Obama’s inauguration as President of the United States has been an extraordinary event, and his appointment is especially significant for those of us studying leadership. For the first time in many years, we feel positively enganged by a political leader. In previous blogs (search for ‘Obama’) I’ve been writing about Barack Obama’s leadership style and the connections we can see to Authentic Leadership; at the time I was more cautious and wary than I am now about my claim that Obama’s leadership behaviors allow us a glimpse of the Authentic ideal. As followers, and that’s what those of us are who want to be part of Obama’s America, we need to remain attentive to our leader’s actions at all times. To have a trustworthy leader must not excuse us from our own responsibilities to think before we act, or encourage us to follow blindly. But with this president, we have a positive role model to follow.
New York Times columnist Bob Herbert wrote on Saturday January 24th:
“We’ve been watching that something this week, and it’s called leadership.”
He is referring to Obama’s representation of a dependable leader that people have been craving for; someone who genuinely seems to put the country’s interests before his own. This is one of the qualities that make an Authentic Leader; and there is more. Herbert goes on to say:
“This has been the Obama way, to set a responsible example and then to call on others to follow his mature lead.”
Yet another crucial sign for Authentic leader behavior is the provision of a positive role model through the conscious enactment of those values that he espouses most. Instead of preaching water and drinking wine, Obama is perceived as someone with integrity and character, stemming from the fact that so far he has been consistently conveying mostly the same political messages. We simply trust him that he will act upon them, because, as Herbert writes:
“… Mr. Obama carries himself in a way that suggests he means what he says…”
Not something we expect every day from political leaders.
Again, from what we can tell so far about Mr. Obama as leader, we conclude that some of the most important pre-conditions of Authentic Leadership have been met so far:
- - Leadership is part of his core identity
… because he simply does it and people want to follow him
He provides a positive Role Model
… because he leads according to the values that he talks about most
He conveys the values of Responsibility and Transparency
… he has been described to be doing that already by people who work with him
President Obama conveys strong values and can be expected to act upon them as much as politics allows him to do so. The world is not used to this open display of strong, transformational principles and fascinated by it; in my eyes, it might be justified this time.
As usual, your comment, feedback or critique is most welcome.
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