News
Obama has better leadership skills
than Romney, UB survey shows
Using the School of Management’s LeaderCORE™ program as a measurement tool, more than 100 professors responding to a survey found that President Obama scored significantly better than challenger Mitt Romney in most leadership categories.
A survey conducted by a researcher in the School of Management that evaluated the leadership skills of President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney has found that Obama scored significantly better than Romney in most leadership categories and in overall leadership skill.
Jerry Newman, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Organization and Human Resources, conducted a nationwide survey of 250 college and university faculty members specializing in American politics and the presidency. He asked them to rate the two presidential candidates using the 10 leadership dimensions that are at the heart of the School of Management’s LeaderCORE™ program, a unique leadership certification for UB MBAs.
More than 100 professors responded, rating Obama and Romney on the 10 competencies of LeaderCORE: problem solving/decision making, global and diversity mindset, strategic thinking, team leadership, team skills, communication, interpersonal skills, integrity, results orientation and self-management/adaptability.
“We put the candidates under the same LeaderCORE lens that we use to assess our MBA students,” says Newman, who initially conceived the LeaderCORE program. “The students then use the results to create their personal development plans.”
The survey asked the faculty members to rate the candidates’ skill levels in the 10 leadership competencies on a scale of 1 (well below the average president) to 7 (well above the average president). They also were asked to rank the candidates for overall leadership using the same scale.
The results found that Obama particularly showed strength as a leader in global and diversity mindset, communication and interpersonal skills.
In fact, on seven of the 10 competencies, Obama’s scores were significantly better than Romney’s. The only areas where there were no significant differences between the two candidates were team skills, team leadership and results orientation.
Respondents who gave a score of 1 or 7 on any dimension were asked to give an open-ended example of what behavior led to that evaluation.
“We’ve seen what a good presenter Obama can be,” Newman says. “But the professors also commented on his management of the financial and automotive crises. Obama’s ability to adapt in the ever-changing landscape of health care reform and his stance on gay marriage also earned him high marks in adaptability and results orientation.”
In a final question, the respondents were asked to provide their political orientation on a scale of 1 (very conservative) to 7 (very liberal).
Seventy-four percent of the professors described themselves on the liberal end of the scale, yet in a regression analysis, the professors’ political leanings were not a significant determinant of how they evaluated overall leadership.
Reader Comments
Kerrie Martin says:
This is either bad journalism, bad research, maybe both.
All this "showed" was that O earned higher ratings on a survey. The title of this article is disgustingly misleading & since most students only read the titles of these articles, that's no small mistake- if a mistake at all.
As mentioned above, this study, tho esp. relevant at this time, is also unfair as it poses a conflict of interests for all respondents. Furthermore, some leadership qualities are far more essential for the pres. of the US than an MBA student. The value of particular traits should be weighted more heavily than others.
UB loves to tout its burgeoning reputation as a world-class research university; maybe we should stop coasting on UB 2020 & show what a great research univ. we are by producing good research!
Posted by Kerrie Martin, Embarrassed UB Alumna, 10/25/12
Maureen Adolf says:
I think it is unfair to publish this type of survey so close to the election. Especially when 74 percent of the professors described themselves on the liberal end of the scale. This study is biased. In addition I do not think the survey accurately reflects what Obama has done, which is dismal at best
Posted by Maureen Adolf, research technician, 10/23/12
Jim Campbell says:
While there may be significant value in this leadership evaluation measurement, in this case, it has led to some very misleading results. The respondents are extremely skewed toward the liberal end of the scale with fewer than ten percent of respondents indicating that they were even slightly conservative. National polls routinely find the public to be 35 to 40 percent conservative. Contrary to the report above, the ideological leanings of the respondents was, unsurprisingly, strongly and significantly related to perceptions of leadership traits of the two candidates. In order to make sense of these data, this respondent predisposition must first be taken into account.
Posted by Jim Campbell, UB Distinguished Professor of Political Science, 10/22/12