Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times

“It hurt Lincoln somewhat not to have formed a successful link with McClellan, but at least he’d maintained his integrity. The lesson to be learned here is to simply not give up attempting to build solid alliances. For every failed attempt like the relationship with McCellan, there may be two successful ones like Seward and Stanton.”

This quotation is important because Phillips acknowledges that even Lincoln would sometimes meet with failure in his leadership efforts. Lincoln was unable to form a productive relationship with General George Brinton McClellan due to differences in personality and leadership styles. Phillips implies that leaders need to move past setbacks like this and focus on other collaborations that will better serve a project or company.

“If modern leaders don’t intuitively understand human nature as well as Lincoln did, they should at least make an attempt to learn more on the subject. After all, the most important asset an organization has is its employees.” 

This quotation encapsulates one of the central tenets in Lincoln on Leadership: leaders must actively strive to form productive relationships with colleagues or employees. Lincoln valued other people’s ideas and understood that widespread support of Union officials and soldiers would be necessary for winning the Civil War. Similarly, modern leaders must accept that they must earn the support and trust of employees or their companies will fail.

“If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great high road to his reason, and which, when once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing his judgment of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause really be a just one.” 

This quotation is an excerpt from a law lecture written by Lincoln that Phillips includes in Chapter 3. It is important because it provides, in Lincoln’s own words, advice regarding effective leadership strategies. Lincoln believes that persuasion is more effective than dictating or giving orders, and that appealing to the reason of people rather than governing through intimidation will help a leader gain the genuine support of followers.

“Dictatorship, force, coercion—all were characteristics of tyrants, despots, and oppressors in Lincoln’s view. All violated the basic rights of the individual to which he was so committed and upon which the nation was founded. All violated a basic sense of human decency.” 

In this quotation, Phillips makes a succinct connection between Lincoln’s leadership style and his core value of liberty for all. Lincoln resisted dictatorship in all forms, and we see this both in his anti-slavery stance and in his treatment of people who worked below him in the government and military. Phillips reiterates this connection between Lincoln’s commitment to liberty and his everyday leadership style many times throughout the text.

“With today’s employees wanting more than monetary and tangible rewards, leaders need to use different persuasive tactics than the traditional ‘stick and carrot’ approach. Understanding the nuances of various positions and building rapport with a variety of workers allows you to take the most effective path to success without damaging relationships.”

Phillips describes the complex dynamics of the modern workplace, where job satisfaction and fulfillment are dependent on more than an individual’s salary. It is necessary for leaders to understand the needs of their workers on a level that goes beyond typical concerns of paychecks and benefits. Just as Lincoln endeavored to communicate honestly with his generals and soldiers and understand their motivations, so do modern leaders need to employ a similar approach in their relationships with employees.

“In addition to being much-needed moral standards, values tend to be motives by which subordinates act and react. The possession and preaching of wide-ranging, appealing goals and values will result in broad support from the masses. People will be involved participants in a shared group effort. Put more simply, values motivate.” 

This quotation follows a description of Lincoln’s exceptional integrity and his efforts to deal honestly with people from all walks of life. Phillips makes a connection between moral values and their practical benefits in the workplace. By consistently upholding certain values, a leader can build trust among a group of people. This trust will then translate into support and achievement of goals. The leader must genuinely believe in the values he or she practices in order for employees to be convinced of their importance to the organization.

“What can modern leaders learn from Lincoln’s issuance of so many pardons? Is there a lesson to be learned here? It is, in part, that by being compassionate and kind rather than malicious or vengeful, a leader will make fewer enemies for himself and his organization and will thereby create more supporters, more dedicated ‘soldiers’ to aid in the overall corporate mission.” 

This quotation is important because Phillips makes a direct interjection into his history of Lincoln’s leadership style to make an analogy with modern corporate environments. Phillips believes that the employees in a modern company are similar to soldiers during the Civil War because, in each instance, gaining the support of these key groups is what makes it possible for leaders to achieve their goals. One main way to secure this support is to practice empathy and avoid destructive behavior against individuals who make mistakes.

“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, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.” 

This is another excerpt from one of Lincoln’s own speeches that Phillips provides to illustrate his main point in Chapter 5. This quotation is from Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address of 1865 in which the president calls for mutual forgiveness among Americans. Through this example, Phillips shows that Lincoln’s style of governance was based on empathy for people who disagreed with his ideas, a concept that modern managers should apply to their own companies.

“But every man of courage must, sooner or later, deal with unjust criticism. And all individuals who lead other people, especially those who enter the political arena, likely will be subjected to severe criticism as well as personal attacks on their honor and character. Lincoln realized this fact of life and was prepared for it, as every leader should be.” 

In this quotation, Phillips refers to Lincoln’s notable modesty and willingness to accept criticism when it was valid, or simply ignore it when it was unjust slander. In either case, Phillips believes it is not beneficial to a leader to publicly refute outside critiques unless absolutely necessary, a principle that Lincoln enacted consistently throughout his life in the public sphere.

“However, on occasion Lincoln would stand up and defend himself to any and all detractors, especially if the false accusation was particularly damaging to the public’s view of his principles. But when those principles were contrary to the beliefs of the local majority, Lincoln would not back down or compromise.” 

In this quotation, Phillips explains the exception Lincoln made to his own beliefs about ignoring unjust critiques. While typically Lincoln would not engage with public criticism, a major exception was when the subject of criticism was his anti-slavery stance. Because abolishing slavery was Lincoln’s number one priority, he would not ignore criticisms against it and would stand his ground against those who wanted to retain a slave system in the US. This is important because modern leaders need to recognize that it does not pay to falter when their true convictions are challenged, either by outsiders or employees in their own organizations.

“Do what Lincoln did. Ignore most of the attacks if they are petty, but fight back when they are important enough to make a difference. Write letters of refutation that vent your anger and emotions, but do not mail them. And, always, look at the lighter side of life by keeping your sense of humor.” 

This quotation is a succinct summary of the main points of Chapter 6. Phillips makes his management advice crystal clear in passages like this one, often found at the end of chapters. Phillips also addresses his readers directly using second person pronouns so there is no doubt about his intentions in writing this book: he wants to provide leadership advice to a mass audience using examples from Lincoln’s life and presidency.

“It is difficult, and sometimes paradoxical, to think of Abraham Lincoln as a man who possessed charisma in much the same way as, say, John F. Kennedy did. After all, this is the same stoic-faced individual we see in old photographs; the never-smiling man of the statues and busts; the man who dressed in black, dull, ill-fitting clothes and rarely combed his hair. But ‘paradox’ is a most appropriate description for not only Lincoln the man but Lincoln the leader.” 

In this quotation Phillips introduces the idea that a leader must “Be a Master of Paradox,” the title of Chapter 7. Phillips’s claim is that leaders must have flexible perspectives based on context and not be rigid or unyielding in their governing style. Lincoln demonstrated this character trait of flexibility in all aspects of his life and work, even though the image of him that has been passed down the generations is of a humorless and rigid man. Phillips points out that this is a misconception of Lincoln, and he makes a comparison with a more recent president, John F. Kennedy, who was famous for his good looks and charisma, to suggest that Lincoln was more relatable and flexible than he gets credit for today.

“Lincoln usually exhibited his darker sides only in private; sometime later, after cooling off, he would again address the problem, in a less emotional frame of mind. But Lincoln’s primary goal was to not lose his temper at all, or at least to minimize the times he would do so. His strategy was simply to not put himself in that position, to avoid conflict, wherever possible”

This refers to one of the main points in Chapter 7: all leaders are going to meet with frustrating situations from time to time, but it is not effective to react publicly when everyone’s emotions are running high. Phillips refers to emotional stress or anger experienced by leaders as their “darker sides,” and Lincoln developed a strategy for keeping himself in check in high stress situations. Like Lincoln, modern leaders need to be conscious of the negative effects impulsive displays of anger can have on employee morale or the success of a company.

“In fact, [Lincoln] employed a classic decision-making sequence of events that began with an understanding of all the facts that were involved, often obtaining this information himself by venturing into the field. Lincoln would also consider a variety of possible solutions and the consequences of each. Finally, he would assure himself that any action taken would be consistent with his administrative and personal policy objectives. And then he would effectively communicate his decision and implement it.” 

In this quotation, Phillips describes a clear pattern in Lincoln’s style of governance. There was a four-step process Lincoln would follow for most decisions he made. Lincoln would not implement changes in the government or military without forethought or a thorough understanding of the consequences that would result. Modern leaders can use this process when implementing their own changes in an organization to ensure that all their decisions have purpose and direction.

“Lincoln also had the enviable quality of being able to listen to people and be guided by them without being threatened himself. He possessed the open-mindedness and flexibility necessary for worthwhile leadership. Frequently he would listen to his subordinates’ suggestions and recommendations. If they made sense, and if their course of action matched his own ideas, he would let them proceed with the knowledge and belief that it was their idea.” 

Phillips points out that Lincoln was confident enough in himself that he was open to other people’s ideas. While some managers betray an inner inferiority complex when they are threatened by their employees’ creative thinking, Lincoln instead believed in the value of diverse perspectives. He was also happy to give credit where credit was due and allow his colleagues to feel valued and important, rather than inconsequential or replaceable.

“Establishing goals and gaining their acceptance from subordinates is crucial for effective leadership. Goals unify people, motivate them, focus their talent and energy. Lincoln united his followers with the ‘corporate mission’ of preserving the Union and abolishing slavery, and this objective became more firm and resolute with the onslaught of civil war.”

Phillips emphasizes the importance of an organization having a clearly defined purpose with the use of goals. Goals are necessary to prevent a company from fracturing or employees from formulating random plans that will accomplish nothing worthwhile. Phillips makes an analogy between Lincoln’s use of goals to provide direction during the Civil War. Even though he was running a country, not a corporation, Phillips uses the jargon term “corporate mission” to suggest that leaders in modern companies can still use Lincoln’s practices as a beneficial model of management.

“Once again, here is a Lincoln principle that modern leaders should not ignore. If your chief subordinates do not move and get the job going, then you should act, decisively and without hesitation. Issue formal ‘war orders’ or, better yet, go to the field and take charge yourself. Set the tone and give your people a message. If your followers see you leading the fight, just as Lincoln took Norfolk, there will be no mistaking what you want them to do.” 

Phillips again addresses the reader directly in the second person to give advice regarding management techniques when employees are not meeting expectations. Like Lincoln, modern leaders need to practice a hands-on approach to correct employees’ mistakes. Often this will involve confronting the employee one-on-one and in person, as Lincoln had to do with his generals during the Civil War.

“Lincoln effected the change needed by being extraordinarily decisive and by creating an atmosphere of entrepreneurship that fostered innovative techniques.” 

Phillips often makes analogies between Lincoln’s position as president and a business executive’s position as manager of a company. The phrase “atmosphere of entrepreneurship” in this quotation frames Lincoln’s presidency in corporate terms again. Phillips claims that Lincoln’s open-mindedness allowed for creative innovations in weaponry during the Civil War. Modern leaders need to exhibit similar open-mindedness to achieve success in business.

“A leader’s ability to develop innovative ideas and ask for people’s help in implementing them may seem to be obvious keys to success. But the sad fact is that too many of today’s leaders resign themselves to the limits imposed on them by flawed systems rather than rethinking those systems. This seems especially true in America as opposed to Japan, where innovation is a way of life.” 

Phillips believes that creative thinking is a necessity for a successful leader. Sometimes innovations will originate from the leader firsthand, and sometimes new ideas spring from employees or colleagues. Either way, openness to new methods or approaches is integral to a leader’s success. Phillips makes a rare reference to another cultural context in this example, Japan, as most of the book is implicitly about corporate America.

“As president, Lincoln was an intelligent communicator. He was careful about what he said, and he thought before he spoke. Every one of his major addresses while in office [...] was meticulously prepared and read from a completed manuscript. In the case of each there was a specific message Lincoln wanted to convey. He was not talking just to hear his own voice.” 

This passage contains an important summary of Lincoln’s methods of communication that contributed to his success as a leader. Although he was a very articulate lawyer, he did not rely on this talent and instead wrote carefully crafted speeches so that his message was pre-planned and controlled. Much of Chapter 13 is about Lincoln’s hard work to be an effective communicator and the lengthy time he would spend researching and writing.

“Lincoln, it turned out, had an overwhelming inventory of anecdotes, jokes, and stories. Furthermore, he possessed the ability to instantly pull out just the right one for any situation that might arise. Lincoln was a master at the art of storytelling, and he used that ability purposefully and effectively when he was president of the United States.” 

Phillips frames Lincoln’s penchant for humor and storytelling as a strategic avenue for relating to people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Lincoln’s ultimate goal was to gain his listeners’ support for himself as leader of the country. Modern leaders need to adopt a similar demeanor of friendliness and relatability if they hope to advance in the corporate contexts of today.

“Moreover, truly accepted visions tend to foster innovation, risk-taking, empowerment, and delegation. If the working troops understand what is expected of them, what the organization is trying to accomplish, then it becomes possible to make important decisions on lower levels, thereby creating a climate in which results and progress continually occur.” 

Phillips discusses the importance of “vision” in a company, by which he means clearly defined goals or benchmarks that employees need to be working toward. He uses the phrase “working troops” to signal that this is another analogy for Lincoln’s approach to managing the military troops during the Civil War. Just as Lincoln’s generals always understood the ultimate goal of the war—abolishing slavery and reuniting the country—so do a modern leader’s employees always need to keep the main purpose of a project at the forefront of their minds. It is the responsibility of their leader or manager to state goals clearly so that expectations are set from the beginning.

“In order to comprehend modern leadership theory and be successful in the future, leaders must look to the past—to President Abraham Lincoln, for example—who routinely practiced nearly all the ‘revolutionary thinking’ techniques that have been preached to American industry in the last ten to fifteen years.” 

At the culmination of the book, Phillips restates his main thesis. In this quotation he makes an explicit connection between historical leaders and “modern leadership theory,” reiterating that historical models are perhaps the best option for learning about leadership in a developing field of study. While Phillips believes Lincoln is the optimal example for learning specific leadership techniques, he implies that other historical figures would also be useful models for modern leaders.