There are four major qualities that made up Abraham Lincoln’s leadership. His four qualities are integrity, passion, daringness, and guiding visions. Abraham Lincoln had two guiding visions. Lincoln knew what he wanted to do and would not stop until he reached his goals of reuniting our country and ending slavery. His passion and integrity went hand in hand. He was so passionate toward ending the injustice of slavery that it cost him a seat in the U.S. Senate. Despite losing this position he remained steadfast on his goal and continued on that platform two years later when he ran for president. Even though he was passionate in ending slavery, his integrity to stay steadfast to the cause despite the war shows he was true to his word. His final attribute was his daringness to do something no one had ever done before. When he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, he freed all Southern slaves and forever changed the economy and politics of America (history.org).
Two major turning points in Lincoln’s life seem to have set the stage for his presidency. The first turning point was about seven years in the making. As a state legislator for Illinois, he became a leading member of the Whig party and, as his years of service grew, he gained more seniority and his agenda could be revealed (history.org). He spoke about the injustices of slavery. The other major turning point in his life came about when he sought the U.S. Senate seat for the second time to no avail. In his second attempt, he ran against the popular Stephen Douglas. Lincoln realized he may lose, but used election as a platform to speak about how wrong slavery was and the need to end it. He lost the election, but in the process caused Stephen Douglas and the Democrats to become divided and that would allow Lincoln to win the Presidential Election of 1860 (whitehouse.gov).
Abraham Lincoln was probably one of our country’s biggest failures, but you would never know it. Lincoln never let a failure destroy him. He continued to try and try. Lincoln lost an election to the Illinois state legislature, he lost his true love to death, his business went bankrupt, he lost the Illinois Speaker of the House position, he was defeated twice when running for the U.S. Senate, and lost his bid to be the Vice-Presidential nominee (Carnegie, 1932). Most people would give up after this many loses, but he focused on his success and used his losses to his advantage. For example, in his Senate race against Douglas, he used the captive audience to get his message out about slavery. His approach paid dividends in the long run.
References
Abraham Lincoln. (n.d.) In White House online. Retrieved fromhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln/
Abraham Lincoln. (n.d.) In History Channel online. Retrieved from
http://www.history.com/presidents/lincoln/biography
Carnegie, Dale. (1932). Lincoln the Unknown. Garden City, NY: Dale Carnegie and Associates, Inc.
The discussion of failure is so important as the dividing line between leaders and those who do not lead is typically their response to failures. For many people a failure signals an end to that aspect of their life. The willingness to be steadfast and stay the course is truly a vital part of leadership. Your discussion about Lincoln's many failures and losses is truly remarkable. I was unaware of the many situations that he endured. I found your discussion of the US Senate race very interesting as you discussed his ability to use a captive audience to bring forth his message.
ReplyDeleteLincoln's many qualities of leadership that you have identified including passion and guiding visions certainly reinforced his willingness to not let failure stop him and his mission. His guiding vision also allowed him to "back burner" critical issues but never forget what his end goals ares. Connecting these attributes to the application of leadership such as you have identified with Lincoln, begins to develop the "whole leader".
It is evident that Lincoln encompassed many qualities that made him a great leader. Many of these same qualities are also present in my leader of choice (Holtz). Both men believed in a cause, understood what they wanted, and then went out and completed it with passion and integrity.
ReplyDeleteI was unaware of all of Lincoln’s failures. As with any great leader failure is just the next step to success. Lincoln’s ability to never quite is impressive on multiple levels. You did a great job explaining who and why Lincoln became a great president.
It never occurred to me to think of President Lincoln as being a failure and I was surprised to read about it. That is not something you learn about in the history books, but I respect him more now then before I knew of his failures. In fact, his tribulations and hardships made him a better president. Lincoln was one of the bravest presidents who took chances and changed the way many people thought about slavery.
ReplyDeleteThank you for inspiring me to learn more about President Abraham Lincoln and his actual life as a leader. It’s amazing how we can learn from the great leaders of the past and how they still influence our lives today. Many of the leaders chosen by the members in our class share the qualities of determination and inspiration which continue to play a role in our lives.