BARACK OBAMA’S SUCCESS

STORY…

Presented By:-

Udit Khandelwal
 BARACK OBAMA: THE
INDIVIDUAL

 Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961 at

Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children in
Honolulu, Hawaii.
 Barack Obama Sr. was a Black Immigrant from
Kenya and Ann Dunham was a White American
from Wichita, Kansas.
 His Father had a tremendous effect on his astute
cultural awareness.
BARACK OBAMA: THE
INDIVIDUAL
 Lived mostly in birth place – Honolulu and for some
time in Indonesia.
 Had severe relations with his father.

 Obama completed his graduation from Columbia

University, New York.
 After graduation he also attended Harward Law School.

 Popular as “Skinny kid” with a funny name.

BARACK OBAMA: THE
SUCCESFUL LEADER
 His political carrier started after he finished graduation
from Columbia university in New York. He worked as a
community organizer in Chicago.
 Later the senator joined Harvard School of Law where
he was chosen by famous attorney Laurence Tribe to
Tribe’s research assistant.
 Tribe observed his personality traits and said of Obama,
“ I’ve known senators, presidents. I’ve never known
anyone with what seems to more raw political talent.
He just seems to surest way of calmly reaching
success.”
BARACK OBAMA: THE SUCCESFUL
LEADER

 Obama was the first African American who was elected as

the president of the Harward Law Review in 1990.
 Heladdered to the success by winning Illinois state senate
in 1996 and senate election in 2004 against prominent
African American Republican Alan Keys.
 Obama has knack for rousing people’s attention. He proved
this when he delivered speech at the 2004 Democratic
National Convention. On 27th July he took the podium and
began speaking about his idea of country without racism
and fear.
BARACK OBAMA: POLITICAL
OVERVIEW

 Obama’s fame continuing to grow. “ This young man

has set Illinois on fire and set America on fire. He’s the
future of the Democratic party.” said Gwen Moore
(Congresswoman).
 Former Virginia governor L. Douglas said “Obama
could be president. There’s nothing to stop him.”
 Political Analyst and the media have compared state
senator to historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln,
Martin Luther King, Bill Clinton.
QUESTION 1:

 What traits might Barack Obama posses that

contribute to his strong leadership ability? Does
Obama’s case support a trait perpective of
leadership? Why or why not?
SOLUTION
 Leaders are distinguished from non-leaders by their:-
 Personality traits:
a. Ambition
b. Desire to lead
c. Honesty
d. Self-Confidence
e. Dedication
 Intellectual traits:
a. Sound knowledge in his own field of work.
b. Skill and Expertise
c. Ability to self monitor about oneself.
SOLUTION (CONTD…)
 Physical and Social traits:
a.) Stamina and energy to do his own work
b.) Patience to listen to all views before expressing
one’s own.
 But the main disadvantage :-

a.) This is based on the appearance of the

leadership but not on the actual way of working of the
individual.
b.) The traits of leadership vary from situation to
situation
SOLUTION (CONTD…)
 The most basic needs for successful leadership :
1. Trust
2. Integrity.
 Barack Obama was a charismatic leader, who knew what
to speak and when is the right time (owing to his
acquaintance in law).
 He had a great vision (as had been seen in the
campaigns.)
 He set high performance expectations .

 He conveyed a new set of values.

 Thus Obama was a transformational leader.

QUESTION 2:

 From behavioral perspective of leadership, what

does Obama do to strengthen his success as a
leader?
SOLUTION

 Attention Grabber.
 Knows how to make the best use of any oportunity
given.
eg : speech he spoke about his idea of a country where there is
no racism and fear. A country not lead by politicians born in wealth,
and then he spoke of his own background, which exemplifies
diversity in many ways.
 Persistent
eg: Did not loose hope after he lost the elections for the US
congress and then won in the senate elections by a large
margin.
SOLUTION (CONTD…)

 He is self aware and most importantly has the ability to

tie his own experiences into a political speech in which
he portrays himself as an ordinary citizen, speaking for
the general public.
 As a manager it might not effect whether you portray
yourself as a common man or not but as a leader it is
very important to relate to the common man.
SOLUTION (CONTD…)
 According to the Ohio State Studies on Behavioral
theories, basically there are two dimentions:
 Initiating Structure
 It includes the behavior that attempts to organize

work,work relationships and goals.

 Consideration
 A leader high in consideration could be described

as one who helps employees , is friendly,

approachable and treats all employees as equal.
QUESTION 3:

 Is Barack Obama’s popularity and success a

result of “nature”, “nurture” or both? What

factors can you think of to support your answer?

SOLUTION

Behavioral
 theories of leadership propose that specific

behaviors differentiate leaders from non-leaders.

Trait
 theory:

Leaders are born, not made.

Behavioral
 theory:

Leadership traits can be taught.

SOLUTION (CONTD…)

 To differentiate Obama from many other political figures

it is said many analysts that he “just has that something.”
 The circumstances and family background that he faced
right from the beginning from his life.
 Thus the role of nurture was quite essential in the
development of Obama’s Leadership qualities.
SOLUTION (CONTD…)

 But as the trait theory depicts that leaders are born, not
made is also quite correct.
 The hard circumstances are faced by many people in the
world but very few of them have that mettle to over
come that and prove themselves.
 So quite clearly we can conclude that Obama’s qualities
and success was result of the “nature” and the “nurture”
both.
 ANY
QUERIES
??
THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE