This is the second
in a series of blog on different historical figures who I’ve learned important life and leadership lessons from. The first in this series was a journal entry on Winston Churchill.
My journey learning about Lincoln has been an evolving one. The stories I learned when I was a child about Lincoln were probably similar to that most schoolchildren hear, but I had no real sense of awe or any great respect for Lincoln because I didn’t have a context to understand the day in which he lived and how his life and lessons applied to me. Then some years ago I took a tour of Ford’s theatre were President Lincoln was assassinated and of the home were he died just across the street. Seeing those physical spaces was quite moving and decided at last to pick up a book and read about his life. I’ve read many books since then, (perhaps the most interesting was Lincoln’s Melancoly – touching on his tough life and struggle with depression) and even visited his summer retreat at the Soliders Home in D.C..
Last Tuesday I was present at a forum at SPU to hear historian Ronald White Jr. talk about The Faith of Abraham Lincoln. It was a great presentation and I have provided a link here to a video of the talk. While at the talk I bought a copy of Mr. White’s book A. Lincoln and read it this week. It was a good book and I would recommend it to anyone.
All this leads me to share with you some lessons from these books and experiences that I have learned from Lincoln which I believe will help any leader:
1. Lincoln was self-taught: Growing up with a father who didn’t respect learning, Lincoln fought to be a man of words. A voracious reader, he would often be seen sitting and reading for hours. His own father interpreted this as “lazy”, but Abe was not discouraged. In fact, he was somebody who read and learned from others all his life. In this same way, all leaders must be self-motivated, curious learners. If you stop learning once you leave school your knowledge will be limited and often outdated. Keep reading.
2. Lincoln was a listener: Lincoln spent hours sitting and talking with people, asking questions and getting to know others. Although known as a great story teller, he was also known to take the time to hear complaints from people and listen to their story. It’s hard for leaders of significant importance to take the time to slow down and listen, but it’s critically imporntant. Lincoln spent lots of hours talking with soldiers, widows of fallen soldiers, common people and more. Be a listener.
3. Lincoln was a student of his own nature: His early years were marked with great struggle, heartbreak and difficulty, in addition, Lincoln himself had a nature that tended toward depression. Over and over people have said, “He had the saddest face of anyone I’ve ever know” and he himself was known to have said, “I’m the most miserable man living”. According to Joshua Wolf Shenk’s book, Lincoln’s Melancholy, Lincoln suffered from chronic depression. Certainly much of the historical record supports this conclusion. But he didn’t let it sit there. Lincoln strove to understand his own nature and to make his internal melancholy something to be understood and to be considered. It made him a more sensitive and understanding leader and helped him to be accepting of the concerns of others. Know yourself and your own nature.
4. Lincoln knew which battles to fight. It’s well known, that Lincoln surrounded himself in his cabinet with people who were political opponents and would put up with much disrespect from General McClelland and others who thought themselves smarter than himself. In fact, Lincoln was not a pushover, he just knew what battles were important to win and which were better left alone. Eventually he did deal with McClelland and others who went too far, but he didn’t reflexively respond to personal slights when there were larger issues at hand. So many leaders loose sight of this lesson. The biblical encouragement to “not be easily offended” is often the first thing to be forgotten. Unfortunately, this forces most leaders to spend their time solving petty people problems instead of the larger issues which would bring the most benefit. Find the big issues and stay focused.
5. Lincoln succeed inspite of a rough family life. After Lincoln’s death, his wife Mary Todd Lincoln was famously known to have become unstable and was institutionalized for a period of time. But she was always an extremely high-strung person who caused Lincoln no small amount of drama and grief. However, it is clear that he loved her and cherished his family very much. The lesson here is that Lincoln never forsaked her or decided to divorce her even though she was a difficult person to live with, he continued to work through his issues and love her in the most patient of ways. In addition to a rough marriage, he also suffered the loss of two young children that he loved very much. This made living difficult, on top of the unbelieveable pressure to hold together a country that was splitting apart. Yet Lincoln stuck with it and dealt with his personal challenges and was able to succeed. Don’t let personal problems disqualify you from doing great things. Too many people use past mistakes and problems to rule out greatness in their future.
6. Lincoln was on a spiritual journey. Know for his outspoken doubts about God and Christianity in his early life, Lincoln remained intellectually curious and open to discovering truth. Through the death of his sons and the struggles he faced in his life he continued to seek answers to life’s tough questions. His spiritual journey was not so different than a lot of us in today’s pluralistic society, but it was very unusual in that day and age. I applaud Lincoln for being honest, open and pursuing truth. In the end, he seems to have come to grips with God and to have a genuine faith, although it remained different than the culture of that day. Don’t give up looking, keep seeking God and answers to life’s quesitons. (Check out A. Lincoln for more on the subject of Lincoln’s faith)
There are many more lessons, but I hope these will prompt you to pick up a book on Lincoln and learn some more on your own.
DC
