Week 3: Obama’s Inaugural Speech

When reading Obama’s inaugural speech I noticed many things he said that I feel leaders would say to their followers, which is what he is, but I still found it interesting. In his speech he right away shares his feelings about being humbled and grateful of the trust that us, his followers have bestowed in him. Automatically as a leader his is saying thank you to his followers for believing in him and for having trust and faith in him, he is showing appreciation to his followers. This is important for leaders to do, because followers and leaders both know if it weren’t for the followers choosing the leader to lead them, then the leader would not be there, it would be someone else.

Obama also acknowledges the hard times that we are facing as Americans. He does not try to make everyone believe that everything is okay and will remain okay. By acknowledging the problems he is telling America he knows the problems and accepts the problems that we are facing and will work towards fixing these problems. After acknowledging the hard times, he gives a call of action to us, his followers. He does this two times within his speech, once in the beginning and then near the end of his speech. By doing this he is giving responsibility to change things to the followers as well as himself. He is making the followers work towards the solution, making them be invested in the goals and solutions he has. As well as calling the followers into action, Obama also gives examples of what he will get done that will move us closer to the solution.

Along with acknowledging the hard times Obama also acknowledges what cynics might see or say and tells us that they are wrong and why they are. By acknowledges the cynics he is showing us that he has knowledge of the system and what is going on, but also giving faith to the followers that they are wrong and we will prevail.

There are two things that I really loved in his speech: “ For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth. “ - He includes everyone in America and states how we all have shaped our country, everyone is involved and there is no segregation of his followers. I also liked, “ Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations. “ After that now who wouldn’t want to work towards our solution and be a part of what Obama is going to do. It was a perfect ending to his speech.

To connect it to our readings in class , I looked at Chapter 3, the Skills Approach Chapter. I looked at the 3 Components of the Skills Model and focused on the Competencies that a leader needs, which are Problem Solving, Social Judgment Skills, and Knowledge. I looked in the speech to see if Obama acknowledged these competencies.

Problem Solving – demand that leaders understand their own leadership capacities as they apply possible solutions to unique problems.
* I feel Obama does this when he states what we will get done. “Creating new jobs, lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grid and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together."

Social Judgment Skills – capacity to understand people and social systems.
* Obama does this when he talks about our patchwork heritage and acknowledging our hard times. He is stating he knows what the followers are feeling and dealing with.

Knowledge – accumulation of information and mental structures used to organize that information.
* I feel he does this by acknowledging our history and coming up with what we will accomplish. But I also feel that we elected him because he has already shown us his knowledge, and this is why we in trust him to be our leader.

The book states that these three components are positively related to effective leadership performance, which is a good thing for us, the followers!