It may not be obvious on the surface, and that is because negotiating is an art, and Obama is an artist. There is no one best approach in negotiating, and he is flexible enough to adapt his approach to fit the situation. Take for example, Obamacare--he had to be forceful and at the same time make concessions in order to get the bill passed. He was forceful in getting rid of a disrespectful general and made concessions during the oil spill.
He walked away from a meeting with oil executives because no deal is better than a bad deal. After all, if no better outcome is offered by the other side than the alternatives available to him, then he has no reason to accept their offer. Yet many people derided him for it.
I notice that he tries to get as many people involved in working toward a project, whatever the project is, because he has more of a collaborative bent than a competitive one, and he not afraid to use people smarter than he is.
Believe it or not, he is held in higher esteem in other countries than our own, and that bodes well for the future.