Obama gains corporate credibility

New York: If Barack Obama were a corporate chief executive, he would already would be winning high marks for his management style, experts say.

The president-elect's steady hand and calm demeanour that have earned him the moniker "No Drama Obama" are traits business leaders could well learn from, according to management experts.

"What he's doing is masterful," said Paul Reagan, a management consultant and senior lecturer at Wayne State University in Detroit.

"His value system is clear, and he spends a tremendous amount of time reinforcing that he does what he says he will do.

"His credibility right now is so high most people already see him as the corporate head," Reagan said.

One particular aspect of Obama's style that business leaders likely do not share is an acute awareness of his own strengths and weakness, said Paul Copcutt, a personal brand strategist based in Dundas, Ontario.

That awareness is evident in his Cabinet selections, in which Obama has chosen veterans to provide the expertise or experience he lacks, he said.

"In corporate, we're brought up to look at our weaknesses and how can you improve those and what can you work on," Copcutt said. "Really good leaders should be focusing on what they're good at...finding other ways to achieve what they're not good at."

Obama's Cabinet choices show an effort to build a coalition with voices that may disagree with his own, Reagan said.