Shortlist: Learnings from Lincoln – 4 human qualities of leadership

Former US president Abraham Lincoln is considered a great leader. CEO, management consultant and historian Stephen Bungay identifies the human qualities that helped him to excel.

In 1860, the United States’ Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln to run for President. Along with Washington and Roosevelt, Lincoln has consistently been rated among the greatest figures to have held that great office.

For all the mass of information we have about him, we will never know what Lincoln was really like. However, Steven Spielberg’s film Lincoln offers a portrait of the man that has a ring of truth about it.   

The film covers the last four months of the Civil War and of Lincoln’s life. The central drama is not the war, but Lincoln’s efforts to get the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed by the House of Representatives before the war ended. The Amendment consisted of two single-sentence sections which abolished slavery in the US.

Spielberg’s portrayal shows some human qualities which explain why Lincoln stands in such high regard as the supreme commander of a country at war and as the leader of a nation. 

1. Clarity of thought

Lincoln’s clarity was the result of two things: the espousal of a rigorous set of principles and the intellectual power to translate those principles into a remorseless logic which drove his actions.

Lincoln had not entered the war to abolish slavery, but to maintain the Union and prevent the expansion of slavery into new states. The progress of the war led to an expansion of the principles at stake. By late summer of 1862, Lincoln had accepted that slavery had to be abolished and from then on he was unyielding.

Abolition became a war aim and was maintained until it was achieved. Others bought into parts of the package but for Lincoln the package was indivisible. Nobody else ‘got it’ as he did. It was simple: "We must cure ourselves of slavery. This amendment is that cure."

2. Pragmatism

Lincoln was neither dogmatic nor fanatical. He combined his determination to act on principle with an unrelenting grip on reality, including the realities of human nature.

Precisely because of his iron grip on the principles at stake he was prepared to do almost anything to achieve the outcomes which counted.

3. Passion

Lincoln’s passion drove an unquenchable resolve to see things through, and could manifest itself in displays of emotion.

For the most part, Lincoln rides the storm-tossed waters of his time with apparent equanimity. He rarely raises his voice. Confronted by his enemies, he is calm and collected.

But occasionally, only with those closest to him, his cabinet and his family, he displays anger. At one point, Lincoln loses his temper with his cabinet as they prevaricate. He jumps up and slams his fist on the table: “I need this”, he cries.

He summons up the magnitude of the cause: “We are stepped out upon the world stage now. The fate of human dignity is in our hands. Blood’s been spilled to afford us this moment. Now, now, now!”

4. Humility grounded in basic humanity

Lincoln recognises and understands his own failings and those of others. He is humble in knowing that though he holds a great office, he shares his humanity with all.

He has no need to boost his ego by taking seriously the trappings of power. He is a pure vessel, a servant of his cause.  His greatness comes from his cause and his subservience to it.

The main vehicle through which Lincoln’s humanity is expressed is his manner of communication. Lincoln knew that speeches have their limits. When he really wanted to get through to people, he abandoned formality and scripts. Instead, he told stories.

The stories come unexpectedly. Their point is not always immediately obvious, but they are always told for a reason. They usually make a point about his values and are usually humorous. Laughter is a great leveller.

Early on, he tells one from the time when he was a young lawyer, when he was defending an elderly woman who had killed her husband in self-defence. Lincoln asked to see her in his room and left the window open. She was never seen again.

Lincoln and his listeners all chuckle. Why tell that tale? It was at a point when Lincoln wanted to remind people that justice is not always the same as legality, that law is just an instrument, that following the letter of it is sometimes pointless.

What good would it do anyone to convict a 77-year-old woman? Lincoln never spells out the lessons of the stories. But he is about to bend the rules for the sake of getting the votes he needs.

Lincoln is a film about a remarkable man. Most of us are unremarkable. A few of us are nevertheless called upon to don the robes of power for a while. We should not forget that they are just clothes, given to us by others for a purpose.

Those clothed in power need to articulate the purpose they serve. If they speak as ordinary men, telling funny little stories, they may become great leaders, for then people will follow them. In this way, ordinary men can achieve remarkable things.