What kind of President will Barack Obama turn out to be, and bywhat criteria should insurers, agents and brokers, and riskmanagers judge his administration a “success” or “failure”? The manhimself provided a pretty challenging checklist of questions to askto hold him accountable, and offered a glimpse into his managementstyle in a recent interview.

The cover story last month in “Time” magazine naming Barack Obama“Person of the Year” offered an interesting look into histransition from candidate to the White House–focused, purposefuland competent, which is just what we need these days.

To read the full story, click here.

However, there were some key points I can share right here. Onewas Obama's checklist for how he thinks he should be judged afterhis first two years in office. He has quite an agenda–beyond theobvious goal of keeping America safe from another terrorist attack,he has an economic recovery to spur, two wars to finish, nuclearproliferation to prevent, health insurance to provide for all, andglobal warming to head off!

The following are the questions he says people should ask tohold him accountable:

–Have we helped this economy recover from what is the worstfinancial crisis since the Great Depression?

–Have we instituted financial regulations and rules of the roadthat assure this kind of crisis doesn't occur again?

–Have we created jobs that pay well and allow families tosupport themselves?

–Have we made significant progress on reducing the cost ofhealth care and expanding coverage?

–Have we begun what will probably be a decade-long project toshift America to a new energy economy?

–Have we begun what may be an even longer project ofrevitalizing our public-school systems?

–Have we closed down Guantnamo in a responsible way, put a clearend to torture and restored a balance between the demands of oursecurity and our Constitution?

–Have we rebuilt alliances around the world effectively?

–Have I drawn down U.S. troops out of Iraq, and have westrengthened our approach in Afghanistan–not just militarily butalso diplomatically and in terms of development?

–Have we been able to reinvigorate international institutions todeal with transnational threats, like climate change, that we can'tsolve on our own?

He added that “outside of specific policy measures, two yearsfrom now, I want the American people to be able to say,'Government's not perfect–there are some things Obama does that geton my nerves. But you know what? I feel like the government'sworking for me. I feel like it's accountable. I feel like it'stransparent. I feel that I am well informed about what governmentactions are being taken. I feel that this is a President and anadministration that admits when it makes mistakes and adapts itselfto new information.'”

Amen!

He also shared his management and leadership philosophy:

“I don't think there's some magic trick here,” he told themagazine. “I think I've got a good nose for talent, so I hirereally good people. And I've got a pretty healthy ego, so I'm notscared of hiring the smartest people, even when they're smarterthan me. And I have a low tolerance of nonsense and turf battlesand game-playing, and I send that message very clearly.

“And so over time, I think, people start trusting each other,and they stay focused on mission, as opposed to personal ambitionor grievance. If you've got really smart people who are all focusedon the same mission, then usually you can get some thingsdone.”

The article also notes that “Obama is a businesslike boss. Heprefers briefing papers tightly written and shows up for meetingsfully prepared. He expects people to challenge him when they thinkhe is wrong and to back up their ideas with facts. He's not ashouter–'Hollering at people isn't usually that effective,' heexplains–but if he thinks you've let him down, you'll know it.”

“What was always effective with me as a kid–and Michelle and Ifind it effective with our kids– is just making people feel reallyguilty,” he says. “Like 'Boy, I am disappointed in you. I expectedso much more.' And I think people generally want to do the rightthing, and if you're clear to them about what that right thing is,and if they see you doing the right thing, then that gives you someleverage.”

He warns that 2009 won't be easy, but offers hope of improvementby 2010.

“If we make some good choices, I'm confident that we can limitsome of the damage in 2009, and that in 2010 we can start seeing anupward trajectory on the economy.”

Let's hope he's right!