LINCOLN on Leadership - WASBO · Leadership! Leadershipisanelusiveconceptthat,at6mes,canbe vagueandambiguous.**Asaresult,therearenosetrules* orformulasforleadersto*follow.**There

LINCOLN��on��

Leadership��

Bob Avery Baraboo School District WASBO Fall Conference

October 7, 2016

Why Lincoln?��•  Na@onal Condi@on – 7 states had seceded – Senate passed a resolu@on to lower military spending

– South had taken control of all federal agencies and seized most forts and arsenals

– Mississippi River was mostly obstructed – Washington D.C. was almost defenseless – Army of only 16,000 men under command of a 75 year old general

LINCOLN on LEADERSHIP 2

Why Lincoln?��

•  Poli@cal Condi@on – Financial panic of 1857 had not dissipated – Spike in unemployment – Budget deficits – Elected by a plurality – Fierce aboli@onists in northern states – Slave-‐holding border states


Why Lincoln?��

•  Personal Background – Regarded as a second-‐rate country lawyer – Members of his own cabinet considered him a figurehead

– Never held an execu@ve posi@on – No military experience – Only a one-‐term na@onal congressman


Leadership��

Leadership is leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the mo6va6ons – the wants and needs, the aspira6ons and expecta6ons – of both leaders and followers. And the genius of leadership lies in the manner in which leaders see and act on their own and their followers’ values and mo6va6ons.

-‐James MacGregor Burns Leadership


Leadership��Leadership is an elusive concept that, at 6mes, can be vague and ambiguous. As a result, there are no set rules or formulas for leaders to follow. There are only guidelines and concepts, percep6ons and ideas, abstrac6ons and generali6es. This is why the art of leading people is so difficult to master nad teach, and why there is such a great need for role models. We must study individuals who are recognized as successful leaders…. It is only by examining individuals such as Abraham Lincoln that we can ever hope to understand how effec6ve leadership really works.

Donald T. Phillips Lincoln on Leadership


SOURCE��

•  The original work analyzing Lincoln’s leadership style.

•  These lessons are easily overshadowed by the myth and mythology of the martyred President.


TOPICS 15 Lessons organized across four topics: Ø  PEOPLE Ø  CHARACTER Ø  ENDEAVOR Ø  COMMUNICATION


PEOPLE��

•  Circulate Among the Troops��

•  Build Strong Alliances��

•  Persuade Rather than Coerce��


Circulate Among the Troops��•  Always have the key informa@on

–  Gathered personally, through trusted advisors, or via modern technology (telegraph)

•  Interact with people where they are –  More relaxed, less pressure

•  Exhibit caring and compassion to inspire trust, loyalty and admira@on

•  Sharing the vision AND the importance of staff in realizing it builds buy-‐in


Build Strong Alliances��•  Trust! Get to know them and for them to know you.

–  William Seward, Sec’y State: Ini@ally tried to push Lincoln, was one who saw him as a pushover. Found common ground, built mutual respect. Closest advisor.

–  Edwin Stanton, Sec’y of War: Early disdain for Lincoln, but was best man for the job. As he proved himself, he was given the la@tude to run the War Dep’t.

–  George McClennan, General-‐in-‐Chief: Promoted as the best person available. But inac@on resulted in scaling back his responsibili@es and, ul@mately, dismissed.


Persuade Rather than Coerce��•  Lincoln: “When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced,

persuasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. … Such is man, and so must he be understood by those who would lead him, even to his own best interest.” (emphasis added) 1842

•  Lincoln gave his generals responsibility and authority, empowering them to act.

•  He usually made requests and sugges@ons to generals –  “I hope you will consider it….” (9/27/63) –  “This leker is in no sense an order….” (10/13/63) –  Frame orders, and fix @mes and places, for this, and that, according to

your own judgment.” (1/13/64)


CHARACTER��

•  Honesty & Integrity��

•  Never Act Out of Vengeance��

•  Handle Unjust Criticism��

•  Be a Master of Paradox��


Honesty & Integrity are the Best Policy��

•  “Honest Abe” •  Integrity must be sincere •  Set and respond to fundamental goals and values

–  “pursuit of liberty” and “equality” •  “Divorced from ethics, leadership is reduced to

management and poli@cs to mere technique.” – James MacGregor Burns, Leadership


Never Act Out of Vengeance��•  “When neither incompetency, nor inten@onal wrong, nor real

injury to the service is imputed – in such cases it is both cruel and impoli@c, to crush the man and make him and his friends permanent enemies to the administra@on, if not to the government itself.” – A. Lincoln

•  Directed Gen. Sherman to allow CSA President Jefferson Davis to escape.

•  “With malice toward none; with charity for all….” – Second Inaugural Address


Handle Unjust Criticism��•  Lincoln understood that leaders are subjected to personal akacks

on their honor and character. –  “grotesque baboon,” “a course vulgar joker,” “a dictator,” “an ape,” “the

craniest and most dishonest poli@cian that ever disgraced an office in America.”

•  “As a general rule, I abstain from reading the reports of akacks upon myself, wishing not to be provoked by that to which I can not properly offer an answer.”

•  BUT, if false accusa@ons were damaging the public view of his principles, he said “I have found that it is not en@rely safe, when misrepresented under his very nose, to allow the misrepresenta@on to go uncontradicted.”


Be a Master of Paradox��•  “I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the

cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so as they shall appear to be true views.”

•  Flexible but consistent •  Charisma@c but unassuming •  Subject to malicious slander but very popular among the troops •  Trus@ng and compassionate, but tough and demanding •  Risk-‐taker and innova@ve, but pa@ent and calcula@ng


ENDEAVOR��

•  Be Decisive��•  Lead by Being Led��•  Be Results

Oriented��•  Keep Searching

for Your Grant��•  Encourage

Innovation��


Be Decisive��•  “Because, coming as it did when Congress was not is session,

the Fort Sumter episode gave Lincoln the opportunity to seize the ini@a@ve from the legisla@ve branch – an ini@a@ve that he never relinquished.” – Don Fehrenbacher, Lincoln scholar

•  Emancipa@on Proclama@on •  Generals empowered to take ac@on but not set policy •  Make decisions with all the available informa@on and if it is

consistent with the objec@ves •  Vision and goals without decisiveness are worthless


Lead by Being Led��•  Be guided, but not threatened, by your followers •  Provide direc@on by implying, hin@ng, or sugges@ng •  Let them conclude “we did this ourselves” •  Give credit where credit is due, but take all responsibility

when things go wrong –  Leker to Grant aner Vicksburg: “I never had my faith, except a general hope that you knew beker …. I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right and I was wrong.”


Be Results Oriented��•  Use successes AND failures as stepping stones to the goal

–  “The fight must go on. The cause of civil liberty must not be surrendered at the end of one or even one hundred defeats.” – 1858, following losing the US Senate elec@on to Stephen Douglas.

•  Focus on the mission and unify followers around the mission: preserving the Union and abolishing slavery

•  “He who does something at the head of one Regiment, will eclipse him who does nothing at the head of a hundred.” -‐ A. Lincoln to General Hunter.


Keep Searching for Your Grant��•  Winfield Scok (to Mar 1861) •  Irvin McDowell (Mar 61 – Aug 61) •  George McClellan (Aug 61 – Jul 62) •  Henry Halleck (Aug 62 – Nov 62) •  Ambrose Burnside (Nov 62 – Feb 63) •  Joseph Hooker (Feb 63 – Jun 63) •  George Meade (Jun 63 – Mar 64) •  Ulysses Grant (Mar 64 – Apr 65)


Keep Searching for Your Grant��•  Reorganize the organiza@on to achieve results •  Give leaders a chance to turn it around – a grace period or

honeymoon •  Allow those moving out to maintain their dignity

–  Ease them out –  Don’t make enemies needlessly

•  If a subordinate complains about managers, give your leader a chance to correct it, but if the complaints are true and do not get corrected, make a change

•  Must have people to be a success


Encourage Innovation��•  Be a catalyst for change •  “There is more than one way to skin a cat.” •  “I say try. If we never try, we shall never succeed.” -‐A. Lincoln to Gen. McClellan

•  Failures are mistakes, opportuni@es to learn, or steps on the path to the goal

•  Allow others to act without having to wait for orders


COMMUNICATION��

•  Master Public Speaking��

•  Influence thru Conversation & Storytelling��

•  Preach a Vision and Reaffirm It��


Master Public Speaking��•  “The strong man of his party – full of wit, facts, dates, and the best

stump speaker with droll-‐ways and dry jokes in the west. He is as honest as he is shrewd….” -‐Stephen Douglas, 1858

•  “Extemporaneous speaking should be prac@ced and cul@vated.” –A. Lincoln, 1850

•  “He never considered anything he had wriken to be finished un@l published or, if a speech, un@l he delivered it.”

•  Be prepared –  First and Second Inaugura@on Addresses both given from script –  Prepare before conversa@ons


Influence through Conversation��•  “He talked in so simple and familiar a strain, and his manner and homely

phrase were so absolutely free from any semblance of self-‐consciousness or preten@on of superiority, that I soon felt as if I had know him all my life, and we had very long been close friends.” – Carl Schurz

•  Anecdotes, humor and the art of storytelling •  “They say I tell a great many stories. I reckon I do; but I have learned from

long experience that plain people, take them as the run, are more easily influenced through the medium of a broad and humorous illustra@on than in any other way….”

•  A mo@va@onal tool used to endear loyalty and commitment, and spread enthusiasm


And Storytelling��•  “I believe I have the popular reputa@on of being a story-‐teller, but I

do not deserve the name in its general sense, for it is not the story itself, but its purpose, or effect that interests me. I onen avoid a long and useless discussion by others or a laborious explana@on on my own part by a short story that illustrates my point of view. So, too, the sharpness of a refusal or the edge of a rebuke may be blunted by an appropriate story, so as to save wounded feeling and yet serve the purpose. No, I am not simply a story-‐teller, but story-‐telling as an emollient saves me much fric@on and distress.”


Preach a Vision and Reaffirm It��•  How a manager influences others dictates the health of the

organiza@on •  What dis@nguishes leaders from managers is vision

–  Cannot be forced upon subordinates, must be shared through persuasion

•  Lincoln preached a vision – the founding principles –  “It is not merely for today, but for all @me to come that we should

perpetuate for our children’s children this great and free government, which we have enjoyed all our loves. … It is for this the struggle should be maintained…. The na@on is worth figh@ng for….” to the Ohio 166th, 1864


Preach a Vision and Reaffirm It��•  Call on the past, relate it to the present, renew the vision, and link all to the future

•  Gekysburg Address


CONCLUSION��


•  Get out among your staff so they get know you and you know them and their roles;

•  Build alliances through compassion and caring. Destroying people only makes more enemies.

•  Use persuasion to build consent – “buy-‐in” – and loyalty to the tasks at hand.

•  Never compromise your integrity and always be consistent, fair and decent.

•  Have malice towards none and charity for all.

•  People are more willing to approach you if they respect you, and steer clear of you if they fear you.

CONCLUSION��


•  Don’t search out akacks on you, but don’t let misrepresenta@ons go un-‐contradicted.

•  Provide an environment that is both secure for subordinates that also encourages risk taking.

•  Don’t sacrifice the organiza@on for the sake of one or two individuals.

•  Let subordinates take the credit for successes, but always take responsibility for failures.

•  Unite followers behind the mission •  Select risk-‐takers and those that crave

responsibility. •  Don’t lose confidence in people when

they experience a failure.

CONCLUSION��


•  Prepare thoroughly for your speaking engagement so you avoid mistakes so you represent the organiza@on in the best light.

•  Know your audience and speak plainly, using humorous stories, to be best understood by the people.

•  Build the vision through persuasion and then reaffirm and reinforce the vision at every opportunity.

•  Connect the past and present to the future you are presen@ng.

Summary��Leadership is leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the mo6va6ons – the wants and needs, the aspira6ons and expecta6ons – of both leaders and followers. -‐Burns Lincoln provides one of the best examples of a successful leader that we can look to as a model in our roles as leaders.


Horace Greeley on Lincoln��He was not born a king of men … but a child of the common people, who made himself a great persuader, therefore a leader, by dint of firm resolve, pa6ent effort, and dogged perseverance. He slowly won his way to eminence and fame by doing the work that lay next to him – doing it with all his growing might – doing it as well as he could, and learning by his failure, when failure was encountered, how to do it beJer…. He was open to all impressions and influences, and gladly profited by the teachings of events and circumstances, no maJer how adverse or unwelcome. There was probably no year of his life when he was not a wiser, cooler, and beJer man than he had been the year preceding.


Documents

LINCOLN on Leadership - WASBO · Leadership! Leadership*is*an*elusive*conceptthat,*at6mes,*can*be* vague*and*ambiguous.**As*a*result,*there*are*no*setrules* or*formulas*for*leaders*to*follow.**There

LINCOLN on Leadership - WASBO · Leadership! Leadershipisanelusiveconceptthat,at6mes,canbe vagueandambiguous.**Asaresult,therearenosetrules* orformulasforleadersto*follow.**There