Lincoln & Principled Leadership
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Abraham Lincoln was a highly successful leader who was able to preserve the Union during the Civil War and abolish slavery. He possessed key leadership skills that are still relevant for business leaders today such as being purpose-driven, a long-term strategic thinker, ethical, pragmatic, a continuous learner, having high emotional intelligence, a sense of humor, and being a great communicator. Lincoln surrounded himself with strong personalities as his cabinet but was able to leverage their diverse strengths and perspectives to address the major challenges facing the nation.
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Lincoln & Principled Leadership
- 1. Applying Lincoln’s Leadership Skills to Today’s Business
- 2. Understanding What Made Lincoln a Successful Leader
- 3. “What ever you are, be a good one.”
- 4. Preserved the Union Passage of the 13th Amendment – Slavery Abolished Passage of the Homestead Act –allowed poor people in the East to obtain land in the West National Banking Act – established a national currency and provided for the creation of a network of national banks Developed Transcontinental Railroad System and Telegraphic System for US - Chartered the first transcontinental railroad National Tariffs -Signed tariff legislation that offered protection to American industry
- 5. “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
- 6. Key to Understanding Your Current Business Circumstances & Context – A condition or fact that determines or must be considered in the determining of a course of action Circumstances Context - The circumstances in which an event occurs; a setting.
- 7. Definition of Politics Lincoln’s Challenges The total complex of relations between people living in society Business Challenges New Political Parties Fight over the institution of slavery Congress Deadlocked New Management, New Employees, Growth Internal Arguments over institutional past, present and future Internal Feuds, Power Deadlocks
- 8. Agricultural – o South fought against protective tariffs designed to foster Northern manufacturing o South against using national resources for internal improvements in Northern transportation Manufacturing – o North resented South’s free labor economy o Manufacturing drove capital investment & growth Business Economic Challenges: o Making the business o o o o profitable Staying Competitive Paying Competitive Wages Offering Upward Movement for Employees Ever-changing markets
- 9. Lincoln’s Challenges Expansion of Western Territories Issue of Slavery could no longer be ignored o Fight over Electoral College Cultural Differences o Faster Communication o Rural vs. City o Tradition vs. New Business Challenges Expansion of Potential Markets New Competition Consumer Shifts Technology Advances Changes in Employee Base Employee Management Regulations
- 10. Historic Flashpoint “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and halffree. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.” • Abraham Lincoln (House Divided Speech, June 16, 1858
- 11. What is your Flashpoint? Do You Possess the Leadership Qualities to Lead and Guide Your Business through its Flashpoints in its History?
- 12. “Great men are not simply dropped from the heavens. They have to work at it within the constraints of their time and their universe. Lincoln’s true genius was being able to overcome those constraints while still keeping them in place, with just his fundamental decency and self-awareness to keep him moored.”
- 14. Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” “
- 15. Abraham Lincoln was ... His primary mission was to Preserve the Union Secondary Mission to settle the slavery issue for the entire nation
- 16. “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
- 17. Abraham Lincoln was a... Planned out his unlikely nomination o Always built relationships – had few political o o o o enemies Asked electors if “You can’t make me your first choice, please make me your second round choice.” Was instrumental in getting convention to be held in Chicago, IL – his home state Printed up duplicate tickets to the convention, so his supporters could attend and out-shout other supporters. He positioned himself as the “not as radical” or “not as conservative” as the other candidates
- 18. ANTICIPATE THINK CRITICALLY o Look for game- o Question everything changing information at the periphery of your industry o Search beyond the current boundaries of your business o Build wide external networks to help you scan the horizon better o Reframe problems to get to the bottom of things, in terms of root causes o Challenge current beliefs and mindsets, including your own o Uncover hypocrisy, manipulation, and basis in organizational decisions The Strategic Thinker _ Paul J. H. Schoemaker – INC – Mar 20, 2012
- 19. INTERPRET DECIDE o Seek patterns in multiple o Get to the “good enough” sources of data o Encourage others to do the same o Question prevailing assumptions and test multiple hypotheses simultaneously position o Carefully frame the decision to get to the crux of the matter o Balance speed, rigor, quality and agility. Leave perfection to higher powers o Take a stand even with incomplete information and amid diverse views The Strategic Thinker _ Paul J. H. Schoemaker – INC – Mar 20, 2012
- 20. ALIGN o Understand what drives other people’s agendas, including what remains hidden o Bring tough issues to the surface, even when it is uncomfortable o Assess risk tolerance and follow through to build the necessary support LEARN o Encourage and exemplify honest, rigorous debriefs to extract lessons o Shift course quickly if you realize you’re off track o Celebrate both success and (wellintentioned) failures that provide insight The Strategic Thinker _ Paul J. H. Schoemaker – INC – Mar 20, 2012
- 21. “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
- 22. Ethical o Definition – Ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness or specific virtues. Ethical standards include virtues of honesty, compassion and loyalty. It also includes standards relating to rights, such as right to life, the right to privacy, the right to freedom from injury. As defined by the Markkula Center for Ethics - 2010
- 24. “When you have an elephant by the hind legs and he is trying to run away, it’s best to let him run.”
- 25. Pragmatist o Definition – Dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations o Pragmatic vs Purist – the difference between what should be done and what could be done.
- 26. The Art of Pragmatic Tradition “rejecting the doctrinaire approach to problems, declining to become attached to inflexible solutions or to ideological labels,” and refusing to measure his associates by rigid tests of doctrinal purity.”
- 27. Ethical Believed slavery was morally wrong Understood that slavery had to be ended through a Constitutional Amendment. Wanted to accomplish what the Founders could not Pragmatic Opportunity - It needed to pass Congress in the lame duck session Understood the power of the WIIFM Ability to Adapt to Circumstance “Beginning With the End in Mind”
- 28. “I will prepare and some day my chance will come.”
- 29. Continuous Learner o Definition – Continuous learning is an attitude and a set of behaviors that allow us to succeed in our ever-changing environment, and is the best lever we have to turn who we are today into who we want to be tomorrow
- 30. Have a Beginner’s Mindset - a beginner’s mind is open – an expert’s mind is looking for confirmation and validation of what you already know. Make Connections - Connecting what is learned in one part of life to how it relates and connects with challenges, problems, opportunities and situations that occur in other parts of life
- 31. Are Flexible and Adaptable - Learning requires change, so continuous learns realize that they must be willing to adapt and change if they want to grow Are Always Learning Something - Learning “just because.” The brain needs to treated just like any other muscle in the body
- 32. Are Continuously Curious – “Why” is the question of the curious. Learn in Multiple Ways – Continuous learners know they can learn by reading, by listening, by trying, through others, with a mentor, etc. Teach Others - Continuous learners teach others not just to help the other person but because they know it helps them deepen their mastery of their own learning
- 33. “When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say.”
- 34. Had High Emotional Intelligence o Definition – is the ability to recognize, understand and manage emotions in ourselves and others.
- 35. Achieve better financial results Developed more effective and supportive organizational culture, and Achieved higher productivity gains with their workforce
- 36. The ability to recognize and understand their own moods, emotions and drives as well as their effect on others; The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses, moods and to think before acting; The passion to work for reasons beyond money or status and the propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence; The ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people and the skill in treating people according to their emotional reactions; the proficiency in managing relationships, building networks and the ability to find common ground and build rapport
- 37. SELF-AWARENESS SOCIAL AWARENESS • Emotional self-awareness • Accurate self-assessment • Self-confidence • Empathy • Organizational Awareness • Service Orientation EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE SELF-MANAGEMENT RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT • • • • • • • • • • • Self-Control Transparency Adaptability Achievement Drive Initiative Inspirational Leadership Developing Others Influence Conflict Management Building Bonds Teamwork & Collaboration
- 38. “When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say.”
- 39. Emotional SelfAwareness Accurate SelfAssessment Self-Confidence
- 40. “The time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips closed.”
- 42. “He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.”
- 44. “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.” “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” “Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.”
- 47. HUMOR “If I were twofaced, wo uld I be wearing this one?
- 49. His laughter would “light up a room.” “The passion for rendering experience into powerful language remained with Lincoln throughout his life.” The Team of Rivals – Doris Kearns Goodwin
- 50. Lincoln understood the POWER of THE Story o Communicating enormously complicated issues with wit, simplicity, and a massive power of moral persuasion o Timing Matters o Memorable o Inspiring
- 51. “Who I Am” Stories Why I’m Here Stories Teaching Stories Vision Stories “Values in Action” Stories
- 53. First impressions generally comprise o 55% your appearance and body language o 38% tone of voice o 7% what you actually say
- 54. Internally o Employee Meetings o E-Mail o Performance Reviews o Weekly Meetings Externally o Evangelize o Website and SEO o Network o Speak at Events o Host Events o Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn o Write Articles
- 55. Putting the Skills Together
- 56. Purpose Driven Long Term Strategic Thinker Ethical Pragmatic Continuous Learner High Emotional Intelligence Sense of Humor Great Communicator
- 57. William Seward Secretary of State Salmon P. Chase Secretary of the Treasury Edward Bates Attorney General Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War
- 58. William Seward – Secretary of State - anti- slavery, born to wealth, voracious reader, disciplined, genuinel y interested in people, resilient Stanton – Secretary of War - slavery, disciplined, unforgiv ing, believer in convictions, ambitious, eno ugh was never enough, impatient, egodriven, intolerant Edwin Brilliant, lawyer, rigid, North erner, humorless, unforgivin g, brutally direct. Salmon Chase – Secretary of the Treasury -anti- Edward Bates – Attorney General Southerner, slaveowner, family focused, conservative, love
- 59. Lincoln... Was able to separate the idea from the man Was not afraid of strong personalities Understood Had the value of diversity the ability to forgive
Editor's Notes
- More than ten years ago a book entitled Rating the Presidents by William J. Ridings, Jr. and Stuart B. McIver (Secaucus, New Jersey, Citadel Press, 1997) was published. Seven hundred nineteen professors, elected officials, historians, attorneys, authors, etc. participated in the poll and rated the presidents. Abraham Lincoln finished first, Franklin Roosevelt was second, and George Washington finished third. The categories in which the various presidents were rated included leadership qualities, accomplishments and crisis management, political skill, appointments, and character and integrity. Lincoln was ranked no lower than first, second, or third in any of the categories, and his overall ranking was first among all American presidents.Another poll was released in February 2009. This poll was sponsored by C-SPAN and consisted of a survey of 65 historians. The participants were asked to rank the presidents in ten categories ranging from public persuasion and economic management to international relations and moral authority. Abraham Lincoln finished first, George Washington was second, and Franklin Roosevelt was third.
- New Political PartiesSlavery – The “peculiar institution” now permeated every aspect of Southern society. For a minority in the North, on the other hand, slavery represented a profoundly disturbing moral issue. For many more Northerners, the expansion of slavery into the territories threatened the triumph of the free labor movementState’s RightsCongress Deadlocked
- He had to balance the goals of preserving the Union and ending slavery. He needed to secure the support of the border states before taking action. He was waiting for a Northern victory before announcing the Emancipation Proclamation.
- As a young state legislator he made his first public statement on slavery. The rise of abolitionism in the North and the actions of governors, such as Seward, who refused to fully respect fugitive slave provisions in the Constitution, led legislatures in both South and North to pass resolutions that censured abolitionism and confirmed the constitutional right of slavery. In conservative Illinois, populated by many citizens of Southern birth, the general assembly fell in line. By the lopsided vote of 77-6, the assembly resolved that “we highly disapprove of the formation of abolition societies,” hold “sacred” the “right of property in slaves” and believe that “the General Government cannot abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, against the consent of the citizens.” Lincoln was among the six dissenting voices. Resisting the tide of public opinion in Illinois, Lincoln proclaimed that “the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy,” and affirmed the constitutional power of Congress to abolish slavery in areas under federal control, such as the District of Columbia. Lincoln always believed, he later said that “if slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong” and he could not remember when he did not “so think, and feel.” DKG
- As stated by Abraham Lincoln...What does it mean to be ethical?As far as I’m concerned, it means treating others the way you’d want to be treated.I never joined a church because the churches of my day required you to subscribe to a particular doctrine or creed. I told a minister who was trying to recruit me that if I ever found a church that would inscribe over its alter only two requirements, I would join that church with all my heart: The first requirement would be “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” The second requirement would be, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”I reckon that anyone who keeps those two commandments will never have a problem with any legitimate code of ethics. The second great commandment is really the basis of the Golden Rule—loving your neighbor as yourself.Being ethical means being honest. Perhaps the greatest asset was being know as Honest Abe. It was a good name, and I believe that a good name is more to be desired than great riches. I made it a practice to be so clear that no honest man could misunderstand me and no dishonest one could successfully misrepresent me.As you know, I’m a lawyer; and, yes, there were lawyer jokes back in the 1800s. I remember a story about a preacher back in Indiana who was conducting a funeral service for a prominent lawyer. At one point in his eulogy, the minister said, “Here lies a successful lawyer and an honest man.” A woman in the audience whispered to her friend: “We need to take a peek to see if there are two bodies in the casket?”I happen to believe that a lawyer can be honest. In fact I found that clients often had more trouble telling the truth than lawyers did. Here’s some advice I gave to young lawyers: “Resolve to be honest at all events. If, in your own judgment, you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other occupation, rather than one in the choosing of which you do, in advance, consent to be a knave.”If you’re ethical, you’ll strive to be knowledgeable. In the 1800’s it was common for people to talk about living up to the light” that one had. It was an excellent way of admitting in advance that one could be mistaken because of lack of knowledge. I like that concept, and used it in my Second Inaugural Address: “With firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right” is the way I said it in my second inaugural address.But there’s something more important than knowing the truth, and that’s knowing what to do with the truth. A village idiot might stumble upon the truth, tell everybody in sight, and do irreparable damage. Being wise involves knowing when to tell the truth, knowing how to tell the truth, knowing who to tell it to, and even deciding if you should tell it at all. Some truth should never be told—like when my wife Mary asked me what I thought of one of her ridiculous-looking new hats.Being ethical doesn’t mean that you be suicidal...If you’re ethical, you’ll strive to use good judgment. The true rule in determining to accept or reject any thing is not whether it has any evil in it; but whether it has more of evil than of good. There are few things wholly evil or wholly good. Almost everything...is an inseparable compound of the two so that our best judgment of the preponderance between them is continually demanded.
- As a young state legislator he made his first public statement on slavery. The rise of abolitionism in the North and the actions of governors, such as Seward, who refused to fully respect fugitive slave provisions in the Constitution, led legislatures in both South and North to pass resolutions that censured abolitionism and confirmed the constitutional right of slavery. In conservative Illinois, populated by many citizens of Southern birth, the general assembly fell in line. By the lopsided vote of 77-6, the assembly resolved that “we highly disapprove of the formation of abolition societies,” hold “sacred” the “right of property in slaves” and believe that “the General Government cannot abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, against the consent of the citizens.” Lincoln was among the six dissenting voices. Resisting the tide of public opinion in Illinois, Lincoln proclaimed that “the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy,” and affirmed the constitutional power of Congress to abolish slavery in areas under federal control, such as the District of Columbia. Lincoln always believed, he later said that “if slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong” and he could not remember when he did not “so think, and feel.” DKG
- An Illinois friend of Abraham Lincoln's once marveled at the former circuit lawyer's seemingly maladroit courtroom style. Lincoln's folksy, even disinterested manner, wrote Leonard Swett, often conceded point after point of fact and allowed his opposing counsel's evidence to go unchallenged. Yet this approach lulled many an opponent into complacency, only to "very soon wake up with his back in a ditch." Lincoln had a keen and honed sense of exactly which points he must have to win the case; for those, he fought ferociously. "What he was so blandly giving away was simply what he couldn't get and keep," Swett concluded. What Lincoln could get, he got and kept. Small wonder he won all of the 71 cases in which he represented various railroad companies, earning him the enviable nickname "the railroad lawyer." As Lincoln demonstrated, leadership requires more than flexibility and the willingness to compromise. Governing demands a deep sense of essentialism. Far from absolutism, which rarely wins in our raucous democracy, Lincoln's enormous capacity to maintain focus on his central vision amid the chaff of non-essential points and positions armed him for victory, political and military, against all comers. He was able to go "to the root of the question, [and dig] up the root," as former law partner William Herndon once offered of Lincoln's genius, by grasping a moral or ideological compass to maintain a course that might veer and twist but never lose direction. Finding and holding to that compass point demands deep introspection, even aloofness. And Lincoln was, Herndon claimed, "the most secretive – reticent – shut-mouthed man who ever lived." Lincoln arrived at his endpoint, the getting and the keeping, by exerting his political will and conceding the non-essentials. Which is messy, especially when we want our heroes pure and their opponents unexpectedly find their backs in ditches.
- As a young state legislator he made his first public statement on slavery. The rise of abolitionism in the North and the actions of governors, such as Seward, who refused to fully respect fugitive slave provisions in the Constitution, led legislatures in both South and North to pass resolutions that censured abolitionism and confirmed the constitutional right of slavery. In conservative Illinois, populated by many citizens of Southern birth, the general assembly fell in line. By the lopsided vote of 77-6, the assembly resolved that “we highly disapprove of the formation of abolition societies,” hold “sacred” the “right of property in slaves” and believe that “the General Government cannot abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, against the consent of the citizens.” Lincoln was among the six dissenting voices. Resisting the tide of public opinion in Illinois, Lincoln proclaimed that “the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy,” and affirmed the constitutional power of Congress to abolish slavery in areas under federal control, such as the District of Columbia. Lincoln always believed, he later said that “if slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong” and he could not remember when he did not “so think, and feel.” DKG
- As a young state legislator he made his first public statement on slavery. The rise of abolitionism in the North and the actions of governors, such as Seward, who refused to fully respect fugitive slave provisions in the Constitution, led legislatures in both South and North to pass resolutions that censured abolitionism and confirmed the constitutional right of slavery. In conservative Illinois, populated by many citizens of Southern birth, the general assembly fell in line. By the lopsided vote of 77-6, the assembly resolved that “we highly disapprove of the formation of abolition societies,” hold “sacred” the “right of property in slaves” and believe that “the General Government cannot abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, against the consent of the citizens.” Lincoln was among the six dissenting voices. Resisting the tide of public opinion in Illinois, Lincoln proclaimed that “the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy,” and affirmed the constitutional power of Congress to abolish slavery in areas under federal control, such as the District of Columbia. Lincoln always believed, he later said that “if slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong” and he could not remember when he did not “so think, and feel.” DKG