Change we can believe in

In the campaign for the presidency , he is a young-ish politician with a message for change. He garnered large sway of support, even as he is fighting against a candidate, coming from arguably one of the most famous political dynasty in the country . In his quest for the presidency, his opponents lashed out charges a plenty yet he remained calm and managed to sooth raw nerves with his eloquent speeches.

Barrack Obama? Hardly. How about SBY. Four years later, he has arguably done a good job in increasing the international standing of Indonesia.

So can speeches make a good leader? Can Obama deliver ? Is SBY delivering on his promises ? Arguably some of the best speech ever dellivered were made by exceptional leaders. Winston Churchill's speeches (or sections of them) are oft quoted and emulated even to this day and age. He is near-universally accepted as a great leader. More recently, President Reagan earned a reputation as "the great communicator" and he is credited with bringing the US out of a long recession , as well as effectively ending the cold war. Closer to home, President Soekarno is known as a stirring orator , a skill at present appears to be lacking in his familial successors.

Of course delivering good speeches are but a small trait every good leader should never leave home without. The other traits are experience, street credibility and that most elusive of them all, the ability to lead his/her charges.

Arguably, Obama lacks experience in running big size organizations (running between aisles of the U.S. Senate, especially for four years, is not exactly comparable to running a country). SBY scores better on this, considering he actually commanded big group of soldiers up to provincial level). Winston Churchill is an odd outlier, having led man in battle (a soldier in the Boer war) and led men in the posh party also known as the Tory party. Reagan's experience in leading the actor's union arguably helped him when he had to fight against other politicians (a species known to be prone to having more than one face).

Street credibility is rather a loose term but it is influenced by past successes or the perception of actually knowing what needs to be done and how to do it.

Finally, that final test, the success in leading the people. At least SBY had 3 years of actually leading a country and not 8 months of running for president. For better or for worse, the act of actually doing " it" , is the best way to answer how successful or not a leader is. The jury is still out for SBY but the jury has not even sat for Obama. Perhaps Obama is best served to return to his childhood city and have a word with its president.