Barack Obama’s Westminster Hall speech today in the UK reaffirmed his personal belief that the alliance between Europe and the United States of America will remain strong through their mutual interests. Politics aside, I saw another message within the opening words of the US President. This case appears to show above any other, that the greatest of honours should be met with the greatest show of humility.

Behavioural leadership is the school of thought that proposes that how people perceive our actions, body language, tone and voice and so on, is crucial in their decision to ‘follow’. What follows is the idea that this element of leadership can in-fact be trained. This certainly rings true with anecdotal evidence of many politicians and businesspeople, whom take elecution, charisma and leadership public speaking courses. Examples of these behavioural leadership traits include among others; Assertiveness, Physical Vitality, Courage and Trustworthiness.

What Examples of Humility did Obama show in his Opening  Speech?

1. Obama used the phrases “Thankyou” and “Thankyou so much” to calm the wall of applause that greeted him.

2. He spoke very respectively to his audience, addressing all we was speaking to with thorough precision “Lord Chancellor, Mr Speaker of the House, Mr Prime Minister, Lords and Ladies and members of Parliament…”

3. Obama recognised the gift and opportunity that had been bestowed unto him. “I have known few greater honours, than the opportunity to address the Mother of all Parliaments at Westminster Hall”.

4. He allowed a contented grin to slip out in response to his opening joke. This removed some of ‘distance’ that a typical speaker would have from his crowd. It allows both parties to be mirroring each others body language, share a light-hearted moment and feel like they’re on the same team, regardless of partisanship.

5. His final show of humility was his enthuasiasm for moving around the crowd and staying as long as needed to ensure that those who wished to shake his hand and have a short exchange had the opportunity to do so.

Is Behavioural Leadership Valid?

Such an analysis of leadership behaviour can sometimes appears too scientific, and perhaps too far removed from the raw, emotional and ‘gut reaction’ we have to strong and weak leaders. However when asked to outline the reasons why they are smitten by influential and successful leaders, people often list trait after trait that can be actively improved, and even trained, to meet a higher standard with sincere effort. These are traits such as ‘confidence’, ‘decisive’ and ‘inspiring’. These are words which allude to perceptions of behaviour, rather than action and substance.

So the next time you’re given the task of generating goodwill and creating a solid impression, consider the study of behavioural leadership and in particular focus on the trait of humility before you take to the podium.

As of writing, you can watch the full video of the speech here.