A

Seminar Report

Titled

“Contemporary Issues and Obama’s Leadership Style”

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the

Award of degree of

Master of Business Administration

Submitted To: - Submitted By:-

Mrs. Alka Swami Swati Panwar
Lecturer (MBA Deptt.) MBA II Sem

2008-2010
 Engineering College Bikaner Society’s
College of Engineering & Technology
Karni Industrial Area, Pugal Road, Bikaner
Phone: +91-151-2253404, +91-151-3090326

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project entitled “Contemporary Issues and Obama’s
Leadership Style” has been carried out by Swati Panwar under my guidance in
partial fulfillment of the degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION of College of Engineering & Technology, Bikaner during
the academic year 2008-2010. To the best of my knowledge and belief this work
has not been submitted elsewhere for the award of any other degree.

Seminar Guide
Mrs. Alka Swami
Date:
Place: CET, Bikaner
 PREFACE

True learning is born out of experience and observation. Practical experience is one of the best

types of learning that one can remember through out the life. As an MBA student, my aim should

not only to learn theoretical concept in the classroom, but it becomes more important as how to

apply those concepts in practice.

After learning theoretical aspects of administration and management, the day came to apply

these in corporate world in context of modern industrial enterprise that has to go through its

different terminal to achieve that corporate goal.

The importance of seminar preparation has been widely accepted by the educational institution

as well as in the business. The main objective of seminar presentation on contemporary issues is

to develop partial knowledge and awareness about industrial environment and business practices

in the student as a supplement to theoretical studies of administration and management in

specific area like Finance, Marketing, Human Resource Management, System Management, etc.

It increases the skill ability, boosts up confidence and attitude of a student to perform a specific

job in industrial environment.

This seminar report is all about the different leadership styles used in management with special

reference to Barack Hussein Obama who used it very effectively in elections of USA in the

year 2008.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I feel immense pleasure in acknowledging those individuals and institutions that helped

me with their fruitful suggestions and encouragements for making it possible to accomplish the

work of the project in time.

I express my profound gratitude to my guide MRS. ALKA SWAMI (Faculty CET) for

providing sound moral support, valuable guidance and all possible help for undertaking seminar

project work.

I am grateful to Mr. S.K. VYAS, Head, Deptt. Of Management and Technology, Bikaner

for constant inspiration, guidance, moral support during the project work.

I would like to thank the members of panel Miss Hem Ahuja (Faculty CET) and Miss

Sarita Choudhary (Faculty ECB) for spending their valuable time, critical analysis and

comments on seminar presentation.

I acknowledge the significant role of my family members for providing a happy

environment and inspiration needed to undertake this work.

(SWATI PANWAR)
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.No. Topic Page No.

1. Introduction of Barack Hussein Obama
2. Leadership lessons from Obama
3. Marketing Strategies Used by Obama
4. Political positions of Barack Obama
5. Issues discussed by Obama
6. Six Rules for Tomorrow's Radical Innovators

Introduction of Barack Hussein Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United
States and the first African American to hold the office. Obama was the junior United States
Senator from Illinois from January 2005 until November 2008, when he resigned following his
election to the presidency.

Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the first
African American president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in
Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and also
taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.

Obama served three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful
bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for United States Senate
in 2004. His victory from a crowded field in the March 2004 Democratic primary raised his
visibility, and his prime-time televised keynote address at the Democratic National Convention
in July 2004 made him a rising star nationally in the Democratic Party. He was elected to the
U.S. Senate in November 2004 by the largest margin in Illinois history.

He began his run for the presidency in February 2007. After a close campaign in the 2008
Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his
party's nomination, becoming the first major party African American candidate for
president. In the 2008 general election, he defeated Republican candidate John McCain
and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009.

Leadership lessons from Obama

1. Be comfortable in your skin:-
It hardly matter from which nation we are, which religion we have. These statements
were completely refused by Obama, as he was proved himself. As he was always considered
“Black” but today he is leading the leading country of world. It means if we are a good leader
than followers have to follow us.

2. Develop your communication skills:-

As he develop his communication skills. He used the different techniques to connect with
people via internet, media. He made opinion polls. He makes many logins on different sites to
make connection with general public.

3. Deliver with passion:-

Whatever we are saying, say confidently. We should be confident enough. So that person
can get influenced by us. He always looks like a confident man. If we have confidence in us
people will believe us.

4. Practice-Practice-Practice:-
Practice makes the man perfect. He has done lots of hard work and works hours and
hours to get victory.

5. You will get far with a great team:-

We should get along with people. If we have a good team with us half of our work has
done. In his acceptance speech Obama said “To my campaign manager David Alvelord and the
best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics. You made this happen and I am
forever grateful for what you have sacrificed to get it done”.

6. Stable strategy + flexible tactics = victory:-

 If our strategies are stable and we have the quality of flexible tactics than nobody can
stop us to get victory.

7. Be your own story teller:-

A person can express himself very well as nobody else can. He also elaborated himself by
providing words to his opinion in frame work of his work. Obama wrote “Dreams from My
Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance” 10 years ago after Obama was elected the first African
American president of the Harvard Law Review.

Marketing Strategies Used by Obama

On November 4, 2008, Democratic Senator, Barack Hussein Obama (Obama), was elected as the
first African-American President of the United States of America. The opening lines of his
victory speech at Grand Park, Chicago, Illinois, were, "If there is anyone out there who still
doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of
our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your
answer." Analysts believed that 2008 had been a historical election for two reasons: Obama was
the first African American to be elected President of the country and second, the Internet had
been used extensively as a campaigning tool.

For the first time in the history of the US Presidential Elections, the Internet was used widely and
effectively for both campaigning and fund raising purposes. Obama also used the traditional
methods of marketing which accounted for 50% of his fund raising. Obama carefully tailored his
campaign by targeting people of different age groups, communities, and professionals
systematically to achieve success in the elections. Obama tapped the growing community of
people who preferred the Internet and mobile phones to television.
“Like any great brand, Obama has built up a bond of trust with the American people… But like
any brand, he has to deliver now on his promises, both actual and perceived”.
 - John Quelch, Marketing expert, in November 2008.
“We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about
what comes next.”
- Barack Obama, in an email to his supporters on election night (November 4, 2008).
“I know several people on the campaign, and I can tell you hands down Obama has the better
technology strategy. There is an innate generational understanding of technology in the guys'
bones – most of them grew up with it as an integral part of their daily life.”
- Anthony Citrano, branding consultant, June 2008.

He tapped social media both for raising funds and for campaigning. He made his supporters
campaign for him by allowing them to sign up in his website and get phone numbers of people
whom they could call and talk to. In this way, he changed the task of supporters and made them
campaigners on the web.The consistency with which he publicized his personal information
uniformly on all his websites and also targeted specific information at individual websites,
depending on the age groups of the people, the communities they belonged to, and also what
religious backgrounds or professional backgrounds they belonged to, caught the imagination of
analysts. The information contained in each of the websites was different and that lent a personal
touch to them and also added to his credibility.

He managed to get the attention of the younger generation, a segment that was ignored by other
candidates as a group of people who could not contribute funds. This group of people, who also
were the main users of the Internet, got involved in the elections, campaigned for Obama, and
also surprised analysts by turning up in large numbers to vote. Obama also had a dedicated
website called "FighttheSmears" with the sole aim of addressing and combating any false
accusations about himself as and when they appeared. The entire campaign was well structured
to project a consistent image of Obama and every action taken by the campaigners was well
thought out. Experts believed that Obama used the Internet with skill, efficiency, and care and
his labor had borne fruit in the form of his victory.
Obama ended his victory speech with the following words: "This is our time, to put our people
back to work, and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the
cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of
many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and
doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up
the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United
States of America".

Obama's Technology Strategy

Analysts felt that Obama had revolutionized the election campaign process by using new media
channels in addition to traditional communication methods. He used new media like text
messaging, social networking, and blogging and also converted a supporter from a mere voter to
a virtual campaign employee.

www.barackobama.com visitors: “I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring
about real change in Washington… I’m asking you to believe in yours.” In the Youtube music
video and in the quote above, Senator Obama is selling an egalitarian message through
compelling, emotional and inclusive speeches, music videos and arguments. His emphasis, at a
time when polls show that many voters feel like their voices aren’t being heard, is about “we” -
as the crowds chant at his rallies, “Yes we can.”; in this photograph from a rally “Change we
can believe in”. His pitch has been about empowerment and the role of the community in
government, not the role of government in the community.

Online Marketing Strategies:-

1. The First Time You Visit Your Site You Are Asked To Join His Mailing List.
2. Every Web Page Furthers the Primary Action to ‘Donate Now’.
3. Excellent Information Architecture.
4. A Blog Is Used To Communicate Messages.
5. Social Networking Is Used To Maximize Exposure.
6. Mobile Marketing Is Used To Further His Message.

Political Positions of Barack Obama

Economic policy

Barack Obama's current economic advisors are Austan Goolsbee of the University of Chicago
and Jeffrey Liebman of Harvard University. In 2006, Obama wrote: "We should be asking
ourselves what mix of policies will lead to a dynamic free market and widespread economic
security, entrepreneurial innovation and upward mobility we should be guided by what works."

Speaking before the National Press Club in April 2005, he defended the New Deal social welfare
policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt, associating Republican proposals to establish private accounts

 Corporate governance
On April 20, 2007, Obama introduced a bill in the Senate (Shareholder Vote on Executive
Compensation Act - S. 1181) requiring public companies to give shareholders an annual
nonbinding vote on executive compensation, popularly called "Say on pay." A companion bill
introduced by Rep. Barney Frank passed the House the same day. Several corporations
voluntarily have begun to give shareholders such a vote because of concerns about excessive
CEO salaries.

 Labor rights
Obama supports the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that adds penalties for labor violations and
which would circumvent the secret ballot requirement to organize a union. Obama promises to
sign the EFCA into law. He is also a cosponsor of the "Re-empowerment of Skilled and
Professional Employees and Construction Trades workers" or RESPECT act (S. 969) that aims
to overturn the National Labor Relations Board's "Kentucky River" 532 U.S. 706 (2001) decision
that redefined many employees lacking the authority to hire, fire, or discipline, as "supervisors"
who are not protected by federal labor laws.

 Equal pay
Obama favors the concept of equal pay (the abolition of wage differences based on gender). He
has supported legislation designed to improve the effectiveness of the Equal Pay Act of 1963. In
2007, the House of Representatives passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which, according to
the National Federation of Independent Business, would have allowed "employees to file charges
of pay discrimination within 180 days of the last received paycheck affected by the alleged
discriminatory decision." The bill would have overturned the Supreme Court decision in
Ledbetter v. Goodyear. There the Court dismissed a woman's discrimination claim because she
had filed it more than 180 days after the first affected paycheck. The bill died in a 2008 Senate
vote in which Obama and other Democrats could not break a Republican filibuster. In the 111th
congress it was passed again, and Obama signed it on January 29, 2009.

 Education
During an October 2004 debate, Obama stated that he opposed education vouchers for use at
private schools because he believes they would undermine public schools.
In a July 2007 address to the National Education Association, Obama supported merit pay for
teachers, to be based on standards to be developed "with teachers.” Obama also called for higher
pay for teachers.[18] Obama's plan is estimated to cost $18 billion annually and was originally
planned to be partially funded by delaying NASA's Constellation program for five years but he
has since reconsidered and stated that he will look for "an entirely different offset.” "We owe it
to our children to invest in early-childhood education; and recruit an army of new teachers and
give them better pay and more support; and finally decide that, in this global economy, the
chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the few, but a birthright of every
American.". He also is against the teaching of intelligent design as scientific fact, but supports
teaching theology.

 Taxation
Under Obama's plan, middle-class families would see their income taxes cut, with no family
making less than $250,000 seeing an increase. However, he did vote for a budget in June 2008,
that would raise the taxes on single people with a taxable income of over $32,000 by pushing up
their tax bracket from 25% to 28%. Obama has proposed a tax plan which includes tax credits to
lower the amount of taxes paid. It is argued that the typical middle-class family would receive
over $1,000 in tax relief, with tax payments that are 20% lower than they faced under President
Ronald Reagan. According to the Tax Policy Center, the Obama plan provides three times as
much tax relief for middle-class families as the McCain plan. Obama's plan includes a temporary
"making work pay" program, which gives a tax credit at 6.2% of earned income up to $400 for
single workers (making less than $75,000/yr), and an $800 for married couples (making less than
$150,000/yr), expiring at the end of 2010. Families making more than $250,000 would pay either
the same or lower income tax rates than they paid in the 1990s. For the wealthiest 2% of
families, Obama plans to reverse a portion of the tax cuts they have received over the past eight
years. But no family will pay higher income tax rates than they would have paid in the 1990s.
Dividend rates would be 39 percent lower than what President George W. Bush proposed in his
2001 tax cut.
Obama’s plan is to cut income taxes overall, which he states would reduce revenues to below the
levels that prevailed under Ronald Reagan (less than 18.2 percent of GDP). Obama argues that
his plan is a net tax cut, and that his tax relief for middle class families is larger than the revenue
raised by his tax changes for families over $250,000. Obama plans to pay for the tax changes
while bringing down the budget deficit by cutting unnecessary spending.
Obama said he wanted to "look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness."

 Immigration
Obama supports a guest worker program, and voted in favor of the Bush administration backed
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. Obama has said that he "will not support any
bill that does not provide [an] earned path to citizenship for the undocumented population."
Obama has said that he does not believe that the 12 million illegal immigrants should be
deported. He said "It's not going to happen. We're not going to go round them up ... We should
give them a pathway to citizenship."
In September 2006, Obama voted for the Secure Fence Act, authorizing the construction of
700 miles (1,100 km) of fencing along the United States–Mexico border.Obama has supported
granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.In June 2007, Obama voted against declaring
English as the official language of the federal government.
In November 2007, Obama stated that, "We can … go a long way toward meeting industry’s
need for skilled workers with Americans. Until we have achieved that, I will support a temporary
increase in the H-1B visa program as a stopgap measure until we can reform our immigration
system comprehensively."
In July 2007, Obama said, "Find out how many senators appeared before an immigration rally
last year. Who was talking the talk, and who walked the walk -- because I walked…I didn't run
away from the issue, and I didn't just talk about it in front of Latino audiences."
"I believe we must secure our borders, fix our broken immigration bureaucracy, and require the
12 million undocumented to get on a responsible path to citizenship. I will also increase the
number of people we allow in the country legally to a level that unites families and meets the
demand for jobs employers cannot fill" "I support comprehensive immigration reform that
includes improving our visa programmes, including the H-1B programme, to attract some of the
world's most talented people to America", Obama said in an interview with IANS in October
2008.

 Energy policy
Barack Obama delivering a speech at the University of Southern California in support of
California Proposition 87.In his New Energy for America plan, Obama proposes to reduce
overall U.S. oil consumption by at least 35%, or 10 million barrels per day, by 2030 in order to
offset imports from OPEC nations. Obama voted in favor of the Energy Policy Act of 2005,
which provided incentives (chiefly tax breaks) to reduce national consumption of energy and to
encourage a wide range of alternative energy sources. It also resulted in a net tax increase on oil
companies.
On the issue of nuclear power, in 2005, Obama stated, "... as Congress considers policies to
address air quality and the deleterious effects of carbon emissions on the global ecosystem, it is
reasonable – and realistic – for nuclear power to remain on the table for consideration. Illinois
has 11 nuclear power plants – the most of any State in the country – and nuclear power provides
more than half of Illinois’ electricity needs." Regarding McCain's plans for 45 new nuclear
power plants, Obama said that it's not serious, it's not new, it's not the kind of energy policy that
will give families the relief they need. Obama declared himself flatly opposed to building the
Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada.
Foreign policy
His first major speech on foreign policy was delivered on April 23, 2007 to the Chicago Council
on Global Affairs. He identified the problems that he believes the current foreign policy has
caused, and the five ways the United States can lead again, focused on "common security",
"common humanity", and remaining "a beacon of freedom and justice for the world"
Obama stated five main foreign policy goals:
1. Ending the war in Iraq responsibly.
2. Finishing the fight against Al Queda and the Taliban.
3. Securing all nuclear weapons and material from terrorists.
4. Achive true energy security.
5. Rebuilding our alliance to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

 India
Barack Obama has pledged to "build a close strategic partnership" between US and India if
elected. "Already, in communities across this country, Indian Americans are lifting up our
economy and creating jobs," he said. "Leading entrepreneurs, innovators, lawyers, doctors,
engineers, and hardworking professionals are adding to the richness and success of the American
society." "Too often, flawed strategies like racial profiling have had a disproportionate effect on
Indian Americans. Too often, restrictions at our borders have prevented entry for many students
and family members who seek nothing more than opportunity and reunification with loved
ones", Obama argued in an article he has written for India Abroad. Obama said in an interview
with IANS he would support "comprehensive immigration reform", including the H-1B visa
programme "to attract some of the world most talented people to America". "We know that we
cannot and should not put up walls around our economy."

 China
On March 20, 2008 Obama criticized his rivals for undermining America’s security: "Because of
the Bush-McCain policies, our debt has ballooned. This is creating problems in our fragile
economy." "It also means we’re having to pay for this war with loans from China. Having China
as our banker isn’t good for our economy, it isn’t good for our global leadership, and it isn’t
good for our national security. History teaches us that for a nation to remain a preeminent
military power, it must remain a preeminent economic power."[139]
Obama appealed to China on grounds of co-operation and increased friendship following
Obama's election victory on November 4 2008. On November 8 2008, Hu Jintao and Barack
Obama had a phone conversation in which the Chinese President congratulated Obama on his
recent election victory. During the conversation both parties agreed that the development of US-
China relations is not only in the interest of both nations, but also in the interests of the world.

 Pakistan
On August 1, 2007, Obama stated that as President he would consider military action in Pakistan
in order to attack al-Qaeda, even if the Pakistani government did not give approval. Obama said,
"I will not hesitate to use military force to take out terrorists who pose a direct threat to
America." He also said "As President, I would deploy at least two additional brigades to
Afghanistan to reinforce our counter-terrorism operations”. On August 1, 2007 Obama declared
in a foreign policy speech that the United States must be willing to strike al Qaeda targets inside
Pakistan, with or without the consent of the Pakistani government. On the same day in response,
then-White House press secretary Tony Snow highlighted the policy's shift from the position
established by the Bush Administration, he said: "Our approach to Pakistan is one that not only
respects the sovereignty of Pakistan as a sovereign government, but is also designed to work in a
way where we are working in cooperation with the local government".
After weeks of discourse surrounding the policy, Obama said there was misreporting of his
comments, saying that, "I never called for an invasion of Pakistan or Afghanistan." He clarified
that rather than a surge in the number of troops in Iraq, there needs to be a "diplomatic surge"
and that if there were "actionable intelligence reports" showing al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden
in Pakistan, the U.S. troops as a last resort should enter and try to capture terrorists. That would
happen, he added, only if "the Pakistani government was unable or unwilling" to go after the
terrorists. Obama has said that he would hold Pakistan accountable for the massive military aid it
has received from Washington if he were elected to the White House. He said his administration
will increase pressure on Pakistan to come to terms with terrorist safe havens along its northern
border with Afghanistan. He noted that the US was providing Pakistan military aid which he said
was being misused by that country to prepare for a war against India.
 Issues

1. Terrorism:
When Obama was crowned at that time the whole world is facing the problem
of terrorism. With the first stroke of his presidential pen, Barack Obama began to rewrite the
book on how the U.S. will confront terrorism going. In making that his first official act as a
president he told the world that the U.S. is going to confront the struggle against terrorism in a
manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals.

2. Outsourcing:-
Obama said that as president he “will stop giving tax breaks to companies that
ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in
America”. He is not against outsourcing; he wanted that jobs will give to Americans. He is
speaking for many democrats, who favored such a measure for a long time. They are hoping that
this will dampen outsourcing, at a crucial time when the politicians need to be seen doing
something to stem the job losses. It will tickle the economic nationalists the right way, and
indeed, every recession sees them in ascendancy. So, President Obama has said the right thing, at
the right time, for the Americans.

3. Swiss Bank:-
The government seeks to identify of tens of thousands of possible U.S. tax
cheats who hid billions of dollars in assets at the Swiss based banks. The Obama administration
wants UBS to turn over information on as many as 52000 U.S. customers who concealed their
account from U.S. government, in violation of tax laws. UBS, the largest bank in Switzerland,
agreed to divulge the names of well-heeled Americans whom the authorities suspect of using
offshore accounts at the bank to evade taxes. The bank admitted conspiring to defraud the
Internal Revenue Service and agreed to pay $780 million to settle a sweeping federal
investigation into its activities.
 Six Rules for Tomorrow's Radical Innovators

Barack Obama is one of the most radical management innovators in the world today. Obama's
team built something truly world-changing: a new kind of political organization for the 21st
century. It differs from yesterday's political organizations as much as Google and Threadless
differ from yesterday's corporations: all are a tiny handful of truly new, 21st century institutions
in the world today. Obama presidential bid succeeded, in other words, as our research at the Lab
has discussed for the past several years, through the power of new DNA: new rules for new kinds
of institutions. So let's discuss the new DNA Obama brought to the table, by outlining seven
rules for tomorrow's radical innovators.

1. Have a self-organization design:-

What was really different about Obama's organization? We're used to thinking about
organizations in 20th century terms: do we design them to be tall, or flat? But tall and flat are
concepts built for an industrial era. They force us to think - spatially and literally - in two
dimensions: tall organizations command unresponsively and flat organizations respond
uncontrollably. Obama's organization blew past these orthodoxies: it was able to combine the
virtues of both tall and flat organizations. How? By tapping the game-changing power of self-
organization. Obama's organization was less tall or flat than spherical - a tightly controlled core,
surrounded by self-organizing cells of volunteers, donors, contributors, and other participants at
the fuzzy edges. The result? Obama's organization was able to reverse tremendous asymmetries
in finance, marketing, and distribution - while McCain's organization was left trapped by a
stifling command-and-control paradigm.

2. Seek elasticity of resilience:-

Obama's 21st century organization was built for a 21st century goal - not to maximize
outputs, or minimize inputs, but to, as Gary Hamel has discussed, remain resilient to turbulence.
What happened when McCain attacked Obama with negative ads in September? Such attacks
would have depleted the coffers of a 20th century organization, which would have been forced to
retaliate quickly and decisively in kind. Yet, Obama's organization responded furiously in
exactly the opposite way: with record-breaking fundraising. That's resilience: reflexively
bouncing back to an existential threat by growing, augmenting, or strengthening resources.

3. Minimize strategy:-
Obama's campaign dispensed almost entirely with strategy in its most naïve sense:
strategy as gamesmanship or positioning. They didn't waste resources trying to dominate the
news cycle, game the system, strong-arm the party, or out-triangulate competitors' positions.
Rather, Obama's campaign took a scalpel to strategy - because they realized that strategy, too
often, kills a deeply-lived sense of purpose, destroys credibility, and corrupts meaning.

4. Maximize purpose:-
Change the game? That's 20th century thinking at its finest - and narrowest. The 21st
century is about changing the world. What does "yes we can" really mean? Obama's goal wasn't
simply to win an election, garner votes, or run a great campaign. It was larger and more urgent:
to change the world. Bigness of purpose is what separates 20th century and 21st century
organizations: yesterday, we built huge corporations to do tiny, incremental things - tomorrow;
we must build small organizations that can do tremendously massive things. And to do that, you
must strive to change the world radically for the better - and always believe that yes, you can.
You must maximize, stretch, and utterly explode your sense of purpose.

5. Broaden unity:-
What do marketers traditionally do? Segment and target, slice and dice. We've become
great at dividing markets into tinier and tinier bits. But we're terrible at unifying them. Yet
Obama succeeded not through division, but through unification: we are, he contended, "not a
collection of Red States and Blue States -- We are the United States of America".
Obama intuitively understands a larger truth of next-generation economics. Unified markets are
what a world driven to collapse by hyper consumption is desperately going to need.
6. Remember that there is nothing more asymmetrical than an ideal:-
Obama ended his last speech before the election by saying: "let's go change the world."
Why are those words important? Because the world needs change. A world driven by economic
meltdown, religious conflict, resource scarcity, and intractable poverty and violence - such a
world demands fresh ideals. We must mold and shape a better world - or we will surely all suffer
together. As Obama said: "we rise or fall ... as one people." In such a world, forget about a short-
lived, often meaningless "competitive advantage". It's a concept built for the 20th century. In the
21st century, there is nothing more asymmetrical - more disruptive, more revolutionary, or more
innovative -- than the world-changing power of an ideal. Where are the ideals in our
organization? What ideals are missing - absent, bankrupt, stolen - from your economy, industry,
or market? What ideals will you fight and struggle for - and live? Because the ultimate problem
with industrial-era business was, as Wall Street has so convincingly demonstrated, this: there
weren't any. That seventh lesson is the starting point for tomorrow's radical innovators - because
it's the thread that knits the others together. And it's where we should start if we want to use these
seven rules to start building 21st century institutions - whether businesses, non-profits, social
enterprises, or political campaigns. As a young brown American, I couldn't be more deeply or
powerfully inspired by the "defining moment" of an Obama presidency. Yet, the seeds of a new
challenge have been planted by that victory: for us to harness the lessons of his quiet revolution -
our quiet revolution - to seed many, many more.
 Conclusion
The report discusses about various leadership styles used in different organizations with
special reference to Barack Hussein Obama.
There are clear lessons that all HR leaders can learn from Barack Obama’s march to the
presidency. He also added, there’s a difference between running a political campaign and
running our career as an HR leader. However, we can certainly apply the above mentioned six
lessons within our organization and as we think about our HR career.
Barack Obama is further evidenced great leadership, because he indicated his desire to
empower people. We all know the HR leader in the workplace who attempts to hold on to his
power by taking away and demoting everyone else’s.
In a diverse multi-cultural world we must be able to engage others and lead inclusively
and connect across departments, teams, racial lines, generational lines and various special
interests. Barack was able to attract supporters for his campaign. His mantra for change: “There’s
not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is only the United States of America”
was his rallying cry for inclusion.
One of the most impressive elements of Obama’s campaign was his unprecedented use of
technology. E-mail marketing, the Flicker the photo sharing site, YouTube, social networking
and other internet tools were leveraged to the max for fund raising and communicating to his
constituents.
As a last word, it can be concluded by saying Leadership can be done by any of us, but
one should believe in itself. We should have ability to make people followers and to bring about
the real change.
We can also make it clear with the words of Robbert F. Kennedy:

“Progress is a nice word and Change is its motivator

but it has its enemies too.”
 References / Bibliography
Websites
www.icmrindia.co.in
www.wikipedia.com
www.managementparadise.com
www.domainb.com
www.barackobama.com
www.findarticles.com
www.papers.ssrn.com

Articles

David Leonhardt. "ECONOMIX; Assessing The Advisers In the '08 Race" New York Times.
April 18, 2007.

Franklin, Ben A. (June 1, 2005). "The Fifth Black Senator in U.S. History Makes F.D.R. His
Icon".Washington Spectator

http://www.washingtonspectator.com/articles/20050601obama_1.cfm. Retrieved on 2007-

01-21.

Maraniss, David (August 24, 2008). "Though Obama Had to Leave to Find Himself, It Is
Hawaii That Made His Rise Possible". Politics (Washington Post).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-yn/content/article/2008/08/23/AR2008082301620.html.
Retrieved on October 27, 2008.
Obama, Barack (2008-07-15). "A New Strategy for a New World". Obama for America.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newstrategy. Retrieved on 2008-07-16.