama. chicago:
Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Encarnación, O.G., 2014. Gay Rights: Why Democracy Matters. Journal of Democracy, 25(3),
pp.99-104.
Harper, 2012. The Leader Coach: A Model of Multi-Style Leadership. Journal of Practical
Consulting, 4(1), pp.22-31.
MALOŞ, R., 2012. LEADERSHIP STYLES. Annals of Eftimie Murgu University Resita, 6(1),
pp.421-26.
Nanjundeswaraswamy, T.S. & Swamy, D.R., 2014. Leadership styles. Advances in management,
7(2).
Schmidt, K. & Nosek, B.A., 2010. Implicit (and explicit) racial attitudes barely changed during
Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and early presidency. Journal of Experimental Social

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Psychology, 46(2), pp.308-14.
Schwartz, D., Blue, E. & McDonald, M., 2010. Dispelling stereotypes: promoting disability
equality through film. Disability and Society, 25(7), pp.814-48.
Watson, P., Covarrubias, & Brattebo, D., 2014. The Obama Presidency: A Preliminary
Assessment. 1st ed. New York: SUNY Press.