Dear Mrs. Hillary Clinton,
We at Miracle Consulting Ltd. believe that you have the potential to be the 45th President of the United States. Comparing you to the current president, Barack Obama, we can see many similarities. Therefore, we would like to assist you in your rise to Presidency.
Factors for a likely candidate
Creating an effective team greatly helped President Obama during the elections. By hiring David Axelrod, David Plouffe and Chris Hughes, Obama put together a strong team that was essential to his campaign. Not only did his team have the skills required to perform effectively, but the team was also the perfect size and had a common purpose. His team was able to create an effective campaign strategy, which focused mainly on three positions rather than trying to cover every issue. The team also came up with a strategy to target high school students who were old enough to vote, hoping that it would influence the vote.
President’s Obama’s enthusiasm is an important personality trait that gave him a positive perception. By spreading the idea of hope through the use of his enthusiastic attitude, he was able to motivate people intrinsically. During Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention on July 24th 2004, he placed an emphasis on “the audacity of hope”. Because of Obama’s enthusiasm and personal charisma, he was able to gain a larger share of the votes and positive media attention.
Another one of the biggest factors was that President Obama possesses the qualities of change management. Obama best demonstrated this during the Economic Crisis. Unlike Senator John McCain who stated that the “fundamentals of [the] economy [is] strong”, Obama decided to quickly change his campaign messages to address the issue of the global economy. Soon after, Obama addressed the issue by announcing his plans to fix the economy, which included a focus on working families as well as a specific plan for Wall Street and Main Street. By addressing the issues and the willingness to change his campaign messages quickly, Obama essentially won the debates regarding the economic issue.
Factors for an improbable candidate
Despite the many factors that made Obama a likely candidate, Obama’s run for presidency was high in risk-taking as he faced daunting hurdles, two primary ones being race and religion. Having a father who was a black Kenyan aroused “huge skepticism that people were unsure of whether America was ready to elect its first African American President”. Since there had never been a previous African American President before, people who stereotyped and had prejudice against African Americans were less inclined to vote. Moreover, earlier on in his campaign Obama didn’t receive support from African American leaders because they had doubts about Obama’s motives and his loyalty to the African American community. The issue of Obama’s religion was controversial since people were dubious about his religious position believing that he was Muslim when in fact he was Christian.
When running for the Democratic presidential candidate, another huge concern was that there were many other highly qualified candidates, such as you, who had been loyal Democrats with a bigger presence in both Democratic politics and amongst voters. Since your husband’s presidency was remembered as a “relatively prosperous time economically and stable time in military”, and your experience in Senate upheld a strong track record, this placed you as Obama’s main competition. By having a strong campaign as well as having a well-respected name amongst the black community, it was evident you were “the front runner”and Obama was in for an upward battle.
Another cause for the doubt in Obama’s suitability of becoming the next president was his “change vs. experience” platform that focused on new ideas. While this was met with excitement from some, this also received criticism from others. Not only if elected would Obama’s term of presidency go against the traditional of 44 past Caucasian presidents, but also challenge conservative views. Obama faced individual resistance of the general public and also faced organizational resistance of his new ideologies and political stance.
Most Important Reason
The way that President Obama is able to solve problems is one of the most important reasons that he won the election. During his run for candidacy, Obama was faced with many challenges including the controversy with his pastor and the continuous allegations about his race. Not only was he able to get past these challenges, he did not attempt to avoid the problems. Instead, he opted to address the issues directly. During the controversy with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Obama publicly disapproved the comments made by his pastor during one of his most memorable speeches, rather than trying to avoid the issue altogether. During the same speech, Obama directly addressed the issue regarding racial inequalities. Instead of ignoring the issue of race, he argued how race should not be used as a distraction to the election and that the focus should be placed on the issues. By having his campaign target the younger adults through the use of the internet as a political tool and utilizing social networking, it allowed Obama to create a strong message of change while establishing both a connection and a likeableness to the younger voters. Not only is this genius in motivating younger adults to vote for Obama, but by establishing a personal connection with the people so that they want to vote this has helped solve the issue of a reduction in younger people voting.
Advice
A successful leader always puts people first. They consider what others think and demonstrate empathy. By doing so, the leader can gain trust and support. A flaw with your previous campaign plan was neglecting the smaller districts and focusing on people with high power. During your next campaign, we recommend that you follow Obama’s strategy by also targeting both the older and younger generation. This can be achieved by having a common goal that is beneficial to everyone and a positive attitude, which would motivate the nation and give a sense of transparency. We believe that the moral foundation of leadership is essential towards your goal of presidency. By doing so, this is a step forward to becoming a level 5 leader.
People are attracted to resilient leaders who know where they are going and are passionate about their purpose. These leaders have the ability to build confidence in their followers and lead them to believe that anything is possible. One of Obama’s most famous speeches “Yes We Can” used powerful phrases to empower his supporters and reinstate hope when they sensed despair. Although Obama faced many problems throughout his campaign, he pushed on and through this he was able to exemplify strength, creative tension, and genuine belief in what he was fighting for. For a female candidate like yourself we sense that your platform will focus on America’s first female president. Similar to Obama who became the first African American president, we advise you to tackle the issue of gender inequality and carry forward the idea of positive change. By being an effective collaborative leader and using your passion to pull supporters rather than push them, this will not only strengthen your team but also allow it to grow and attract more supporters.
You should consider the concept of change management. The idea worked well for Obama and should work well for your campaign. He was willing to alter his campaign platform almost immediately to reflect the changing concerns of his citizens. By doing so, he essentially won the debate about the economic crisis over his opposition. Additionally, President Obama’s honesty and his ability to be direct can be seen as an attribute to his popularity. Whether it was addressing the controversy with his pastor, his race or the issue of racial inequality, he did not try to avoid the concerns. By being direct about the issues, he not only was able to overcome the issues, but also was able to solidify the support of many voters since he demonstrated that he has the ability to overcome difficult situations, which if handled incorrectly, could slow his progress.
Your relationship with the media has not been an easy one. During your keynote speech on March 24th 2015, you expressed interest in a fresh start with the press and in “new beginnings” . We believe that this is a good step forward towards a new start, however, we believe that you must continuously attempt to strengthen your relationship with the media. Following Obama’s campaign, voters liked how they were able to relate and trust him because of his transparency. Following the Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory, the most ideal followers are those who are both able and willing. By having a positive media relationship, transparent ideas and experience, we believe you could achieve a loyal following.
Because of the positive similarities between you and President Obama, we believe you are a great candidate to be the next President. Therefore, we conclude that by following our advice, your chances of becoming the President should greatly increase.
Works Cited:
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Langton, Nancy, Stephen P. Robbins, and Timothy A. Judge, eds. Organizational Behaviour: Concepts, Controversies, Applications. Fifth Canadian Edition. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson, 2010.
Loannidou, F and V Konstantikaki. “Empathy and emotional intelligence: What is it really about?”. International Journal of Caring Sciences 1.3 (2008): 118-123. Print.
Obama, Barack (BarackObama). “Our Journey is Not Complete.” 22 Jan. 2008, 4:34 p.m. Tweet.
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Seelye, Katharine Q. “Bill Clinton Accuses Obama Camp of Stirring Race Issue.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 24 Jan. 2008. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
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