What's in the Article
The Executive Order signed by President Obama, though it was in 2009, is still importantly relevant today. The Order focuses on sustainability goals for Federal agencies and how they can make great improvements in environmental, energy, and economic performance across the board. Thus, this established Order required agencies to establish a 2020 green house gas emissions reduction within 90 days of being sent out, an energy efficiency plan, waste reduction agenda, sustainable support for communities, and to leverage Federal purchasing power to promote various environmentally-savvy products. President Obama stated, "As the largest consumer of energy in the U.S. economy, the Federal government can and should lead by example when it comes to creating innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, conserve water, reduce waste, and use environmentally-responsible products and technologies." Therefore, Obama's Order is building on the Recovery Act to help our country work towards a clean energy economy, and thus is blatantly stating the Federal Government's commitment towards a sustainable future.
For example, here are some of the encompassed details of the Order that Obama has set forth:
- 30% reduction in vehicle fleet petroleum use by 2020;
- 26% improvement in water efficiency by 2020;
- 50% recycling and waste diversion by 2015;
- 95% of all applicable contracts will meet sustainability requirements;
- Implementation of the 2030 net-zero-energy building requirement; According to the article, if these orders are met, it will have a huge positive impact on the sustainable initiative of our country including less spending by our federal government and ultimately less waste.
President Obama can be looked at as using many different types of leadership styles as well as using his numerous powers to be a great manager and leader. Thus, I believe in this case Obama is portraying Transformational leadership. I feel that Obama, being the President, shows that he is a Transformational leader due to a number of reasons. First, he is a transactional leader by the way he focuses on the exchanges that occur between himself and his followers, in which a transformational leader must perfect in order to become a transformational leader. Second, Obama is ultimately engaging the entire Federal Government by passing this Order in regards to fighting for a more sustainable future. Thus, passing this Order hopefully raised the awareness of all of his followers and ultimately upped the motivation and morality among the followers and Obama to reach the goals that were set forth by the order.
To add, making this huge decision to set limits on the Federal Government makes me believe that Obama is a Charismatic Leader as well. As discussed in lecture, charisma is a gift that very few people possess that give them power to be heard and to move people as well as the ability to do extraordinary things. Though many people would say that he is just a politician, and like all just "blow smoke," I think that he is a great inspirational speaker and thus is charismatic by all means.
To conclude, President Obama has made great headway in sustainable efforts throughout his term of Presidency. My question to you is that, since Obama will not be in office when his goals are set to expire, do you think that the Federal Government will possess the same ambition towards sustainable efforts as they do currently? Also, if you do not think that Obama possesses charisma and/or is not a Transformational Leader please explain why.
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-Jeffrey Parrish
Jeff, I disagree with your sentiment about Obama being particularly charismatic. House’s charismatic theory has experienced some revisions over the years. According to Northouse, among these revisions was the suggestion that “charismatic leadership transforms followers’ self-concepts and tries to link the identity of followers to the collective identity of the organization.” If this is the case, I really feel as if Obama is lacking charisma in this sense. As good of an incentive this is, it is not Obama’s true focus as a leader. His priority is to fix our economy, not take on sustainability initiatives. Therefore, I feel that though what he is doing is good, his intentions are focused elsewhere.
ReplyDeletePosted by: Michael Condupa
I agree with you in some sense, but after watching some of Obama's recent speeches, especially the state of the union address, he seemed to have taken a charge into the direction of sustainability. Therefor, I believe that Obama was trying to transform his followers (the people) into the idea or realization that we need to be focusing on how we can achieve sustainability for a successful (economic) future for the organization (the USA). It may be a little far fetched, but my opinion of him being a charismatic leader still stands.
ReplyDelete-Jeff Parrish