Barack Obama: Key Characteristics and Qualities of Leader

An Ideal Leader 

For a person to become a great leader in the society, he or she should possess specific great characteristics, qualities and skills that help in contributing to their greatness. Such features determine how their followers look up to them and help to raise their ability to accomplish goals ( Shamir & Eilam-Shamir, 2018 ). One of such leaders is the former president of the united states Barack Obama who throughout his regime exhibited a more significant number of good qualities like mastering the art of communication, taking risks and taking a firm stand on advocating for change.

Key Characteristics and Qualities 

First, a great leader should always exhibit integrity at all times by sticking to their values and beliefs. Leaders should stand for truthfulness and being completely honest in everything that they are doing ( Clinton, 2018 ). Displaying integrity will help gain followers who are honest and committed to their course trying to replicate the actions of their leader. Integrity, therefore, is necessary towards achieving leadership greatness.

Another critical quality of becoming a great leader is by being visionary. Here the leader should be able to look into the future and come up with exciting ideas that should be implemented in an effort of transforming the future for a greater good. Leaders use these visions to build towards creativity and innovation which drive towards an improved and industrialized society ( Shamir & Eilam-Shamir, 2018 ).

Courage is also an essential part of being a great leader. A good leader should be prepared and willing to take risks at all times while trying to achieve goals and success ( Clinton, 2018 ). It is this courageous action that helps to inspire others and help persuade them to become your followers. Every leadership action entails risk and being courageous will assist in easily overcoming challenges either at that particular moment or in the future.

Good leaders should also be good communicators such that they can speak effectively and persuasively. Words can be motivational and may drive persons to do the unthinkable; it is, therefore, crucial for a leader communicate his visions, goals and strategies effectively towards his team and followers.

The focus is yet another outstanding quality that should be exhibited by a great leader. A good leader should focus on the goals and achievement of both themselves and others by evaluating their strengths and weaknesses ( Clinton, 2018 ). This will in turn help raise the performance of the leader in the society.

Great leaders should also display the quality of being appreciative all the time. A good leader will always value the input that is being brought in by others because for success to be achieved then there has to be help from others. Appreciation is also part of the way of providing encouragement and developing confidence. It also helps in moulding strengths for individuals.

As part of admitting that you may be wrong and not able to have all the answers, a leader should employ the quality of being humble. Being humble requires that a leader contains his or her ego by recognizing the value of others without feeling threatened. Humility helps leaders to acknowledge their mistakes and provides room to learn from those mistakes by allowing others to give information on possible solutions and how best to achieve good results.

Becoming a Leader 

Regarding training, a good leader should be able to know how good performance looks like and define it in practical terms ( Sosik & Cameron, 2010 ). He or she should be able to incorporate high levels of skills both practical and interpersonal that are useful in connecting and supporting people towards building a better society.

Concerning education, a great leader should be self-aware with regards to confidence and understanding. He or she should believe in oneself in making decisions and achieving accomplishments. He or she should also lead by example in being resourceful and open to new ideas. Excellent communication skills should also be present to enhance understanding with others.

Regarding character development, a great leader should have competencies that are an understanding knowledge of specific vital concepts and relationships ( Anderson & Sun, 2017 ). The leader should also show commitment by preparing for hard work and engaging in achieving goals and missions for organizations. A leader should strive to become better by displaying greater values, traits and virtues at all times and ensuring that he or she has impacted others positively.

Regarding experience, an excellent leader should make use of other people’s talents and skills to motivate and improve their performance. The leader should help others to address their mistakes and overcome problems. A good leader should also build on an organization's success by helping towards achieving its goals and mission in the society wellbeing (Ertuğrul Ayrancı & Ayrancı, 2015).

Regarding networking, a robust leader should develop networks by building relationships and strengthening alliances ( Sosik & Cameron, 2010 ). Networking is all about being able to bring about different connections together towards solving problems and creating opportunities. Networking is all about being sincere in sharing resources such information and services for a collective performance with outside individuals.

Concerning mentoring, a leader should identify goals and work towards pursuing them. A leader should also offer motivation to others in their quest of achieving self-actualization. This is important in boosting confidence and raising performances within an organization.

My Personal Leadership Development 

In my opinion, an ideal leader should be able to exhibit some significant characteristics and attributes that can influence people to move towards their direction. This trait includes having excellent communication skills with a positive attitude towards life and higher self-confidence. Ideal leaders should also be honest and exhibit courage and integrity at all times. They should also motivate and inspire others to do better in society.

I have strengths with my ever-present courage since I am prepared and willing to take risks at all times while trying to achieve goals and success. It is this courageous action that helps to inspire others and help persuade them to follow my direction. Since every leadership action entail risk being daring helps me to easily overcome challenges either at that particular moment or in the future.

Honesty and integrity are also part my strength whereby I always stick with my values and beliefs always stand for truthfulness and being completely honest in everything that I am doing. Displaying integrity will help me gain followers who are honest and committed to my course trying to replicate my actions, therefore, it is an essential trait towards achieving leadership greatness (Ertuğrul Ayrancı & Ayrancı, 2015).

I also like being appreciative of the surrounding environment at all times by always valuing the input that is being brought in by others. This is because for success to be achieved then there has to be help from others whether directly or indirectly. Appreciation also helps me provide encouragement and develop confidence. It also helps while trying to mound strengths for individuals.

The leadership behavior that I would like to work on is the art of effective communication when delegating duties. This is because I want to use a clear and active language when communicating with my team about the goals and expectations of the project. To be able to demonstrate this behavior, I will need communication skills because people get confused when the communication is unclear. Communication skills enhance clarity, friendliness, confidence and listening skills that are necessary for giving instructions. I will engage the team members in discussions by making presentations and discussions more interactive to be able to develop the communication skills. I will also master the art of timing by being able to determine when to speak and what to say. My goals in doing this are to be able to talk effectively to the team members in a manner that they will be able to get my instructions when delegating duties. I am also aiming at being participative and having the ability to engage the team members when addressing them. The success will be determined by the ability to give people what they need to get the job well done, provide the big picture and the goals, give detailed instructions within the shortest time, and give the clear assignment.

I will also work at taking responsibility whenever there is a setback instead of complaining and making excuses. Instead of criticizing and blaming others when something goes wrong, I will focus on the solution and what can be done. I will make sure to try something new each moment without giving up until an appropriate solution is arrived at. I will make sure seek for valuable lessons in each setback to gain experience on the best way to deal with a problem.

To ensure that I am future oriented I will focus on where I am going rather than where I have been. I will think of future opportunities and not the problems of the past. I will make sure to maintain a positive attitude at every moment and think of where I would like to be in some years to come. I will have clearly written down goals and plans to give guidance on what I am supposed to do to get where I want to be in the future.

Conclusion 

Everybody may want to be a leader to add to their profile, but it usually takes a great deal of character to obtain leaders that are ideal to the society. Leaders who can positively impact their followers into becoming an improved version of themselves for the betterment of the society. Therefore, it is crucial that this leader exhibit certain qualities to help inspire others and change their perspective with regards to individual leadership. Some of this quality include showing courage and confidence while taking part in some of the risky actions, being humble and upholding integrity at all times, focusing on achieving future goals and building individual character. If a leader employs these and other qualities while conducting his or her leadership, then the leader is on the right channel towards becoming one of the greatest in the world.

References

Anderson, M. H., & Sun, P. Y. (2017). Reviewing leadership styles: Overlaps and the need for a new ‘full‐range’theory.  International Journal of Management Reviews ,  19 (1), 76-96. 

Arnold, K. A., Connelly, C. E., Walsh, M. M., & Martin Ginis, K. A. (2015). Leadership styles, emotion regulation, and burnout.  Journal of Occupational Health Psychology ,  20 (4), 481.

Clinton, R. (2018). The making of a leader: Recognizing the lessons and stages of leadership development . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 

Ertuğrul Ayrancı, A., & Ayrancı, E. (2015). Connections between leadership features and attitudes towards innovativeness: a research on small and medium-sized business owners.

Shamir, B., & Eilam-Shamir, G. (2018). “What’s your story?” A life-stories approach to authentic leadership development. In Leadership Now: Reflections on the Legacy of Boas Shamir (pp. 51-76). Emerald Publishing Limited. 

Sosik, J. J., & Cameron, J. C. (2010). Character and authentic transformational leadership behavior: Expanding the ascetic self toward others. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research , 62 (4), 251. 

Yahaya, R., & Ebrahim, F. (2016). Leadership styles and organizational commitment: literature review.  Journal of Management Development ,  35 (2), 190-216.