Article 1

At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte N.C., former President Bill Clinton on
Wednesday put Barack Obamas name in nomination for reelection as president with an
impassioned plea that Americans renew Obamas contract for four more years.
For those voters who have yet to decide whether to let Obama keep the keys to the White House
or send him packing, heres a primer in political prognostication: past is prologue; and
personality drives behavior.
Past is prologue
The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. No speech, no campaign promise will
fundamentally alter the general tenor of the Obama presidency in a second term.
If you dislike Obamas first-term agenda or leadership style as president, theres little reason to
cast a vote for Obama in hope of change.
For the nonpartisan or independent voter, the great challenge is to anticipate how the candidate
will govern. That task is simplified with an incumbent because the candidates track record
telegraphs his likely path.
However, the future is always uncertain. Little did we know when we sized up George W. Bushs
fitness for office in 2000 that history would throw us a curveball a year later in the form of Sept.
11.
This is where political psychology earns its keep.
Personality drives behavior
Personality refers to the stable patterns of a persons motives, thoughts and actions over time and
across a broad range of situations. Accurate personality assessment allows us to anticipate a
leaders response to a broad range of contingencies including those not currently on the
political radar.
Equally important, political psychologists have developed predictive models that link a leaders
personality traits to his or her likely performance as chief executive.
Obama is a confident conciliator a leader with a healthy dose of adaptive narcissism and a
stronger accommodating tendency than most presidents.
Leadership
The following generalized expectancies regarding Obamas leadership style as president can be
inferred from his personality profile:

Motivation for leading. Obama has extraordinary confidence in his ideas and potential
for success, which suggests that at his core he is ideologically driven by a desire to
transform society. However, because he is not highly dominant, driven more by a need
for achievement than by power for its own sake, he is relatively pragmatic in his efforts to
consummate his policy objectives.

Leadership orientation. As a confident, ambitious person, Obama tends to be a goaloriented leader first, motivated primarily by advancing his policy objectives, with only
secondary consideration to maintaining good relations among members of his team.

Investment in job performance. Obama, despite a seemingly relaxed, casual personal

style, is an active, energetic leader highly invested in achieving his policy objectives.

Management style. With his high ambition, Obama is inclined to act as a strong
advocate, promoting his policy vision and using his powers of persuasion to advance his
agenda. However, because of his accommodating tendency, Obamas activism is
tempered by an inclination to act as a consensus builder or arbitrator within his
administration and across party lines.

Dealing with the legislative branch of government. Obama has the flexibility to behave
either cooperatively or competitively in his dealings with members of Congress,
depending on his perception of which strategy will prove most effective in achieving the
desired result. However, his conciliatory tendency renders him somewhat conflict averse,
which fosters a proclivity to remain somewhat aloof and above the fray in heated, highly
divisive debates.

Media relations. In dealing with the media, Obama is predisposed to maintain cordial
press relations, especially if he feels he can influence the press to do his bidding.
However, should the press become antagonistic, he is likely to become correspondingly
uncooperative, avoidant, or aloof.

Public relations. In relating to the public, confident leaders such as Obama typically are
involved and active, articulating and defending their policies in person rather than relying
on proxies. However, if matters become contentious, Obamas conflict aversion may
induce him to delegate that role to surrogates.

On balance, nothing specific to Obamas personality profile or leadership style suggests that he
deserves to be fired. By the same token, anyone with a preexisting objection to Obama can
probably find something in his profile to confirm their prior belief.
This is the opinion of Aubrey Immelman, a political psychologist who specializes in the
psychological assessment of presidential candidates. He also was a candidate in the Republican
primary for the U.S. House 6th District race. A similar profile of Republican nominee Mitt
Romney was published in the Aug. 30 Times.

Article 2

5 Leadership Lessons from Obama

No matter which side of the political fence you live on, President
Obama is good at moving his agenda forward from a leadership
perspective. That is the acid test of leaders: getting things done.
Obama's healthcare reform has been cemented by the Supreme
Court. Gay marriage is legal in every state. The United States is less
dependent on foreign oil than it was when he became president.
Healthcare, oil prices, marriage? These are some of the most
controversial subjects in the American conversation. As a leader,
how does Obama confront so much controversy without sacrificing
results?

1. Personal risks.
Obama's reputation as a master orator is obliterated by what he is
willing to do as an average singer. He spoke at Tucson after the
shooting and at the Sandy Hook Elementary School after the killings.
He spoke at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye. He spoke at
Nelson Mandela's eulogy. You may not remember what he said at
any of these events. But when he sang "Amazing Grace" in front of
the world, you remember it. He showed us he's able to be himself,
just as he is. In showing his average singing voice, he took a
personal risk in order to create a memorable message. Taking
personal, public risks shows how much you care about your
message as a leader.

2. Repeat after "we."

Whether he's talking about the death of Osama bin Laden or more
recently, eulogizing the Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney,
Obama's change language is framed using "us" and "we." This isn't

just politics. Using the plural first person, instead of I, invites you to
identify with him. Think of your own leadership. Sometimes, it can
be hard for your followers to identify with you, too, right? By framing
your position in terms of "us" and "we," you invoke the power of a
possible shared social identity with your team.

3. Believe.
Obama's campaign used the slogan "change we can believe in."
Belief in change is a fundamental, foundational quality of his
leadership. No matter which controversial topic Obama is taking a
stand on today, chances are he comes across as believable to many
of the people he's asking to support the stance. For example, I asked
one of the interns at my public relations agency, "do you think
Obama is a good leader?" He said yes. When I asked him why, he
said, "because you can see he really believes it and he's really fed
up." This quality of believing passionately in the change you are
seeking--politically, socially, or in business--has power even when
many are against you.

4. Out communicate your competition.

In 2008, Obama was awarded Marketer of the Year by Advertising
Age. His policies were online and as they evolved, they were
updated by email and text. He had online call tool that helped
supporters make millions of calls from personal computers.[1] Today,
Obama keeps talking on multiple channels including video, network
news, talk shows, personal appearances, web cams--you name it,
he's trying it. An incredible commitment to communicating in the
media his audience uses, even over-communicating, is an Obama
trademark.
Do you just send emails, or just meet with people, to forward your
agenda? Knowing your own preference in communication style is
important. Obama demonstrates knowing your audiences' styles
may even be more so.

5. Make endings into beginnings.

When you're a leader with a big bucket list, how do you keep
momentum? Obama said recently, referencing the Affordable

Healthcare Act, "This was a good day for America. Let's get back to
work."
He repeats that phrase--let's get back to work--hundreds of times in
the two terms of his presidency. Classic Obama leadership
celebrates ends with a begin. Rather than rest on the laurels of any
particular victory or mope about moments that didn't go his way,
Obama uses circumstances to set up the next phase of his agenda.
In business terms, you blew it out of the park this quarter?
Awesome! But be sure to use this quarter's success to set up next
quarter's quota. Even more so, Obama's leadership style in using
the moment as a springboard for his message forwards his longer
term agenda-meaning as he leaves office at the end of his term,
he's accomplished a lot of the items in his leadership bucket list. In
classic Obama fashion, as he recently said to NPR, he's got a lot
more "bucket" left.

Article 3
Barack Obama's Leadership and Character Traits
Integrity
Integrity is the act of keeping to your personal morals or ethics. Malcom
Friedberg wrote about who he thinks Barack Obama is and why he thought he
should be president:
.that's the man I want to run my country: the man who has the courage to do
what's best for all of us, and not to compromise because it provides him with some
short-term gain. Show me the man that will risk losing the election because he
won't compromise his values, and I'll show you the man that deserves the right to
be called the President of the United States of America.
-from Barack Obamas Integrity by Malcolm Friedberg, posted Mar. 21.
2008
Respect
President Obama, before he was even named the 2008 Democratic Candidate for
President, supported diplomacy as the first measure to be taken in response to any
suspicious activity. In particular, Obama supported the re-initiation of diplomatic

action with Iran. He opposed the bill that would regard the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard as a terrorist group, thereby allowing the president to position troops in Iran,
which could be interpreted as military action against the Iranians. This shows that
the President respects all organizations, regardless of their history or relationships
and that his first thought when approaching foreign organizations, is diplomacy.
Fairness
The introductory paragraph to the Obama Administration's tax plan states: Barack
Obamas tax plan delivers broad-based tax relief to middle class families and cuts
taxes for small businesses and companies that create jobs in America, while
restoring fairness to our tax code and returning to fiscal responsibility. Fairness is
an especially important trait for any leader because a good leader must treat
everyone with equality, regardless of race, gender or social status. For more
information, refer to the Obama tax plan.
Citizenship
Citizenship is the character of an individual viewed as a member of society or
their behavior in terms of the duties, obligations, and functions of a citizen.
President Obama demonstrated very eloquent citizenship when he worked as a
community organizer in the south side of Chicago:
In June 1985, Obama moved to Chicago, where he was hired as director of
the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization
originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland (Roseland, West
Pullman and Riverdale) on Chicago's far South Side. He worked there as a
community organizer from June 1985 to May 1988. During his three years as the
DCP's director, its staff grew from one to thirteen and its annual budget grew from
$70,000 to $400,000. He helped set up a job training program, a college
preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization. Obama also
worked as a consultant and instructor for a community organizing institute.
-From Early life and career of Barack Obama", Wikipedia

The positive changes that occured during Obama's management

display his self-motivation in the community that he was a part of at
that time.
Caring
In my opinion, one of the most difficult tasks that any world leader will face
is balancing time with their two major obligations; the population that they are
leading and their actual family. There's no hiding the strong bonds between the
members of the Obama family; the family reserves time for a sit-down dinnertime

every night. Barack Obama is certainly a family man; he's seen in public all of the
time with his loving family.
Additionally, Barack Obama is committed to creating universal health care in
America. This shows that the health of the individual American is one of his top
priorities.
Confidence
With the 2009 inauguration, Mr.Obama inherited two wars, one of the worst
economic disasters in American history, and a multi-trillion dollar debt. President
Obama has displayed that he knows how to inspire confidence in people, and he will
have to if the United States is going to make it out of these challenges intact.
President Obama attacks the economic recession daily, creates new plans to
counter the U.S. debt, and has already put his troop withdrawal and
distribution plans into action. The American people must know that the government
is working hard so that they can gain trust in the Federal government once again.
Obama knows the true meaning of leadership: to encourage the American people to
act for a common purpose because they want to. Here is a phrase that President
Obama used in one of his recent speeches:
"Starting today, we must pick ouselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work of
remaking America"
Barack Obama, 2009 Inaugural Address
He has certainly held true to his word on this quote. To help to alleviate the
recession, he has spent more money in his first sixty days than in an entire term of
any other president. Obama hasn't just talked about plans of rebuilding America, he
has acted on them. Americans are gradually investing more and more trust in their
government as each crisis is dealt with.

Mindful Decision Making

A deliberate decision of Mr. Obama was to surround himself with people that don't
neccessarily agree with his views. This way, the President will gain different
perspectives on difficult issues. If his cabinet were to contain people that constantly
agree with him, he could make purely 'Obama' choices all of the time, and the right
decision might not always be made- nobody's perfect.
Barack Obama has shown his decisiveness through the inummerable times he has
taken action in just about the sixty days that he has spent in the White House.