Styles of Leadership

Leadership

Leadership refers to the willingness of an individual to lead others to accomplish a specific mission. A successful leader should be the one who leads the mission of the team, motivates and inspires his co-workers to get involved in the work, and provides an exciting view of the future. Taking the team to unforeseen means allows a person to understand and know the difference between management and power. When management is doing something, well, strong leadership is doing the same thing. A leader can be any person with a particular skill, innovatively thinking out of the box. The best leaders are the one who creates other leaders, not followers. When leadership is shared, the people are more capable of handling the task and efficiently dealing with the challenges that arise (Mote, 2014). Good leadership should depend on the needs of the team. Therefore, a leader should choose a leadership style with a calculated analysis of the subject.

The Leadership Styles of Obama and Trump

The current world presents us with two great leaders who share some aspects on leadership while at the same time differ in other areas of the leadership. Obama and Trump are the 44th and the 45th presidents of the United States respectively. The regime of these leaders has been associated with a unique touch to the way they led the people into achieving the goal of the nation.

Obama’s Leadership Styles

Obama was forced to wear different hats during his tenure. Obama used a transformational and charismatic leadership styles to fulfill his duties as the president. He attracted the Americans and foreigners with his nature. Obama managed to woo people to his vision by showing the potential to make enormous differences in both the domestic and foreign affairs. He did this while in his first term as the president but changed his style in the second term where he was less interested in drawing people to his agenda. This tactic has been termed as he trying to check the various items off his to-do list as the president of the United States.

Cross-cultural leadership is another technique employed by Obama during his presidency. Before his reign, America was more involved in meeting the needs of the people domestically and failed to assist the developing nations. President Obama formulated an approach where not only did he seek to meet the interest of his citizens but also those of other countries (Wolerper, 2016). To achieve this, he made more abroad traveling than other President did in his first six months in the office. The administration started to pay close attention to the norms of life of the places Obama traveled. He learned the greeting customs of smaller nations, which showed respect to their leaders.

Another technique the president sort to is the contingency leadership style. He responded to situations using different types of leadership models. He opted to listen before speaking when traveling abroad. When faced with difficult decisions, he stood firm and called for the required changes. Congress refused to work with him, he decided to work unaided risking impeachment to stick to his morals and doctrine. He was determined to accomplish his work even if it meant to have the people thinking that it was wrong for the country. He did not shy away from his duties.

Trump’s Leadership Styles

Trump, the current president of United States, employs his styles when administering his duties to the people. For instance, his leadership is goal oriented. He directs himself towards achieving the goal set out than keeping a good relationship with people. The president will not allow the existence of a real relationship with a person or a company whereas failing in the task that required of them.

Transformational leadership is another style that trump exercises in his reign as the president of the United States. He is aiming at initiating changes in the every sector of the population. The people are motivated to do more than they originally did and even do what previously seemed impossible (Howard, 2005). Trump set out challenging expectations for his first 100 days as the president so that he will be to achieve higher performance. This leadership ends up having more satisfied followers as the leaders empower their followers.

Under certain conditions, the president is forced to use the autocratic style of leadership. In this, the leadership is centered on the boss. The leader will make a decision without consulting the subordinates. He provides all the guidelines necessary to complete a certain task.

Comparing Obama and Trump

Although their leadership styles are different from the other, both President Obama and Trump share a common vision of the role of the government, first to its citizens and then to the world. They have set themselves out with the idea of repairing the Americans domestic condition. The presidents have the urge to address the decline of jobs in the country and stop the suffering of the people.

However, the two presidents contrast in the leadership styles. President has occasionally opted for democratic decisions before embarking on duty whereas Trump will sometimes carry out a function without the consent of the necessary parties. Their policies are contrasting as in the case of climate change where Obama sought out international support for global warming and the Middle Eastern relationship, Trumps looks to be supporting only Israel and is not a believer in the climate change debate.

References

Howard, W. C. (2005). LEADERSHIP: FOUR STYLES. Education, 126(2), 384-386

Mote, G. (2014). Choosing the right leadership style. Corridor Business Journal, 11(15), 14.

Wolerper, J. (2016). Developing Effective Leaders. TD: Talent Development, 70(5), 66-67.