Lincoln on Leadership
I start this project on Lincoln’s leadership very reluctantly. I am a history buff and have always viewed his leadership through the eyes of jaded historians. They have portrayed him as a dictator, incompetent, and a buffoon at some points. After reading the Donald T. Phillips book Lincoln on Leadership, my mindset was totally changed. This book broke down four key areas that produced an effective leader in Lincoln. These areas are character, people, endeavor, and communication. I will be sharing a principal from each key area that I found important and then conclude with an overall thought. The first key area in Lincoln’s Leadership was his interaction with people. Historians have often scoffed at the
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Philips brings to light that once you lose the confidence of others you can never regain their trust. Bruce Avolio (2005) in his book Leadership Development in the Balance backs this principal by the statement, “There is no doubt that the bar has shifted upward in terms of what is required of leaders to build trust, as well as the impact their mistake has on our trust in them” (pg. 124). Both writers are calling our attention to the fact that we need leaders of integrity in their public leadership as well as their private lives. This life of integrity inspires trust, honesty, and loyalty in those that follow this type of leader. The third key section of leadership is in endeavor. A principal of praise and sharing the brunt of responsibilities from mistakes with followers has been discuss several times in other books as well as my current Ethical Leadership Class. Phillips (pg. 103) points out this principal with, “When a subordinate did a good job, Lincoln praised, complimented, and rewarded the individual. On the other hand, he shouldered responsibility when mistakes were made.” This aspect of praising and shouldering responsibility causes followers to take risks and to be innovating in their approach to the corporate mission and vision. This inspires people around the leader to learn and grow and maybe have the confidence to be a change agent not just a yes person. The fourth key aspect is
Throughout the history of the United States of America, many great people have directed toward success. The American nation has been honored with many of the greatest people in history, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison. Abraham Lincoln is considered one of the most greatest president in US History. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12,1809 in Hodgenville, Kentucky. He is known for his leadership and skills as president along with his pleasant personality. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through the Civil War and accomplished many things such as Emancipation Proclamation,
Abraham Lincoln’s presidential career was full of questionable actions. Thomas DiLorenzo author of, The Real Lincoln discusses Lincoln’s actions regarding racism, his refusal to emancipate the slaves, his continual tendency to act independently of Congress, and his radical reconstruction after the Civil War. DiLorenzo attacks each of these topics in his book and proves that Lincoln had his own agenda, and was not the picture perfect president everybody thought that he was.
Williams shows us that Lincoln never hesitated in making difficult decisions based on results. Lincoln's people skills are clearly established in Williams’s writings. Lincoln seems keen at applying pressure as well as giving his generals a free hand when necessary.
This era in American History is one that will always be talked about and discussed. This was a time when America was debatably at its lowest point in terms of agreement on certain things. Specifically on the issue of slavery. Abraham Lincoln, the president of the United States during this time, has to be given a lot of credit for the effort he put into this matter in American history. Even through the criticism and hatred that he would get from one side, he still kept the main goals in line which were being a good leader for the United States, freeing and providing equality for the slaves, and mostly importantly preserving the Union.
Another great leadership ability that Lincoln possessed was his ability to appoint the right people for the right jobs in his Cabinet. Even though they were some of the greatest minds of his time, some of his Cabinet members were also some of his biggest political adversaries. Through his great leadership, he was able to assemble this group and to pull them together to make it work. Lincoln also had the ability to make a mistake, learn from it and then move on, creating an environment of learning in his administration. Also, when the administration was successful, Lincoln was willing to share the credit with his administration, not taking all the credit for himself. This ability can be a great motivator, since it gives people a sense of accomplishment (Moreton, 2008).
Across time, political leaders have often been remembered for their greatness by how they faced challenges than with what particular skills or abilities they had during their time in office. This statement is known to be true as political leaders are often expected to solve certain issues or challenges when in office and if their contributions benefit the state or country. Additionally, history books, records, and scholarly journals will take note of a leader’s response to challenges, how they are handled, and if the issue is solved more than whether they adequately used certain skills and abilities to solve the problem. In short, challenges, when faced, allow the political leaders to be remembered more so than their talents.
Abraham Lincoln is known to almost everyone. It is recognized that he led the country through one of the hardest times in its history. What many of us do not know or understand are the methods he employed in order to lead us through the Civil War. Phillips became interested in Lincoln’s leadership methods and abilities because he found that these same ideas were still being taught today. He wrote this book because he was unable to find other books detailing Lincoln’s leadership. Because Lincoln’s methods are still applicable in today’s leadership environment, Phillips realized that much could be learned by examining Lincoln’s actions while
Lincoln had many subordinates whom he worked very closely with to make such a successful nation. Just to name a few out of the many he closely worked with, William Seward was appointed the Secretary of State by Lincoln. Seward first did not have faith or trust in the President, but as soon as President Lincoln spent time with him and learned about his loyalty he quickly changed his mind. Another subordinate that Lincoln worked closely with in his Presidency was Ulysses S. Grant whom was the appoint General in Chief of the Army. He had one battles in Tennessee and Vicksburg (Phillips, 1992, p. 42)
1. How was Lincoln able to grow and prosper for so long in such a difficult commodity industry that forced out other giants such as General Electric, Westinghouse, and BOC? What is the source of Lincoln’s outstanding and enduring success?
As a leader, do you feel as though you could unite subordinates, units, organizations, or even a nation? Abraham Lincoln faced the task of reunifying a nation, even during a time of civil war. He was a visionary leader through the war as his actions advocated intellectual stimulation through change management leading to decisions that shaped innovative efforts within the United States Air Force (USAF) today. Additionally, Lincoln was an ethical leader, not for the actions that history books recognize with the freedom of slavery, but more so for the decision to face ethical challenges altering his behaviors through critical thinking. We will look at an example of how he fostered an innovative
In chapter two of Lincoln on Leadership, Lincoln is described in detail for his compassionate and caring nature. He was said to contain this particular nature by the fact that he maintained alliances, took time out of his schedule to stay in contact with his people, and he granted many pardons as a result of his kindness. I find the utilization of compassion and a caring nature provide the
The Life of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 to Thomas and Nancy
The purpose of this paper is to reflect and make an analysis of the general strengths and weaknesses of a leader, provide recommendations, thoughts of overall performance to improve on this person’s leadership style in which practices and theories were utilized most effectively. Upon such, draw conclusions and provide an integration of this leadership practice into my own leadership practice. The accomplishment of this will be achieved by identifying several key practices from published documents surrounding and encompassing the leader, and comparing them to known relative concepts for a holistic view of the approach.
Donald T. Phillips’ book, Lincoln on Leadership, explores the life and practices of Abraham Lincoln as the leader of the United States of America. Without question, Lincoln’s legacy lies as one of the greatest leaders in the history of the country. Lincoln’s style of leadership, which facilitated his accomplishment of one of the most complicated tasks in a divided country, have only recently become the foundation for developing concepts of leadership in both private and public organizations. Throughout Lincoln on Leadership, Phillips discusses over one hundred of Lincoln’s principles of leadership and practices, practices which still inspire and motivate persons in all aspects of society.
He often would walk from his office to the Secretary of War’s office to discuss strategies to win the war. David T. Phillips stated in his book Lincoln on Leadership that, “Lincoln spent most of his time among the troops” (p.13). Lincoln rode his horse most of the time to the camp of the Union soldiers and cheered them up. He also motivated them by letting them know the importance of winning the war. The Core Lesson under Individual Consideration states that, “The leader empathizes with and supports each follower and keeps channels of communication open” [BCEE] (2014a, p.13). We have discussed Lincoln as Visionary Leader now let’s move on to Lincoln as Ethical Leader.