Learning Leadership From the Best

There are many ways we can learn new things, including leadership. Two of the most widely used are to read about principles and ideas and to learn from an expert.

Team of Rivals - The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin, can help you do both at once.

Maybe you would prefer to learn from a mentor who is alive, but on the other hand you would be hard pressed to learn from a leader more extraordinary than Lincoln. President Lincoln is one of the most written about people in history, so you might wonder what new can be learned about it.

While I am no Lincoln scholar, I can tell you I learned a lot about this man, and more importantly in the context of this post, I learned much about leadership.

All would agree that leaders need to build alliances and relationships with a wide range of people in order to be most successful. I have trouble thinking anyone has ever done this more effectively than Lincoln.

Here are a few questions to ponder . . .

Would you invite people into your inner circle who had previously ridiculed your professional skills rudely, directly, and very publicly?

(Lincoln put at least two of these people on his Cabinet.)

Would you count your chief adversaries among your most trusted advisors?

(Lincoln put all three of other Republican nominees for President in 1860 and people from other parties on his cabinet too.)

Would you stick with people long after they had become political liabilities (and when they spoke publicly against your policies) because you believed in their ability to get the job done?

(Lincoln did this more than once.)

Would you reject the resignation of a member of your team even when they were openly campaigning for your job?

(Lincoln did it at least twice.)

A Team of Rivals is a book about the history of the United States at it's most critical juncture. It is a book that sheds light on the times, sentiments, and forces that lead to the strife and turmoil that was the American Civil War. It is a book about Abe Lincoln, both before and during his Presidency.

But this book is much more than that.

This book is also a study of leadership - not just Lincoln's but several of his rivals who became a part of his Cabinet.

Through the lenses of history and some great writing by Doris Kearns Goodwin you can learn about the approaches and foibles of one of our greatest leaders. You will learn about many leadership virtues, such as patience, loyalty, consensus building, relationships, vision and much more.

While you could go to the bookstore or click to Amazon and find books written specifically on each of these topics, you won't learn more from them than you will right here.

This book is a history book and a biography, so you won't get leadership models, templates, cheatsheets or checklists.

What you will get is the opportunity to watch, and learn from the lessons of one of the best - and you will have the opportunity to make those lessons your own through reflection and thought.

I'll read other books on leadership this year, probably many.

And while they will each be useful in their own right, I doubt I will learn as much that will stick with me as long as what I learned from a Team of Rivals.

Also posted in Leadership, Learning, Teamwork and Training.