Five Qualities That Made Lincloln an Effective Leader

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On the morning of 15 April 1865, Abraham Lincoln lay dying in a hall bedroom of a cheap lodging house directly across the street from Ford's Theatre, where John Wilkes Booth had shot him. Lincoln's long body lay stretched diagonally across a sagging bed that was too short for him. A cheap reproduction of Rosa Bonheur's famous painting The Horse Fair hung above the bed, and a dismal gas jet flickered yellow light.

As Lincoln lay dying, Secretary of War Stanton said, "There lies the most perfect ruler of men that the world has ever seen".

What was the secret of Lincoln's success in dealing with people?
In this page, I have listed five qualities that made Lincoln an effective leader.

1. Lincloln had the willingness to LEARN  

Abraham Lincoln was deeply introspective. For example, before and during the Civil War, he read extensively about the military history and the strategy in order to help him make decisions regarding ghasty war.

Because of his student-like attitude and how he valued learning, he trusted his instincts and his judgements strongly.

   

    2. He was willing to stand alone

It was typical to find him at odds with those that were very close to him and he also often experienced criticism and scorn from his critics and enemies. He was unwavering and had a deeply decisive issue the nation was facing; slavery and the Civil War, he frequently visited the troops on the front lines, listening to their concerns and gaining insights into the challenges he faced and what he might do about them.

    3. He surrounded himself with very strong people

Evwn though many of the individuals Lincoln picked for key positions were in fact his rivals, he valued them because they were strong, independent, experienced, and vocal. He actively sought out their perspectives and respected capabilities. On the other hand, his independence and trust in his judgement gave him the confidence to learn from others, seek their advice and still make their decisions that he needed to make based on his own personal assessments of the situation.

   4. He was a Hands-on Leader

He often visited the places where work was being done that related to the issues he was wrestling with, asking numerous questions and gaining insights from those who had the most knowledge about a situation.

    5. He was unbashedly Human

He was fearless to show his emotions and he was deeply passionate about issues. He took every opportunity to interact with his constituents and anyone else that he believed had insights or knowledge that could be relevant to the problems he was pondering. For example, he frequenntly visited the troops on the front lines during the Civil War, listening to their concerns, and gainning insights into the challenges he faced and what he might do about them.

An obvious question is : Do we have examples of leaders of the Lincoln caliber today? I cannot come up with with a good one, but that may be because modern media is so pervasive, and there are so many aspects of performance that draw comments today, that it is very difficult to spot the really exceptional. On the other hand, maybe Lincoln was really just that outstanding!

One this is sure; the attributes described above are absolutely core to strong leadership and Lincoln Provides a terrific example of what we all need to strive to be.