Lincoln and LeadershipGood morning! My topic today is the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln. He, along with George Washington, is universally considered to be our greatest president. I believe Lincoln ranks on top but I can understand Washington supporters for his top ranking too. In trying to decide the greatest, it seems to be similar to having to decide which is the greatest Christian Holy Day Christmas or Easter? Without one you cannot have the other.Washington is Christmas and Lincoln is Easter. Washington helped to give birth to our nation while Lincoln saved it for all time. His unique leadership during the terrible trying times of our countrys war with itself won a war that had to be won and which forever set up our land to be the one promised in our Declaration of Independence.Some people back then in 1861, when the Civil War began thought and even some today think that the South should have been permitted to secede Let them go, they said. In thinking this, then and now, they believe our land would have been divided into two countries The United States Of America and The Confederate States of America. Most historians agree however that the states like small countries would have continued to secede whenever they felt disadvantaged in some way. You cannot have a democracy whenever the minority leaves when it doesnt get its own way thus tearing apart the democratic entity.What our country today would look like is South America with all of its countries. And now imagine the world over the last 150 years without the United States and its power for good in it. Lincoln in saving our country for us also saved it for the world. And it was his leadership skills, honed by years of self-education and experience in bringing people together and dealing with them which enabled him to win. Lincoln never spoke specifically on leadership or write about it but he did live it so we have only to examine how he led to know what was most important to him as a good leader.By the way, appearance is not important to leadership although some have followed the wrong people just because they were good looking.Lincoln, not known for his beauty, once said that someone told him that he was so ugly he abused the privilege. In a debate, after being accused of being two faced, he replied, addressing the audience, I ask you, if I was two faced would I be using this one?Lets begin with a simple definition of leadership. What is it that makes a good or even great leader and what do those who fail at leadership lack? Leadership is finding ways to fulfill certain goals that represent the values and motivations of both the leaders and their followers. Lincoln led the nation as president and as commander-in-chief for over four years. He did his best to use his skills he had when elected and later acquired to win the war and the peace. So it may be said that he had considerable experience with leadership. Not only his but with those who served under him and against him.I will present for your consideration some elements of leadership that I found in Lincoln that were essential in achieving a common goal through the efforts of millions of people. Ill start with some examples of others as leaders and their leadership to set the stage for Lincoln, and for comparison purposes.Lets begin with a few attributes which I believe to be essential in effective leadership, and lacking in failed leadership. Please note that they do not include, nor should they, gender, race, social status, religion or even formal education.While certainly some intelligence is needed in a leader, great intelligence is not and in fact may be something that leader has to control to be able to interact well with his or her peopleIll begin with trust. A leader has to be trusted to succeed. Followers have to have faith in those that lead them and there can be no faith without trust. Another word for this faith is confidence, including the self-confidence of the leaders that ability to trust in ones self to determine what must be done and then proceeds to do it. A person of integrity will usually be a person you can trust.One man you could trust was George Washington. A man of great integrity who led a rag tag army of amateur soldiers against the greatest army and navy in the world, under horrific conditions, with few resources, losing more battles than he won and yet with the trust placed in him by the people he led us to ultimate victory creating our precious country. He was the ultimate leader.Lincoln looked for a man of Washingtons caliber when he appointed General George McClellan to lead the Union army in 1861. However, while he formed and trained an effective army he seemed to lack the confidence take the army into battle. So much so that Lincoln once had to say to him: If youre not going to use the army, Id like to borrow it for a while.McClellan lacked integrity, putting himself and his ambition ahead of everything. He also lacked commitment to the Unions cause and the resolve to achieve its goals. Instead, he seemed to fear defeat and what it would do to his reputation than to want victory. How could men to risk their lives to follow a man like that? Lincoln could not - so he fired him. Not once but twice.As an aside - McClellan liked his nickname Little Napoleon. He was small in stature but was said to look striking on a horse but then horses asses always do look better on horses, dont they? Lincoln did not look striking on a horse, especially at Gettysburg when the horse they gave him to ride to the cemetery was so short that a man called out saying: Mr. President if you put your legs down that horse will walk out from under you.McClellans opposing general was Robert E. Lee who was held in the same esteem in the south as George Washington.As the war progressed in its first years all the victories of General Lee only served to reinforce his image. He was a great leader and one can learn much of leadership from him. However, repeated successes eventually lulled him into an air of invincibility with too much confidence in himself, refusing to listen to the thoughts of his subordinates bringing about his great loss at Gettysburg in 1863. However, there was never a question of Lees commitment or his resolve to achieve it. As a great leader, Lee learned from his mistakes and went on to more victories without losing the faith of his men. Good leaders learn a lot from their mistakes.A leader needs to be approachable too, to listen to the views of others and to seriously consider them in his or her decision making. Perhaps the best example of a military leader during that war was General U.S. Grant the man who led the Union to victory. He was a man in who could be trusted with enough self-confidence to permit questioning of his decisions and with a firm commitment to victory - and the resolve to achieve it.Grant was a man more concerned with results than fancy uniforms or traditions. When asked why he had put Grant in charge, Lincoln replied: Because he fights.And oh, how he could fight. He never analyzed anything to death just appraised a situation, made a decision, communicated it and then moved forward, fully expecting to achieve the desired result. He was not perfect as none of us are. His army was surprised at Shiloh when the rebels attacked the first day pushing his army back to the Tennessee River. When General Sherman said to Grant that night that it had been a tough day.Grant merely replied: Well get them tomorrow. Imagine that message flowing through his camp - and with that confidence he did get them the next day - achieving an important victory from a potential defeat.In his campaign to take Vicksburg, Grant saw several of his plans go down in failure but he always regrouped, remained patient, keeping his eye on the prize eventually taking that key southern city opening up the Mississippi to the Union.Neither Grant nor Lincoln was convinced that General Shermans proposed March to the sea across Georgia was the right thing to do but they trusted Sherman and let him do his thing, crushing the south in his wake.Under other Union generals, after losing battles to Lee, the army would turn north and go into a rest and rehabilitation process. After the battle of the Wilderness, after Grant had lost to Lee, as his army headed east, the question was would Grant turn right to the north for rest or would he turn south? Everyone who knew Grant, knew what he would do and he did it turning south in pursuit of Lees army. The message was clear, Grant would not let up until he won! That is leadership - actions speaking louder than words.Of course there was also political leadership during the war. Jefferson Davis, leader of the rebelling states had a long distinguished record in the military and public office.A graduate of West Point, serving in the war with Mexico, a secretary of war and a senator, he seemed well suited to lead the south in its miss guided rebellion especially when compared to Lincoln, a man who had no executive experience and had only led a small group of militia men during several weeks in the Blackhawk war. However, as Davis proved, education and experience are only good when you know how to use them.The south trusted Davis, he had self-confidence and the south had confidence in him. However, he seemed to believe that he had to manage everything a micro manager - not realizing that responsibility is best when it is shared success is always more attainable with a team effort especially in a war. His commitment and resolve became pig headedness stubbornness in the face of continuing losses. It was once thought that Lincoln had tried to assassinate Davis. Ridiculous. Why would he want to eliminate a man who didnt know how to lead and have him replaced with someone who might do better?Having critiqued Mr. Davis and others, lets now look at Lincoln, keeping in mind that Lincoln, like everyone else was not perfect, not a saint but someone who had and - then added skills to become one of our nations greatest leaders.I think it would be correct to say that Lincoln even with a nick name like Honest Abe - did not come into office with the trust of the nation. Over half the electorate wanted someone else to lead them. However, he did have great confidence in his ability to do what had to be done to save the nation.Enough confidence that he picked some of those who opposed him for president as members of his cabinet men like William Seward as Secretary of State and Salmon Chase as Secretary of the Treasury and Edward Bates at Justice. He later added Edwin Stanton, who often expressed distain for him even once called him a gorilla, as Secretary of War.Lincoln knew a cabinet of men with such well known ability gave the people the trust needed in his administration and with him as its leader. Over time, he was proud to be called: Father Abraham by many, earning respect for him while he always had respect for others which every good leader needs. He was reelected with over 55% of the popular vote, receiving 220 electoral votes to just 21 for his opponent George McClellan. He also received 74% of those voting in the army. The army that once loved McClellan as its leader.Lincoln also made it a point to clearly state his goal and to communicate it even in the face of conflicting objectives by others. It was simply this: To save the union with its democratic republic for us and for the world. When the question of slavery was raised, he reemphasized his goal with these words: If I can save the union by freeing the slaves, I will free them and if I can save the union by not freeing the slaves I will not free them. Without first saving the union, he could not do anything.Two years into the war, Lincoln expanded his goal not only would he save the union but also end slavery forever in our country. The need was there, the time he had patiently waited for was right and he did it with the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all those he could legally free. He did so with consultation with his cabinet, considering their advice and taking it as to its timing.His early selection of generals was questionable at best despite their promise, they failed and then the best he could do was to replace them, learning from his mistakes until he finally got it right.As difficult as finding enough time was for Lincoln, He remained very approachable meeting with the public in his office several times a week. He felt he needed this feedback to keep him grounded and to judge public sentiment on all that was happening. As the peoples morale waned in1863 with many calling for an end to hostilities, saying, Let them go! He took the opportunity in a few remarks to dedicate a National Cemetery in Gettysburg to succinctly tell everyone what the war was all about, its importance to them and to the world so that: government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth. Something to cheer about for everyone.In summary, Lincolns successful leadership was collaboration between the leader and the led working together towards a common goal.Its attributes included: Trust, integrity, confidence, respect, goal setting, commitment and resolve, decisiveness, listening to others, communicating, learning from mistakes, feedback, interaction with those being led, patience, leading the cheers, and I would also add that a good sense of humor helps too.In that regard, Ill end with a favorite story of Lincolns who often used stories to illustrate a point or to break the tension in a meeting, Lincoln would say: A farmer was sitting in his house one day when his young son came running in all excited yelling: Pa, pa, sissys in the barn with her boyfriend and shes lifting her dress and hes dropping his pants. Pa! Theyre going to pee on your hay! The farmer said son, you have your facts right but I believe you are jumping to the wrong conclusion.Thats another thing good leaders dont do.Thank you.Mel Maurer December 2014