Surely there are few people on the planet who don't know Barack Obama's name? How did he achieve such global reach in such a short space of time, and - asks Penny de Valk - will his feel-good factor last?

Barack Obama as a leader has captured the hearts and minds of the world. The emotional surge and sense of hope his election fuelled was palpable globally. How did he do this when he wasn't able to tell us much of what he was going to do? When he didn't paint himself on a white charger coming over the hill to save the day? What we saw was people voting for the man, for his character, someone they trusted to help figure things out.

"Can it last? The risk of visionary transformational leadership is delivering on the aspiration when the 'feel-good factor' turns to the reality of not feeling so good for many people"

We judge character in our leaders every day; their character builds confidence and trust, or it erodes it. So how was Obama's character demonstrated? Both by what he did and what he said. People saw someone authentic who had a vision, where ego and power was not as apparent as empathy and a commitment to a bigger purpose; where intelligence and judgement as attributes were more important than any espoused ideology; where humility and generosity of spirit was more important than adversarial, conflict-motivated behaviour; and where realism and honesty about the task ahead was more effective than having all the answers.

In a world where power is increasingly distrusted, our leaders' character becomes ever more important. As we move from a leadership model where we passively expect someone to have all the answers - to save us - to a model where a leader needs to facilitate new solutions, we start looking for different attributes. Certainly Obama’s popularity demonstrated a move away from a style of political leadership that felt out of sync and stale, but as importantly it was a move towards a new style of leadership that is in essence transformational. This style of leadership is critical at a time where the appetite for change on a number of different levels is high, particularly the appetite for values-based change.

So can it last? The risk of visionary transformational leadership is delivering on the aspiration when the 'feel-good factor' turns to the reality of not feeling so good for many people. With his audacious spending plan voters will take another trust litmus test. Trust he seems to have enhanced with his early decisions around the selection of a heavyweight team that shares his vision and values.

What can we learn from this as leaders in our own organisations? That being authentic is important, people want to know who you are; they need to trust the person and what motivates you. But it can't be a matter of style over substance. Speak from your heart but engage your brain. Look to inspire others and work on your ability to lead a team of people you trust, who not only share the vision but who will share the responsibility for delivering on it.

As the traditional carriers of meaning are increasingly eroded – families, communities, religion – we come to our working lives with that need for meaning. So we expect our leaders to be able to deliver on a purpose that goes well beyond shareholder value, which has proved to serve us rather poorly of late. As managers in these challenging, high-stakes times we need to listen to the personal and political engagement that the Obama 'victory' heralded and step into our own leadership capability, constantly working on who we are, and not just on what we can do.

Penny de Valk is the chief executive of the Institute of Leadership & Management

A copy of this article also appears in the 'Times' newspaper.