Class 2, Week 8, Peer Response 1

Class 2, Week 8, Peer Response 1

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Strategic leaders put the strategic leadership framework and the four responsibilities of strategic leaders into consideration as they take on leadership. I agree with the author in this regard and more so when it comes to the identification of Barrack Obama as both a strategic and transformational leader. To add onto the fact that Barack was a transformational leader, it is important to note that this transformational leadership takes more of the form of ‘rational persuasion than inspirational appeals’ (Engbers & Fucilla, 2012). Obama possessed skills and competencies in the line of strategic leadership. 90

Looking at the strategic leadership framework, Obama richly possessed various competencies. I agree with the author regarding the former president’s possession of knowledge and understanding from a rich background, thus making up his frame of reference development as a conceptual competency. Future envisioning is yet another conceptual competency for the former president reflecting through the dimension of strategic planning following a good understanding of his surroundings and the needs in line with these (Gupta, 2013 & Starr, 2018). The last conceptual competency he possessed was problem management involving the various skills and sound judgment leading to effective solutions.

As for the interpersonal competencies, these could be seen in his impeccable ability to communicate, value-share through building of consensus, and conducting negotiation effectively. In line with this, I further agree with the author. On top of these interpersonal competencies, as a strategic and transformational leader, the people could easily listen to him on various issues made public owing to his personality attributes (Smith, n.d. & Starr, 2018). The former president was able to foster good relationships with his cabinet, the government, and the American people in their entirety, as well as easily network on the social and political fronts (Jones, 2009). These fall within the technical competencies, those of which Obama thrived at as a strategic and transformational leader. This, as the author suggests, made it possible for Obama to make progress in the lives of his people and n his leadership.

When looking at the four strategic leadership qualities of strategic leaders, Obama was the epitome of such leadership in this light. I completely agree with the author in this sense. Obama, on getting into office after the elections, possessed these important qualities. One of these was the looking at the problems that the people faced through a new set of eyes and in new ways, which details strategic awareness especially when looking at the adoption of the Affordable Care Act which made health care accessible to all Americans (Engbers & Fucilla, 2012). His symbolic communication also came in handy in making true his strategic leadership capabilities. This was true since it was a way of bringing to life objectives and goals of his leadership to his people, and in a manner through which the American people would believe (Smith, n.d.). There were believable promises made through his strong communication.

At the same time, Obama had a good understanding of himself as well as his competition. The author identifies Hillary in this case since she was running against Obama for presidency. The then president ensured that his communication worked for his various audiences, something that was used to get ahead f his competition at the time (Calhoun, 2015). He was tech savvy and this helped him get ahead of traditional approaches applied by Hillary. Lastly, Obama managed to get the right team onboard his running for presidency so that he had good and effective cabinet officers and advisers onboard, including his rivals, such as Hillary to move his presidential agenda forward while ensuring that the Americans’ future was cared for (Jones, 2009). I agree with the author regarding Obama being aware of his strengths and weaknesses, as well as his skills, failures, and successes and using them to his advantage.

References

Calhoun, L. (2015, Jun 30). 5 Leadership Lessons from Obama. Inc. https://www.inc.com/lisa-calhoun/5-leadership-lessons-from-obama.htmlEngbers, T., & Fucilla, L. (2012). Transforming Leadership and the O bama Presidency. Social Science Quarterly, 93(5), 1127-1145.

Gupta, V. (2013). A five-dimensional integrated framework of strategic leadership: application to the emerging markets and implications for the industrial markets. In The Oxford Handbook of Leadership.Jones, J.M. (2009, Sept 21). Obama’s Leadership Qualities Stand Out to Americans. Gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/123104/obama-leadership-qualities-stand-out-americans.aspxSmith, R. (N.D.). Strategic Leadership: The 10 Characteristics of a Good Leader. Clear Point Strategy. https://www.clearpointstrategy.com/strategic-leadership-characteristics/Starr, L. M. (2018). Frameworks for Strategic Leadership.