Leadership Lessons From Barack Obama

Barack Obama was renowned during his time in office for being a strong orator and calm during a crisis. So what leadership lessons can we learn from the 44th president of the United States?

Barack Obama, the 44th man to grace the Oval Office, and the first black president of the United States. He’s skilled in the art of oration and global leadership, has the ability to build a team, present ideas fluently, and make quick decisions in a crisis; the kind of skills candidates expect to learn during an MBA degree.

Here are the leadership lessons you can learn from Barack Obama.

1. Leading through a crisis

When president Obama took office, the world was in the middle of a crisis. Lehman Brothers had collapsed, and an international financial crisis had been sparked.

Obama quickly signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a $831 billion recovery package. More than a decade of growth and job creation—the longest in American history—followed.

Obama showed that, in a crisis, fast and decisive policy action is needed.

2. Being culturally sensitive

To win the presidency Obama had to pull together a coalition of voters from across America’s cultural divide.

Pew Research Center showed that although Republican John McCain in 2008 won 55% to Obama’s 43% of the white vote, President Obama dominated when it came to the black vote (95%), Latino vote (67%), and the Asian vote (62%).

Without the diversity of support there’s no way Obama would have won the race for the White House. In the same way he found success by building a diverse support base and team, one of the leadership lessons you...