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It is a familiar scenario for senior finance executives the world over: how do you avoid getting so snowed under by the day-to-day responsibilities that you still manage to keep an eye on the bigger picture?

Age-old difference 

Increasingly, organisations expect their senior finance managers to be able to communicate a vision and inspire the wider organisation as well as keep on top of budgets, reports and forecasts.

Leadership expert John Fay boils this down to the age-old difference between being a manager and being a leader.

He cites the two Democratic candidates for the US presidential elections, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, as an illustration of the differences between the two.

The all-important Pennsylvania primary is held on 22 April and this vote has been touted for the last two months as being the decisive calendar date in the election race.

If Clinton does not deliver a strong victory then the powers that be in the Democratic Party may force her hand to stand down.

Notable victory 

Hillary Clinton has spent much time in the state gathering support but Fay says Barack Obama’s concentration on areas other than Pennsylvania should not damage his campaign.

Fay says that this primary is the chance for Obama to gain a notable victory over Clinton even if he is not the outright winner.

He points out that Obama has reduced a 20 point lead down to six points in a state and has increased his standing with the people that live there.

He realises, however, there are still other primaries worth considering and is not solely concentrating his efforts on Pennsylvania.

Fay adds that Clinton has dedicated more time to visiting this state but believes that Obama realises stakes will also be high when North Carolina and Indiana vote on May 6.

“He has set those states up nicely and is now carrying out an epic train tour of Pennsylvania prior to the 22 April,” Fay explains.

Winning hearts and minds 

Obama has taken the time to ensure he gains support nationwide, which demonstrates higher levels of leadership.

Clinton is managing small parts of her campaign, dedicating time to Pennsylvania and attacking Obama perhaps without looking at the bigger picture.

Fay says that Obama is a leader who has the vision to bring people together with a common vision for America whereas Clinton is a classic manager in control of her campaign and banging the drum on her achievements in delivering programmes from the Senate.

“Without the leadership ability to win the hearts and minds of the people, however, she appears to lack authenticity,” he warns.

Lack of consistency 

Despite confidence from the Clinton camp, Fay predicts that Obama should still have the upper hand in the election race but only time will tell who will claim the majority of the 158 delegates on offer to win the state.

Clinton leads overall in the state but Obama is popular in its largest city, Philadelphia, and is also thought of highly on the western side of the state.

Fay adds that Obama has shown more charisma and his campaign has greater mass appeal across all levels of American society.

Clinton’s campaign has shown a lack of consistency, however, and is not encouraging for the electorate, he says.

Sometime soon the American public’s common sense should prevail, according to Fay. He predicts that they should put their confidence in Obama as the leader with vision and global appeal rather than backing Clinton, who can manage the day to day but clearly cannot ignite the passion that over history has driven American people to great levels of success.