What’s up with that charisma of Obama? It is not just his talent for rhetoric, his positive attitude, or his calmness. Obama demonstrates that self-reflection is the basis for integrity.
On a September day, I was talking to a swing voter in a suburb of Virginia. The woman, in her thirties, leaned to the Republicans with her political views, but she and her husband were still doubting their preference as they liked both McCain and Obama. A pleasant conversation ensued in which their 6-year-old son unexpectedly joined. He sure knew. ‘I like Obama!’
Barack Obama has charisma, that much is clear. I myself was impressed by him more than two years ago after reading ‘The Audacity of Hope’ and his autobiography ‘Dreams from my Father’. I believed in him so much that I temporarily moved to Washington last year to join the army of volunteers for Obama. Every weekend from August until November, I walked from door to door in the swing state of Virginia because America still belongs to the most powerful countries in the world – and because I have seldom seen such a world leader like Barack Obama.
What’s up with that charisma of this good man? As it often is, it is a combination of factors. One of them is his oratorical talent. Another is his positive vision, with his message of hope. Obama is of above-average intelligence and has a healthy self-confidence. Also, the calmness that is etched in his genes contributes to the radiance of no drama Obama.
But the most important factor seems to be the mirror that he carries with him. And it’s not a real mirror in which he can indulge himself with his superficial appearance, but an invisible mirror of self-reflection.
That quality resonates in his books. In the foreword of ‘The Audacity of Hope’, he refers to a conversation with a journalist who related to him that she enjoyed his first book. She wondered aloud whether she would think his second book to be equally interesting “with which she implied: I wonder whether you can be honest, not that you are a senator,” Obama writes. “I sometimes wonder about that myself. I hope that the writing of this book helps me answer that question.”
Obama shows that self-reflection forms the basis for integrity. What happens when this quality is missing can be seen in the opinionated, destructive policy of George W. Bush and can be seen even clearer in the unprecedented egoistic leadership with which Robert Mugabe dumps his country even further into the abyss.
Barack Obama is not afraid of contradiction. He surprised friend and foe alike by choosing Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State. His explanation: “I’m a strong believer in strong personalities and strong opinions. I think that’s how the best decisions are made.”
His interest in his fellow countrymen and the wish to serve them are sincere. He does not hesitate to talk to people about their own responsibility. His transition team actively sought the interaction with the public: everyone can ask questions online, make suggestions, develop local initiatives, and today the president and his wife open up the White House for visitors. It is a small gesture in a larger strife to become the most accessible government ever. A government of people, by people, and for people.
It meets the wish of many Americans who have become distrustful and cynical. I had hundreds of talks in Virginia about the economy, health care, and the war in Iraq. The themes varied, but there was one common denominator. Not unique for the U.S., nor unexpected: people look for a leader who listens to them and whom they can trust. Someone that radiates integrity.
The expectations are sky high and the problems are larger than life. The economic slump, the climate problem, the crisis in the Middle East, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan scream for attention. In two years, when the campaign for 2012 already starts, Obama cannot possibly have solved all problems. Critical Republicans will be ready to settle accounts with him on his promises. He will be able to ward that off, if he succeeds in making sufficient change visible, if he continues the open communication of the transition period, and if he keeps his integrity. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, one of Obama’s best influences: “Almost everyone can survive adversity; if you want to test someone’s character, give him power.”
There is no doubt that President Barack Obama’s ascension on the world stage is unique and incredible, but let’s not forget he’s a politician. As a student and researcher on charisma, I still marvel at the impact of the concept, specifically with President Obama. Obama’s opportunities definitely aren’t reminiscent for what’s typical of a one-parent household in the United States. To be schooled in Hawaii and Indonesia aren’t the experiences of upper class Whites in America, let alone one with African blood coursing through his veins.
It was these experiences less the baggage of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton that encouraged 61% of the votes by Whites cast for Obama . There was nothing in Jackson’s or Sharpton’s past that suggest they could claim to be a “President for All Americans” with a straight face. When Obama claimed egalitarianism, his DNA was proof positive of his position. He used his mixed race parentage, in what would be typically a negative in Black and White Communities, as an asset. The genius of Obama’s presidential campaign was that he turned all the negatives into positives. The Civil Rights campaign for the last 40 years had worked in ways Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. couldn’t have imagined. Obama is a combination of extraordinary parenting, post-Civil Rights activism and a changed society, not to mention a frustrated one under the Bush Administration.
Let’s not look into the stars for some miracle within President Obama. Miracles and supernatural beliefs tend to taint the idea of human potential. Looking to celestial matter for human potential robs us of full responsibility and participation from what manifests through our hearts and mind. Shakespeare’s dictum, “The fault of men lies not in our stars…but in ourselves,” goes for our greatness as well as our shortcomings.
Edward Brown
Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute
http://www.core-edge.com