Obamas Leadership Styles - Literature review Example

Organizational Leadership and Management (Name) (Course) (Instructor’s Name) (Institution Affiliation) (Date) Introduction According to Kellerman, Barbara, Webster and Scott (2012), over the last three decades, organizations, as well as a majority of countries have suffered from an international management and leadership deficit. Accordingly, the global governance and leadership deficit incorporates the lack effective leadership skills among leaders, lack of adequate mechanisms to address the global economy, peace and security. Moreover, the shortfall includes lack of proper instruments that would ensure the provision of significant international public goods such as those associated with the public health and climate change. In the early 2000s, may people globally projected that the international community would get on the mission to overhaul the multinational system with comprehensive efforts to address the global challenges. The international community was expected to encourage new leadership and communication styles thus helping in solving the challenges brought by the evolving geopolitical circumstances, which affect the business operating environments. People across the globe expected reforms in the IMF and World Bank leadership and governance, which would in turn give a good precedence to both local and international governance. For these changes to occur, organizations as well as governments must have effective leaders, who are self-confident and whose character are grounded on integrity, truth, as well as respect (Houston and Paul, 2009). As such, this paper will evaluate President Barrack Obama’s leadership and communication style. Further, it will also depict how Obama’s approach fits well with a globalized environment. Interestingly, despite the highly influential, partisan and considerable number of Republicans in the Congress President Obama always manages to move social, economic and political agendas forward due to his exemplary style of leadership. As Lord et al. (2006) posit, getting things done is of the greatest challenges that leaders in organizational and political levels often face. For them to achieve their objectives, they must have unique communication and leadership style, which is needed to convince their followers. This view is also strongly buttressed by McPhail et al. (2011) who asserts leaders often face an acid test when they need to persuade their followers to embrace new concepts, policies and management frameworks. For instance, through his, charisma, eloquence and calculative leadership skills, President Obama managed to cement the Obama’s health care reform, which initially faced much opposition. Moreover, Obama was able to push controversial agendas such the gay marriage act and the Stimulus Act. Obama’s Leadership Styles According to Doron and Parot (2001, p.460), leadership style refers to the process of social influence through which one leads a group towards attaining an objective or an achievement. However, leadership does not involve telling the followers what to do only, but it also incorporates changing a group’s attitude thus mobilizing them towards a common purpose of achieving an objective. Thus, as Eagly et al. (2001) asserts, an effective leader must understand his or her follower well thus knowing how to deal with a group’s or individual’s motivations. Equally, Mosadegh & Yarmohammadian (2006) define leadership style as an individual’s method or way of giving direction, executing plans as well as motivating people. Unlike previous misconceptions, leadership style does not involve dictating or commanding people to follow a particular mechanism or path to achieve an objective, but motivating and being a role model. Using Eagly’s (2001) definition of leadership style, President Obama’s can be referred as a democratic leader. Whereas he is charismatic and always exhibiting a positive attitude, he often recognizes his mistakes and admits that things have not been done as planned. Also referred to as the participative style of leadership, democratic leadership style is associated with involving the group members in the management of the organization or governance of a country. The leader allows his or followers to take a participative role in the decision-making process. According to (Horowitz, 2010) this type of leadership style is the most efficient as it allows for better contribution from organizational members and society thus increasing the group morale and higher productivity. In the same way, President Obama’s leadership style is more associated with reconciling differences and not dictating or giving out ultimatums; he often strives to achieve consensus. Moreover, Obama often promotes government policies through engaging others thus leading to both inner and outer agreement. For instance, in 2009, Obama put much effort in clarifying that Islam was not an American enemy, and neither was the war on terror an American prerogative alone, as it was a collective responsibility. Evidently, democratic style of leadership is often a collegial and open manner of managing a group in the organization or any form of institution. During meetings, every member invited is given a sit at the table, and the discourse flows freely without following a dictated structure often created by the leader. Equally, during meetings, Obama lets everyone contribute and goes ahead and lets the audience to come up with a suitable solution to a problem (Arnett, 2011). Studies indicate that democratic type of leadership often works efficiently in circumstances where the group members have different skills and usually enthusiastic with respect to sharing their knowledge. Accordingly, Obama often gives the members plenty of time to allow them contribute as well as develop a plan and ultimately vote on the best cause of action. Sanghan Choi (2007) is of the view that democratic style of leadership is usually needed in dynamic as well as rapidly changing environments, where the members or followers expect change consistently. Besides, he adds that in such fast moving organizations, all options that can help in the improvement of the organization are often considered thus preventing the group objectives from falling out of date. This indicates that democratic leadership style involves encouraging people to contribute their ideas, facilitating discourses as well as synthesizing the available information to arrive at the probable decision. As seen in most of his meetings and during conferences, Obama allows for members to come up with strategies. Thereafter, he communicates the decision back to the group members focusing on bringing unity for all the members to agree on the plan chosen. A good example is during the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference of 2009, where after coming up with several options to address global warming, Obama led the members in setting a greenhouse gas emission limit. According to Sanghan Choi (2007), democratic leadership is always effective as it encourages the members to develop better ideas and creativity in solving problems. Sanghan Choi (2007) also adds that members feel appreciated and more committed and involved in projects, which makes them be concerned about the end results. Equally, Yukl (2002) contends that democratic style of leadership has proved to be productive as members are concerned in every step associated with addressing a situation. Besides, democratic leadership style provides much flexibility to situations that frequently change thus providing better options for addressing challenges. However, Yukl (2002) notes that the democratic leadership style is usually slow thus the decision-making process sluggish. Thus, whereas it may embrace better and newer methods of addressing issues, it might take come up with the solution quick enough. Democratic style of leadership often brings the best out of professional and experienced group members. Moreover, the democratic style capitalizes on member’s skills as well as talents by allowing them to contribute to the decision-making process, rather than pushing them to conform to the decision made by the leader. This can be illustrated in Obama’s style of leadership when he appealed for nuclear non-proliferation as well as the promotion of new global climate agenda. As McPhail and McPhail (2011) point out, Obama has managed to use effectively the democratic style of leadership to reach out to the Muslim community across the world. McPhail and McPhail (2011) acknowledge that through his democratic leadership style, Obama has managed to demonstrate, a solid grasp of what the current world is all about, unpretentious sense of strategic direction. Furthermore, he as demonstrated an understanding of what the international community ought to be doing with regards to improving the global economy and advocating for world peace and stability. Obama’s Transformational Rhetoric and Communication Style As Bass (2007) contends, good communications skills must be considered a prerequisite for business success as well as effective leadership. Tentatively, communication is often interwoven across all aspects associated with leadership and daily business operations. Thus, an effective leader must adopt effective communication styles in this era of information communication technology to attain organizational and societal objectives and goals (Bass, 2007). Effective communication is often regarded a prominent component all professions that involves interacting with people as one would benefit from communicating proficiently. Subordinates or followers usually expect to be informed instantaneously by the leadership through different channels of communication with respect to getting the right direction. In effect, Obama has managed to exhibit effective leadership more so because of his transformational rhetoric style of communication, which is manifested in his speeches and debates. In many discourses, Obama manages to influence his followers through the use of transformational rhetoric. Before delving into the evaluation of President Obama’s transformational rhetoric style, it would be important to define the concept of transformational leadership. Similar to the democratic style of leadership, transformational leadership is not based on a performance-based model, but rather a leadership model that is associated with the trust between the leader and the follower. According to Gillespie and Mann (2004), through transformational leadership, the leader tries to meet the followers’ desires based on an individualized consideration. Besides, the leader is committed to develop a group member as well as fostering a team mentality within the group members, thus building trust in between them (Gillespie & Mann, 2004). Moreover, the term transformational stems from the ability to develop as inspire followers as resources therefore, moving them from one point to a higher state of existence thus transforming the group memebers in the process. Amernic and Tourish (2007) also claim that like Obama, a transformational leader inspire their followers, foster organizational goals and values, which surpasses self-interests and build shared responsibility through an established shared vision. Obama’s transformational leadership style manifests not only through the typical features delineated as well as agreed upon by researchers but, also through his unique rhetoric style of communication. Evidently, much of his discourse platforms rest on one-word slogans such as “change” and “hope.” The change slogan for example directly invokes the concept of transformation thus triggering emotions, inspirations and motivations among his followers both in America and globally. As Cox (2012) notes the “change” rhetoric was able to inspire as well as motivate the American citizens in bringing a new a style of leadership with regard to the presidential position. Although Obama’s victorious presidential election was due to his inspiring story, experience, ideals, vision, charisma, policies and personality, each of the aspect mentioned above had to be communicated to the public. Even more, the communication style needed to resonate with a myriad of perspectives across America. Leadership is kinetic as it requires effort and energy for the objectives to be met and the followers and leader to move in one direction. To communicate effectively, Obama used his transformational leadership traits to move masses as well as advocate for his policies and government agendas. Of more interest, Obama communicated with ethos (credibility) and authority thus earning automatic respect from the followers. Moreover, he utilizes emotional appeals, often referred to as pathos in persuading his followers. More importantly, Obama uses inductive and deductive reasoning, which is commonly known as logos, such as the use of citizen’s anecdotal stories, to support his claims (Cox, 2012). All through his debates and speeches, Obama often demonstrates four important aspects: intellectual stimulation, idealized influence, individualized consideration and inspirational motivation. Notably, Obama communicated idealized influence as well as his moral integrity and competence by expressing his disappointment in various aspects of the American status of affair. In most of his speeches, Obama often gave examples of the way things were not moving in the right direction (Houston and Paul, 2009). Thus, he often indicated that the country needed a morally upright and competent leader for the country embark on an ethical direction. Further, Obama demonstrated his optimistic rhetoric or inspirational motivation in most of his speeches, when for instance he asserted that he believed that the America had the ability to provide employment for the jobless. Also, he often stated on platforms that his government was committed to giving the homeless homes and to provide the working families with a path to opportunity (Houston and Paul, 2009). Equally, he demonstrates intellectual stimulation or encourages innovation when he uses such as together with the citizens he will restore science to where it belongs as well wield technology’s wonders ” (Obama, 2009). Similarly, he exhibits the ability to listen to his followers or individualized consideration when he stated in his election night victorious speech of November 200 that the victory was not his but for the citizens. From the above examples, it is evident that Obama is a transformational leader. For a leader to demonstrate a democratic as well as a transformational style of leadership, he or she must have unique personal styles associated with communication and personality. With regard to President Obama, his personal style of communication depicts a motivational and inspiring speaker. As Greenstein (2009) describes him, Obama has a distinct personality, and he is characterized by confidence, strength and charm. As a leader, Obama usually chooses the most influential and effective style in any given situation to drive his agenda. Thus, the next section will indicate some of other significant characteristics and communication style that Obama uses to influence motivate and encourage his followers. Anaphora As observed by many scholars, one aspect that enhances Obama’s communication skills and abilities with regard to effective leadership is his use of anaphora technique. According to (Greenstein, 2009) Anaphora refers to the repetition of an expression or word at the beginning of sentences, successful phrases, verses and clauses particularly for poetic or rhetorical effects. Obama as well other renowned speakers in history often used skill to create an image, build emotion as well develop a pattern of outstanding passages and wordings. Accordingly, Obama is fond of using this technique whenever he is delivering a speech. For example, during his inaugural speech of 2009, he used the phrase “for us” at the beginning of four consecutive sentences to recognize the first immigrants in America (Bligh & Kohles, 2009). Humility Humility is regarded as a prerequisite for any effective leader as it compliments his or communication and leadership style; it humbles the speaker thus inspiring connecting with the follower’s emotions. According to Greenstein (2009, April) a demonstration of humility in a leader builds trusts and openness. Analogically, President Obama used will always express humility in any given platform; for instance, during his inaugural speech he started by posting that he was humbled by the task before him and the citizens. In his opening remarks, Obama was able to create an emotional appeal, express gratitude, painting a historical picture as well as involving the followers. Demeanor and Persona With an excellent posture of six feet and 1 inch tall, Obama naturally captivates his audience and commands respect as he is of perfect physical shape. Moreover, Obama is ever polished, professional and well-dressed. With a combination of the aforementioned features, Obama poses an air of confidence, power and assertiveness (Greenstein, 2009). Evidently, Obama usually uses these aspects to his advantage when delivering speeches in an official capacity and when speaking to Congress. As an effective communicator, Obama uses his speaking cadence and strong voice to influence and persuade his followers; at times he engages with the audience in a casual and persuasive manner thus driving his point home. How Obama’s leadership and communication style fits well the globalized environment Looking at the strides Obama has made with regard to foreign policy and advocacy of global agendas, one cannot fail to recognize his leadership and communication skills, which largely suit the globalized environment. Obama’s democratic and transformational style of leadership has helped him in negotiating and Bridging at the international level. It must be noted that the world comprises of many countries with sometimes totally different ideologies and perspectives on issues of global importance such climate change and healthcare. Using his humility and eloquence, Obama managed to convince other world leaders into the signing of the Copenhagen Climate Change Agreement, which ensures a reduction in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced (Bodansky, 2010). Moreover, through his flexibility, Obama manages to embrace foreign cultures whenever he visits different countries thus fitting well with the host’s background and him the avenue to drive his agenda. To depict push for cooperation and unity, Obama used his knowledge of international relations in the 2012 United Nations address to lay a great emphasis on the need for the international community to work together. In his speech, Obama went ahead to indicate how working together towards the greater interest of the world economy and peace was important. For example, he posited that American values and other country’s values combined will in turn make global values, which are good for everyone (Horowitz, 2010). With his communication skills, he manages to bring the world together and encourages globalization of businesses. President Obama’s outstanding character makes him a master orator largely contributed to the fact that he engages in personal risks to achieve his goals. His leadership style can be seen when he was invited in South Africa during Nelson Mandela’s eulogy and was given the special opportunity to represent other world leaders in eulogizing Nelson Mandela. People might not have been in the mood to listen to what he said during an international event, but suddenly paid attention when he decided to sing Amazing Grace thus creating a memorable message. Tactfully, Obama often uses the word “we” in all his international engagements as a sign of invitation to the world in order to identify with him. Using the first person plural rather than “I” often makes it easy for countries to feel as if they are on the same level, even though in real sense the economic gap between them is wide. With this skill, countries globally are in a position to agree on issues and commit themselves for the better interests of everyone across the globe. Thus, as indicated above, President Barack Obama maintains a profound reservoir of support in Africa, North America Europe and part of Asia (Lindsay, 2014). Multinationals believe that Obama is an effective global leader as he has always advocated for internationalization of businesses. Many people across the globe feel that unlike previous leaders, who centered their policies on American Interest, Obama often incorporates other countries’ considerations when coming up with policies. Conclusion In summation, the paper has indicated that leadership and communication styles define the effectiveness of a leader. As seen in this paper, an effective leader must be in a position to motivate, inspire as well as influence the beliefs and attitudes of his or her followers. Accordingly, the paper has evaluated profoundly President Obama’s leadership and communication styles. Besides, the paper established that Obama often exhibit the democratic and transformational styles of leadership and often employs various communication styles such as anaphora to push his agendas. Lastly, the paper also indicated how Obama’s approach in terms of leadership and communication styles fit well with a globalized environment. References Amernic, J., Craig, R., & Tourish, D. (2007). The transformational leader as pedagogue, physician, architect, commander, and saint: Five root metaphors in Jack Welch’s letters to stockholders of General Electric. Human Relations, 60, 1839-1872. Arnett, R. C. (2011). Civic rhetoric-meeting the communal interplay of the provincial and the cosmopolitan: Barack Obama’s Notre Dame speech, May 17, 2009. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 14, 631-672. Bass, B. M. (2007). 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