An Analysis of how Barack Obama Used his Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership skills to win his "Campaign Project"

Book Review:


“How this Happened” by Dereje Befekadu Tessema“How this Happened” is a “creative non-fiction” book written with the intention of making it palatable to a wide audience including the many millions who avidly followed the 2008 US presidential election as well as professionals, and scholars who may be interested in looking at how Barack Obama run a successful campaign by looking at it from the perspective of three theoretical frameworks. The author is engaged in the study of the Emotional Intelligence, Transformational Leadership and Project Management frameworks. He has used his research findings together with his personal experience as a first-generation immigrant and his observations while volunteering for the Obama campaign to produce this compelling yet very pleasurable book.
Various experts have analyzed Obama’s presidential victory, with some attributing it to the economic meltdown or a reverse Bradley effect, while others have lauded Obama for running the campaign like a business entity. Any or all of these rationales may be correct, but the author would argue that the campaign was a success primarily because it was approached as a project. This book presents the author’s analysis and describes how Obama and his campaign managers carried out this project. The author’s hope is that the discussion will be interesting enough to create an awareness of the role emotional intelligence and transformational leadership play in successfully completing a project and to engage all those who actively followed the campaign in reviewing their experience from a different perspective and recount how such a huge project was run successfully. None of the examples refered to in this book will be new to the reader. Most of the information was aired on TV or radio shows in different formats, while others were disseminated in news articles or interviews. The reason for reproducing these stories is that the author thinks they will be more meaningful when seen as complementary parts of a whole, falling within the three frameworks of emotional intelligence, transformational leadership and project management.

 

This book is organized into three parts and eight chapters. Part 1 covers the author’s analysis of Obama’s campaign from the Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership frameworks using actual examples from the campaign trail. Part 2 contains an analysis and synthesis of all five project management phases (initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing) and describes how Obama’s campaign implemented these steps to succeed. Finally, Part 3 concludes, in the same way the author began this book, with some of his observations during the post-election period from November 4, 2008 to the first 100 days in office.

 

THE AUTHOR
Dereje B. Tessema is a Senior Project Manager working for the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC). He has extensive experience implementing, supporting and managing complex and critical enterprise systems at different capacities. He obtained his Bachelors degree from Ethiopia; Masters Degrees from Germany and the US; and various professional certifications including Master Certificate in Project Management, Certified Federal Enterprise Architect; and Certified Project Management Professional (PMP). He is working on his PhD. at Walden University with research focusing in the areas of Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership in Project Management. He is also actively involved in community services and volunteer support and outreach programs. Dereje lives with his wife and three children in Rockville, Maryland.

DEREJE BEFEKADU TESSEMA