leadership

It can be expressed that balanced processing is another important dimension of authentic leadership which has been reflected within Obama. In another words, the balanced processing dimension of leadership is also termed as fair minded dimension of leadership. Authentic leader such as Obama has always focused on encouraging suggestions and viewpoints which are opposing in nature. Before making any kind of decision, Obama as an authentic leader has always shown deep interest in considering all the options and choices available. This has resulted in developing high degree of satisfaction among the followers and has also encouraged them to present their suggestions and viewpoints without any fear. The balance processing dimension of authentic leadership reflects that a leader needs to be fair minded and this dimension has been reflected in the leadership style of Obama (Gill, Gardner, Claeys & Vangronsvelt, 2018). 
Authentic leaders are the one who focuses on developing detailed knowledge about the pros and cons associated with a particular decision and this was done by encouraging suggestions which were most of the time opposing. Good and effective authentic leaders are also not afraid of open discussion according to the balance processing dimension. The open discussion characteristic of Obama can be justified by the example of Obama foundation which encouraged and facilitate open discussions about the ways in which a person can become good citizen of a country. The people living in USA feel motivated as the authentic leader i.e. Obama encouraged them to speak and present their views in every possible manner (Weiss, Razinskas, Backmann, & Hoegl, 2017). Apart from this, it can be also expressed that according to balanced processing dimension of authentic leadership, Obama has always ensured that no hidden action or agendas should be there. He explained that all the process and decisions should be carried out with complete transparency and public or citizens of the country should be aware about the same. 

It has been identified that there were several stages or situations where Obama has shown the balance processing dimension of authentic leadership. For instance, to promote economic growth of USA and to reduce the issues linked with deficits, Obama as a authentic leader encouraged and insisted the law makes in the nation to work together and develop a balance approach. Here, the balance processing was to focus encourage the law makers and people in the country to emphasise on things which are right for the nation. On the other side of this, Obama as an authentic leader has also faced criticism about his balanced approach. For example, people opposed that his balanced approach of increase revenue generated through taxes and reducing the spending of government to deal with deficits was highly criticized by the people in the country. Apart from this, during his tenure of being an authentic leader of USA, Obama has also focused on maintaining complete degree of transparency. The statement can be justified by the example that Obama maintained transparency by providing general public with access to presidential and federal records (Jiang, & Men, 2017). The impact of this was that high degree of satisfaction was developed among citizens as they believed that the president was maintaining a very high degree of transparency during his administration. 
The balanced processing dimension of authentic leadership states that authentic leaders do not have any kind of hidden agendas and Obama tenure is also perceived as the most transparent administration in the entire history of USA. His open discussions even on critical topics has created satisfaction among the public and also helped authentic leader such as Obama to gain trust of the citizens in every possible manner. It can be stated that on the dimension of balanced approach and transparency Obama has been very effective.      

This dimension of ethical leader is considered to be most significant and in turn it highlights that authentic leader has ethical core and the individual focuses on doing right things and mainly it is driven by the concern for ethics. This trait of authentic leader reflects the well developed values that guides the action of the individual through the internal locus of control. 
Considering the case of Obama where individual mainly focused on doing right society and especially for the welfare of the society. The leadership attribute of Obama can be regarded as ethical as individual mainly focused on brining changing in the society and the moral perspective of leader was quite positive (Levesque-Côté, Fernet, Austin, & Morin, 2017). Further, no doubt Obama was indulged into the practice of taking risk but before that individual use to ensure where the risk or initiative that is being undertaken is ethical from the moral perspectives or not. The leadership practice of Obama focused on communicating clear vision, inspiring others into action and commitment to realization. Apart from this, before taking any type of big decision Obama focused on identifying its positive and aspects and this made the practice of individual to be ethical. In case of Obama each and every action of the individual was carried out through the internal and the decisions taken for the welfare of the society were not at all influenced by the external pressures. 
Further, it has been identified that internationalized moral perspective as the key dimension of authentic leadership is most significant as it highlights what actions must  be carried out by the leader through his or her values for the benefit of society and it is necessary that they must be ethical. Moreover, proper internal locus of control must be present regardless of any particular external pressure. 

In order to become authentic leader it is necessary for the individual to work with the effective values as they mainly guides the action of the leader. One of the main personal value in case of Obama is be kind and careful and this type of value clearly represents that it has supported individual to conduct ethical practices from moral perspective (Rodriguez, Green, Sun & Baggerly?Hinojosa, 2017). Further, another value is to become peacemaker rather than instigator where in accordance with this value Obama focused on bringing peace in the society and this is one of the best example of authentic leader. Further, the last value that was mainly practiced by Obama involves lifting people rather than putting them down. Considering the moral values of Obama the individual focused on encouraging them and he treated all the individuals as valuable asset. This supported a lot in making the leadership practice of Obama as much more effective. Furthermore, Obama continued to focus on the key values that his mother gave to him. Many ethical decisions were taken by the Obama during his presidency such as developing after school programs for the development of young children etc. 
Further, it has been identified that values of the authentic leader supports a lot in conducting the leadership practice in the most appropriate manner. Moreover, in case if any leader does not possess right values then his or her authentic leadership practices are considered to be highly ineffective (Braun, & Nieberle, 2017). Successful leader like Barack Obama is mainly known in the society for the ethical values and the moral perspective and through this the contribution of the individual enhanced with regards to work in the favor of the society. So, this clearly represents that values of internalized moral perspective were highly present in case of Obama and this contributed a lot in the success of the individual.   

One  of the main positive aspect linked with relational transparency as dimension of authentic leadership is the ability to process values. Further, it is necessary for authentic leader to process values and through with the subordinates so that they can understand the perception of leader in better manner. In case of Obama he was a people and authentic leader who has always focused on developing the people who were working under and with him during his tenure of being the president of USA. This trait of leadership has helped Obama in getting support from his followers in every possible manner (Lee, 2017). Individual mainly focused on sharing values with others in proper manner and he was quite transparent. In case of leaders who mainly conducts each and every activity through the support of followers are successful and in turn it enhances their efficiency to carry out overall tasks. Barack Obama was more interested authentic leadership as it results in attaining a high level of creativity by considering the views and opinions of other individuals. 
Through being an authentic leader, Obama was able to turn his vision into action and thus, has contributed a lot to the overall development of the country. Here, the leader emphasise on developing and maintaining honest relationship with all followers and subordinates. The relationship is mainly developed by encouraging the views and opinions of other members and considering the same in decision making and strategy formulation. This indicates that individual possesses attribute of relational transparency. Further, it is a well known fact that Successful leaders are the one who is not only appreciated by team members and followers, but they are also admired for their rivalries. This was the same in case of Barack Obama as even the nations which did not hold friendly relations with the USA used to admire Barack Obama. 

According to Leroy, Anseel,, Gardner, & Sels, (2015) leadership is defined as a state of conscious knowledge that depicts the ability to recognize oneself as an individual which separate the person from the environment and other individuals. It should not be constituted with consciousness because it is a different concept that holds crucial importance in authentic leadership. It is all about involving all such practices through which leader can come up with things that can generalize other standards. Since, it is about the leadership of Obama; therefore it can be said that the concept of self-awareness lays in the most important area in which individual direct all contexts of managing the things (Neider and Schriesheim, 2011).
The most important facet of Obama’s leadership is that he always encouraged himself during his leadership to know about country affairs that can separate his work dimensions. In this context, while ruling up the country, Obama personally possess the knowledge by which he can identify the issues that are prevailing in the economy. This is one different way of handling and managing things. The meteoric rise in his Presidency happened due to his own consciousness that attributed in his leadership. Being a leader of the country, he knew the way of directing and communicating things; however he was also self-aware especially about the short-comings that might come in his leadership.
Lyubovnikova et al. (2017) stated that self- awareness helps the leader to get better because it defines the stage where the leader is currently managing things. It made Obama to take right decisions by spotting things as per the requirements of the work. In the realm of authentic leadership, Obama held the greatest position since he took all the decisions by considering previous mistakes and challenges and also by addressing current issues in distinct manner. Acknowledging himself and the priorities was the biggest factor that helped him to rule over the country. He always adopted the approach of inwardness especially while taking decisions.

Joo & Jo (2017) argued that self-awareness develops the confidence that one will never fail especially by considering all important dimensions of leading and managing people. This was of utmost important in Obama’s leadership where he gave responses to all the attributes that can help in handling different activities. However, it can be argued by saying that errors and misconception may occur in this domain; but due to learning new things, such problems can be mitigated. Henceforth, it can be said that self-awareness is the most crucial dimension of authentic leader which confides the leader to undertake the essential practices. 
One of the key dimensions of authentic leadership is acknowledging the ways to lead society where individual always works for the betterment of the society and takes different initiatives for resolving the main issues that are faced by the local people. Obama as one of the individual took large number of initiatives so as to contribute in the affairs of the society and through this the entire nation was benefitted (Neider and Schriesheim, 2011). No doubt, leading society as one of the skill is not present in every type of leader and individual has to work a lot on the development of this area so that contribution towards the society can be enhanced up to the extent and this is one of the main attribute of authentic leader considering the case of Obama. Thus, it can be said that Obama acknowledged his own responsibilities while handling multiple tasks and operation. This could be called as one of the reasons that allowed him to lead the economy. No doubt Obama was well efficient in dealing with the complex situation and the individual was use to handle the compelx situation by applying creative ideas and thoughts so as to contribute best in the society. 

 
With the help of assessing the dimension of self-awareness it has been assessed that it support the authentic leader to have knowledge and understanding about themselves that support them in leading and guiding their followers. The statement can be justified by the example of Barack Obama taking a stand on critical issues such as the resolution of United Nations on Israel-Palestinian conflict (Strom, Sears, & Kelly, 2014). When he took the position, almost everyone believed that he is doing the right thing and he wants that no one should take Americans for granted. His power of conviction and perseverance were very high and had supported Obama to influence other people and parties. Being an authentic leader, Barack Obama has always driven by mission and focusing on the results. This has helped Obama to create a distinctive image of him and make America as the most powerful nations in the world. 
Along with this, it has been assessed that with the self-awareness authentic leader have knowledge regarding their skills and abilities that assist in revealing themselves is also considered as a key trait which authentic leaders display while carrying out their roles and responsibilities. It can be expressed that such kind of leaders never hesitates in displaying their original personality (Shaughnessy, et al. 2017). Along with this, through self-awareness dimension it states that Obama features risk taking skills which has made him one of the most successful leaders in the world. It can be stated that at the time of leading a nation, most of the people prefer the play safe due to fear of criticism. The concept of authentic leadership also encourages leaders to communicate all important data or information to others. With the help of the self-awareness trait Obama was able to become a effective authentic leader by developing his core competencies.  

One of the effective dimensions of authentic leadership is rational transparency that clearly indicates that leader engage in featuring balanced and logical aspect while leading their followers. However, this dimension of authentic leadership mainly supports the leader to be honest and upfront while dealing with others. Along with this, an authentic leader focusing on this dimension would not indulge in playing games or having the hidden agenda related with leading the people or followers (Buch, Martinsen, & Kuvaas, 2015). Through reviewing the literature it has been found that successful leaders are the one who is not only appreciated by team members and followers, but they are also admired for their rivalries. Thus, it assists the authentic leaders to have rational transparency in planning the action so that they may easily allow the followers to stand with the leader. This was the same in case of Barack Obama as even the nations which did not hold friendly relations with the USA used to admire Barack Obama. 
There are certain situations or circumstances when a leader needs to fake things to accomplish goals and objectives. However, for the sake of followers or team members, sometimes it becomes mandatory for the leaders to hide some information and data from others. Through enabling this dimension it support the authentic leaders in transferring and communicating all the necessary information to their followers that assist them in leading adequately and effectively (Dinh, et al. 2014). With the help of assessing different sources it has been argued that with the dimension of rational transparency leaders receive several feedbacks and it is not easy for them to consider all views and feedback. It is the responsibility of a leader to focus on helpful and constructive feedback and eliminate the feedbacks which are irrelevant. 

It can be stated that the key dimension of authentic leadership that is rational transparency has supported the leader Barack Obama in strategic planning. He has ability to execute and balance his vision which has supported in making America as one of the most powerful nation in the world. 
With the help of dimension that is rational transparency he was able to communicate each and every thing to his team that has gained level of trust among the followers and staffs. However, it has been assessed that strategic planning is considered as one of the effective skill that is present in Barack Obama has supported him a lot to become successful leader. This made Obama as one of the leader different from others. Barack obama focused on becoming authentic leader and for this he totally focused on developing planning skills so that efficiency to rum the operations of the nation can be enhanced easily (Banks, McCauley, Gardner, & Guler, 2016). The leader also provided adequate support and assistance through planning to the team members but set them free so that they can become more effective, independent and competent in the long-run. Barack Obama was more interested authentic leadership as it results in attaining a high level of creativity by considering the views and opinions of other individuals. 
Through assessing this dimension it has been stated that with the rational transparency he has not engaged in maintaining any of the biasness among the followers and their team members that lead to support the overall business (Randel, et al. 2016). On the other hand, it can be also infer that authentic leader causes alteration or change among the followers, however, this lead to arise due to the transparency of the leader and not because of thoughtful actions with the objective to change the followers.  

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