The Zen of Abraham Lincolns Leadership Abilities

Zen teaches that the potential to achieve enlightenment is inherent in everyone but lies dormant because of ignorance. It is best awakened not by the study of scripture or the practice of good deeds, but by breaking through the boundaries of mundane logical thought. Lincolns leadership abilities certainly break through these boundaries. This blog will explain why this is true.
leadership abilities
Lincoln’s leadership abilities.
Who is the leader you admire most? There would be many we like and studied. But our favorite would be Abraham Lincoln. He worked to achieve mastery in law and politics. He gave his toughest rivals power and autonomy. In fact, he surrounded himself with rivals who excelled in areas where he was not strong. And despite his many failures, his life was an immense success.
His motivational leadership style was rooted in two higher goals: freeing the slaves and keeping the nation intact. These were big motivators for most of Americans, yes?
In a scene from the Steven Spielberg movie Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln tells her husband: “No one is loved as much as you by the people. Don’t waste that power.” The  movie is based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s popular book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, a masterful telling of Lincoln’s story that follows the lives of each of his cabinet members.
T. Duryea of the U.S. Christian Commission, which met frequently with President Abraham Lincoln writes:
 
In temper he was earnest, yet controlled, frank, yet sufficiently guarded, patient, yet energetic, forgiving, yet just to himself; generous yet firm. His conscience was the strongest element of his nature. His affections were tender & warm. His whole nature was simple and sincere – he was pure, and then was himself.
Both the movie and the book give great insight to Lincoln’s strong leadership skills — those things that have made him so admired. While you may not be leading revolutionary change in the country, here are ten leadership lessons from our 16th president on how to lead change in both your personal and professional lives.
Related: 10 Leadership Competencies You Should Not Live Without

Leadership abilities … lead by example and a positive attitude

Work to be, the way you want to be perceived. Don’t try to look good, be good. A good name is more valuable than fine diamonds.
If you look for something to complain about, you can certainly find it. There’s ‘always’ an opportunity to be offended. Don’t take these opportunities; they don’t lead to anything positive. Learn to see the roses in life; life is filled with roses, if you’ll take the time to see them.

 

Show your spirit

The spirit that guided him was clearly that described in his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds…. ” He always demonstrated his strong spirit.

Leadership abilities … pick a strong team

At a time in history when the United States was at war with itself, Lincoln surprisingly chose to fill his cabinet with a team of his rivals. He surrounded himself with his rivals who excelled in areas where he was not strong. He gave credit where it was due and wasn’t afraid to accept the blame. He genuinely sought out and listened to other people’s point of view.

 

These were men he considered to be the best and brightest minds in the country, and they were unafraid to challenge Lincoln and assert their opposition. A self-confident man, Lincoln welcomed strong opinions as it provoked thoughtful debate as well as inner reflection. It proved to be an important tactic during his presidency.
You have to have others on your team who are not afraid to challenge you or at least feel at ease enough to express their opinions. Learn how to learn from your strongest rivals.

 

Good leadership quotes
Good leadership quotes.

Be decisive 

While it’s helpful to get more than one opinion, strong leaders know when and how to make decisions. Cabinet members could have argued forever, but Lincoln had the ability to know when he had all of the information he needed. Walking away to seek solitude, he was able to determine the best solution and make a decision without wavering.
Good leaders clarify their decision criteria, identifying musts and wants, and using that as a guide to compare options. Assess the risk of each option as well as the benefits, to help in making smart tradeoffs between alternatives.
Lincoln knew when to speak and when to remain silent. He knew when to act and when to wait. At the same time, Lincoln wasn’t afraid to lead. When he knew his actions would likely sway more people to his point of view, he got out in front of them and acted. But he only did so when he was sure he wouldn’t lose the people lagging behind.

Preparation

Before you can succeed, you must prepare. When Lincoln was an unknown attorney in the backwoods of Illinois he was preparing for success, when Lincoln became an Illinois State Senator, he was preparing for success, and even when he lost the election for the U.S. senate twice, he was preparing for success. What are you doing in preparation for success?

 

 Connect on a personal level

We know Lincoln was fair, but he was also known for his jokes and storytelling. It’s how he broke the ice and blazed a trail to common ground. Lincoln also made himself accessible. As president of the United States, he kept regular office hours and citizens were allowed to see him.
It’s not how smart you are — strong personal relationships and high levels of trust are the foundation of effective leadership. Good leaders demonstrate empathy, take an interest in others and work to build solid relationships.
Lincoln might best be known for his integrity and willingness to do the right thing even if it was difficult or unpopular.
 
Good leadership quotes
Good leadership quotes.

Live fearlessly

Directly after the Union had taken the Confederate capitol of Richmond, Virginia at the end of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln marched with a handful of men into the capital city, the heart of the enemy’s territory. The night of his assassination at Ford’s Theatre, Lincoln denied the services of a large security detail to accompany him to play. Even though he knew he would probably be assassinated at some point, he wasn’t about to live his life in fear because of it.
Fear is a crippling thing, especially to the leader. There are always a billion things that could go wrong. You just might fail. But you’ll never know until you try.
 

 Don’t avoid adversity

Lincoln never shied away from controversy. He was once quoted as saying:
No matter how much the cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.
And he was correct.  You’ll never please everyone. There will always be critics to what you do. Sticking to your guns and following your heart is what defines who you are and will shape your success in the future.
At the same time, we have to be open to constructive criticism. These criticisms will help us shape and fine-tune our ideas into something better.
Lincoln might best be known for his integrity and willingness to do the right thing even if it was difficult or unpopular. He was willing to accept the fallout of his decisions and being accountable. He took responsibility for his administration’s mistakes even when his subordinates were at fault.
At personal cost to himself, Lincoln chose the high road, sometimes paying for it in initial political strategy, only to find respect from his countrymen increasing over time. A good model for any leader, yes?

 

Don’t fear failure

Lincoln did fail quite a bit. He was quoted as saying:
My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.
Failure is essential to any leader. It builds character and allows you to see what won’t work and certainly to reflect and learn. It’s not until you fail that you show your true colors.
 

Simplicity of communication

Lincoln’s oratorical skills are legendary, and he was the very best at getting across excellent, long remembered messages in as few of words as possible.
 
He was very good at storytelling and painting a picture.  He knew the power and magic of a story. That’s why his speeches are full of analogies, pictures, and anecdotes. Being a ‘commoner’ was a badge of honor that helped him communicate to the men who gave their lives on the battlefield, the families who buried their young, and the slaves who desired their freedom.
 
In conclusion, remember this: Lincoln was a great president because he was a great man.

content writer

 

 

So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.
 
It’s up to you to keep improving your ability to lead. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, history  may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
 
It’s up to you to keep improving your leadership  learning  and experience from all around in your environment.
 
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy continually improving your continuous learning?
Do you have a lesson about making your learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
 
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+Twitter, and LinkedIn.  
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Leadership Characteristics that Improve Influence
Building Collaboration and Sharing Skills in your Staff
How to Create the Best Leadership Accountability

Leadership Qualities: The Go-Getter’s Guide to Lifelong Learning

Eisenhower certainly understood the concepts of the best leadership qualities and attributes, didn’t he? Spot on. I have been in leadership positions in the military and business world for forty years, and I often get asked what it takes to be an effective, influential leader. Dwight Eisenhower was only of many I studied over those many years.

Nothing really prepares you to be a leader. In most cases, you get the opportunity to lead by being good at something else. However, while being a strong performer gives you the credibility to lead, it says nothing about your ability to lead. Leadership is a skill in its own right and, for the most part, it’s one you learn on the job.

Leadership qualities
Leadership qualities.
Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want to be done because he wants to do it.
–       Dwight Eisenhower
Being such a leader is a lifelong learning process. You are never done learning. Every great leader always looks for ways to improve their ability to improve their leadership qualities and attributes.
If you read ten books on leadership, you could easily build a checklist of 50 or more leadership qualities and attributes. But more is not necessarily better for the best checklist. The following leadership checklist represents my favorite 15 leadership attributes.
It represents those 15 leadership attributes that I would least like to be without:
  

Not about you

Many of us want to be effective leaders … ones that can make a difference. But that doesn’t happen by talking about it or self-marketing. It takes time to build connections, by taking a genuine interest in people. In true leadership situations, listening comes first.
Perhaps the worst personal trait I’ve personally observed is ego. We all have an ego, but the ego I’m talking about is the ‘super-ego’ that dominates.  I’ve found if a leader is really good at what they do, they won’t have to tell others about it.    

 

Humility

Leaders teach us “Don’t think too highly of yourself.” How can you improve? We are not perfect. Your success is because of many team members’ contributions.
How can we up our leadership game?

  

Passion

You only live once. Give it all you got. Be the best so no competitor can keep up. Know your passion and live it. Let it drive you to be the best in your niche.
  
Team first
Team first.

Leadership qualities … team first

Do what it takes to make your team more effective and productive. Make each team member focus on putting the team before themselves.
Remember, whatever your role is, be a servant to the team and make your teammates better.

  

Speak appreciation

Gratitude must be a constant drumbeat of your dialogue. Infuse your conversations with an appreciation of your team’s acumen and determination to improve. Learn to be thankful certainly when there’s great success, but also be thankful for what you’ve learned through the hard times because there’s great wisdom in those experiences.
After you have been knocked down, gain your composure, reflect on why this occurred and make changes.

Push people

A good leader makes sure their team members never stop looking bad until eventually, they look good because they have improved.
Push them to be the best they can be. Be a great motivator.

  

Provide structure but encourage improvisation

Provide structure to the team but always encourage everyone to improvise. Inspire them could not do alone.
Show them by example and let other teammates help them do it; that builds a bond that lasts forever.

 

 Build relationships and culture

Constantly build relationships with and between the team. It is the foundation of the culture you want to develop. Remember this: Five percent of what we do is to be sure we perform.
The other ninety-five percent is to create a culture that leads to the team effort.

 

 Continuous improvement and learning

If you’re not doing, you’re not learning.   Everybody makes mistakes.  It’s what you do with them that counts.

  

Give people opportunity to input

It has to be the team’s game plan, not just the leader’s plan. Ensure you are giving everyone an opportunity for inputs and listen carefully. Do what you can to build a team plan.

 

 Adapt your leadership to team

Not all teams are the same, and each requires and responds best to its leadership qualities. Focus on becoming a good reader of the team and adapt your leadership style to what is needed.

 

Leadership qualities list
Leadership qualities list.

Develop other leaders

Leaders are measured not just on what they achieve personally but also on what the people they mentored go on to do as leaders in their right.
Take pride in people you have developed. It is a big ‘pick-me-upper’ if you let it.
 

Agree to disagree, but don’t be disagreeable 

It is all about maintaining a positive attitude all the time, even when times are tough. People can agree to disagree, but need to avoid being disagreeable at all costs.

Character over reputation

Your reputation will vary.  It’s your character that counts, and it’s what you can control.  Encourage everyone to make an effort to do the best of which you’re capable and try to improve each situation that exists.
Your reputation is what you are perceived to be, and your character is what you are. The character is much more important than what you are perceived to be, isn’t it? It is for me.

  

Balance is everything

Keep this quality near the top of your leadership priorities. Preach it and live it.
Balance is everything. Be balanced … controlled action in all areas of life.

 

Don’t let failure be fatal

Keep going.  Don’t let setbacks stop you.  Carry your lessons forward, and change your approach as required.  Don’t fear change … it is a fact of life.
Failure is not fatal, but often a failure to change can be.

Key takeaways

The moral of this story is company culture has a great influence on leadership development. If these different thoughts are possessed by your current leadership team or your emerging leaders, you will be in a good position for the road ahead.
Which of these leadership thoughts stand out to you? Do you have any other thoughts of effective leaders worthy of mention? Leave a comment and share your insights with others…
word_of_mouth
Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s leadership, teamwork, and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?
 
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy innovating your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
  
 More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Build an Effective Team by Being a Talent Hound
Success Enablers of Highly Creative Leaders
Secrets to Becoming a Remarkably Mindful Leader
Leadership Characteristics That Improve Influence
 
Mike Schoultz likes to write about the topics that lead to small business success. He also likes to share his many business experiences. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

Leadership Principles: Which Ones Contribute to the Best Leaders?

Coach Krzyzewski certainly understood leadership principles of being an effective leader, didn’t he?
Spot on. I have been in the military and business world for forty years and I often get asked which leadership principles contribute to the best leaders.
leadership principles
         Thought leadership.
Leaders should be reliable without being predictable. They should be consistent without being anticipated.
Mike Krzyzewski
Check out our thoughts on team leverage.
Developing these qualities is a lifelong learning process. You are never done learning. Every great leader always looks for ways to improve on all of these qualities.
Leadership can be especially challenging for entrepreneurs.
Balancing the need to run a business (i.e., products, investors, customers, etc.) and the need to lead company personnel is quite a task.
Effective leader qualities as an entrepreneur means that you can “make things happen,” instead of just “letting things happen.”
The quality of leader influence involvement is required in many activities. It is involved in a variety of situations and problems, from the very simple to the very complex.
Leaders must influence others in order to achieve goals, and they must gain the respect of followers in order to influence them.
This is no easy task, but if you want to have the respect of your followers you have many trusted leader qualities.
Here are 13 leader qualities Digital Spark Marketing  uses with clients to improve their ability to develop to be the best leaders they can be:

 

Core principles of leadership … foster teamwork

Drucker makes an interesting point when he said that leaders don’t train themselves not to say “I.”
He’s implying that leaders innately work with others and let the team get the credit. They don’t force themselves to say “we.”
“We” is natural for them, and it’s the way they’ve always thought.
We believe that employing an “employee of the month” or a “who gets credit for what” attitude is not a good process.
You work as a team when you don’t care who gets the credit.

 

Leadership principles … encourage growth in others

Some companies follow the motto: “hire for character, train for skill.” You hire people that are eager to learn and are very “raw.”
They don’t have a ton of skills; but as a leader, you teach them, and they become better. They grow with your company and contribute to its success.
You see this with football coaches. In football coaching, it’s almost unheard of for someone with no experience to be hired as the head coach of a team.
Most people start in a low level position (i.e., video coordinator, quality control assistant, scout, etc.) and gradually move up if they become successful in their roles. Sometimes it takes more than thirty years before they finally get a chance to be the head coach.
The same can occur in business. George Bodenheimer is the former president of ESPN. He started out working in the mailroom of ESPN.
It would have been very difficult for him to rise to the presidency if he hadn’t had a boss who wanted to help him grow and succeed in the company.

 

leadership qualities list
Leadership qualities list.

Show courage

Always demonstrate your courage in making tough decisions, knowing that bad decisions will be penalized.  
Remember that doing nothing is always an option.

 

 

Boost employee confidence

Employee attitude is so critical that it can’t be overemphasized. It trickles down from employers. Your business isn’t optimized if you don’t optimize for employee happiness.
Leaders should make employees feel good about themselves.
Constantly criticizing and pointing out the flaws in an employee is a sure fire way to decrease morale and performance.  

 

Examples of leadership principles … be an optimist

People want to follow an optimist, a person always looking to prioritize and solve problems.

 

Be willing to be misunderstood

This isn’t an excuse for being a jerk to employees. To colleagues in your industry, sometimes an invention is at first misunderstood before it becomes a revolution.
So if you aren’t willing to be misunderstood, you may never be a pioneer in your industry.
A good example of a willingness to be misunderstood as a business leader is Netflix. It was a totally unique way to receive movies.
In the late 90′s, if you wanted to rent a movie, you’d have to go through your cable or satellite provider or get one at Blockbuster or something similar.
Getting rental DVDs via mail was unconventional.
Undoubtedly, Netflix needed to be willing to be misunderstood. They were pioneering and attempting to change the way people watch movies.

 

Get people to follow you

You earn leadership by what Anne Mulcahy calls “followership.”
“I think sometimes we forget that we’re not actually anointed leaders, we actually have to earn it and we have to have people that trust us and are willing to follow. I think that really is the differentiator between great leadership and average leadership.”
-Anne Mulcahy, Former Chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation
Even if a leader is anointed, it doesn’t mean that they’ll have followers.
The leader needs to gain the trust of the followers. It has to be earned because not many people will mindlessly follow a leader.

 

Inspire people

Inspire and motivate to get the most from each team member and succeed based on your ability to work with others.
A quality of great leaders is being able to clearly articulate ideas and get people excited and inspired about them. It’s not selling people on an idea, it’s inspiring them.

 

Wear your passion and enthusiasm

Always wear your passion and enthusiasm in what you are doing. To do that, you must find those things that you love.
Follow the passion; it is what gives you the strength to overcome the obstacles to everyday tasks.
Passion is power. It is what keeps you going when everyone else gets tired and gives up.

 

Be a continuous learner

be a continuous learner
Be a continuous learner.
Observing and learning from those around you makes you stronger, better. Never fail to see its value.
Your peers as well as competitors can usually teach you more than your friends. Let them. Learn from them.
To be a great leader, you need to have a strong will and an even stronger stomach.
At the end of the day, you need to remind yourself that your job isn’t to make everyone happy. It is to improve the organization as a whole.
Good leaders constantly trying to improve, surround themselves with the most able people they can find.
They look squarely at their own mistakes and deficiencies. They ask what skills they and the company will need in the future.
And because of this, they can move forward with confidence that’s grounded in the facts. It is not built on fantasies about their talent.
Always work hard at being a little better than you were the day before.
Continuous learning is one of the most important attributes in the work and personal environment.

 

Show persistence

Persistence is key. Always keep up the effort as you will never know how close to success you may be.
Think about your energy. It’s not just about what you like best, but about what feeds you and what depletes you. And who.
Do what you can to increase the good stuff and decrease the bad.
You just need to realize you have the power to accomplish it. Much more than you may have imagined.

 

Limit your fear of failure

No matter how confident someone may seem, everyone is afraid of failing. All of us are afraid of screwing up or afraid of looking stupid.
But great leaders know that everyone they interact with is also afraid.
These people are successful because they act in the face of fear. They go after what they believe, seek change and, ultimately, make a difference.
They also believe they can take a risk because even if they fail, they’ll be able to learn from it and overcome it.
Their fear doesn’t hold them back. Instead, it springs them into action. They know not stretching themselves is worse than failing.

 

Be a good listener

You don’t gain insights by talking. Ideas can come from anywhere. Therefore it’s important to keep your ears open to new ideas and insight.
Focus on hearing everything that’s being said so you can make the most informed decisions.
Listening helps a leader get multiple perspectives. When making a decision, a good leader always listens to a number of different people.
They know they own the final decision but always make sure they get input from multiple people.

 

 

The bottom line

 

Here is a simple reminder. Business leadership skills, like swimming, cannot be learned by reading about them. Tt takes lots of consistent practice.  You need to dive into the pool as soon as possible.
Great leaders know that every step they take, every decision they make, matters in the end.
They know they must strategize carefully, and then act decisively.
They know they must think ahead. Not just to their next step; but to the many steps after it.
Practice these leadership behaviors often and think ahead for your greatest leadership advantages.

 

 

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Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s leadership, teamwork and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?
 
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy innovating your social media strategyg?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
  
More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Build an Effective Team by Being a Talent Hound
Success Enablers of Highly Creative Leaders
Secrets to Becoming a Remarkably Mindful Leader
Leadership Characteristics That Improve Influence
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+FacebookTwitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.