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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
A local business leader provided this book at a recent seminar. It does an excellent job of condensing and illustrating some principles contemporary speakers/writers/researchers have learned about leadership.
A sign it was good: I recorded a lot of notes and quotes:
When a leader begins to coerce his followers, he’s essentially abandoning leadership and embracing dictatorship
If people like/trust you, you may be able to persuade them
Lincoln used the principles in the currently popular “Radical Candor”
Managers do things right; leaders do the right thing
It is the sole responsibility of the leader to instill values by constant preaching and persuasion.
Lincoln was known for leniency. Which may have been a positive trait. (But what would he have thought of the fact that we are still fighting the Civil War in many ways)
My thought: Why do we view politicians and business leaders differently? We see one as playing a game, and that’s to our society’s detriment.
Abe: “in any future great national trial, compared with the men of this, we shall have as weak and as strong, as silly and as wise, as bad as good”
“If I have not established a character enough to give lie to this charge, I can only say that I am mistaken in my own estimate of myself” REPUTATION MATTERS
Leaders must deal with paradoxes (good lesson for me)
Aesop’s fable of woods mans daughter and lion— Obama should have read it before assuming the opposition was negotiating in good faith.
Abe was a master of anecdote; I hope my “parables” are 1% as enlightening.
“He who does something at the head of one regiment will eclipse him who does nothing at the head of 100”
A sign it was good: I recorded a lot of notes and quotes:
When a leader begins to coerce his followers, he’s essentially abandoning leadership and embracing dictatorship
If people like/trust you, you may be able to persuade them
Lincoln used the principles in the currently popular “Radical Candor”
Managers do things right; leaders do the right thing
It is the sole responsibility of the leader to instill values by constant preaching and persuasion.
Lincoln was known for leniency. Which may have been a positive trait. (But what would he have thought of the fact that we are still fighting the Civil War in many ways)
My thought: Why do we view politicians and business leaders differently? We see one as playing a game, and that’s to our society’s detriment.
Abe: “in any future great national trial, compared with the men of this, we shall have as weak and as strong, as silly and as wise, as bad as good”
“If I have not established a character enough to give lie to this charge, I can only say that I am mistaken in my own estimate of myself” REPUTATION MATTERS
Leaders must deal with paradoxes (good lesson for me)
Aesop’s fable of woods mans daughter and lion— Obama should have read it before assuming the opposition was negotiating in good faith.
Abe was a master of anecdote; I hope my “parables” are 1% as enlightening.
“He who does something at the head of one regiment will eclipse him who does nothing at the head of 100”
Really interesting look at leadership in the 1860s and how applicable it is today.
Loved it. It's a nice outline by topic and it makes me want to read more. And I'm REALLY sad that he was assassinated and his leadership was lost too soon.
felt more like excessive examples than substance. Everything that needed to be said was summarized on the last page of the chapter, making the rest of it kind of unnecessary. also felt kinda like the idolization of a politician so i mean i’m not about that
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
One of the final lines of the book gives summary enough, "Lincoln's attitude and behavior as president of the United States essentially characterized the process that symbolizes acceptable and decent relations among human beings."
Many of the observations about leadership Phillips makes seem to be common sense, but it's his methodical analysis of Lincoln's implementation of the characteristics of leadership that provided for me a new appreciation for Lincoln and his approach to governing. Some favorite quotes:
Lincoln “advised others to ‘never add the weight of your character to a charge against a person without knowing it to be true’” (54).
“Lincoln essentially treated his subordinates as equals; they were colleagues in a joint effort. . . . The best leaders never stop learning. They possess a special capacity to be taught by those with whom they come into contact” (138).
“Through the course of the four years of the Civil War, Lincoln kept repeating and renewing his vision so that it would not diminish in meaning. It was this process of renewal that was, in effect, Lincoln's greatest form of motivation. Over time, as values decay and incentives dwindle, leaders must constantly provide a rejuvenating process” (166).
Lincoln “advised others to ‘never add the weight of your character to a charge against a person without knowing it to be true’” (54).
“Lincoln essentially treated his subordinates as equals; they were colleagues in a joint effort. . . . The best leaders never stop learning. They possess a special capacity to be taught by those with whom they come into contact” (138).
“Through the course of the four years of the Civil War, Lincoln kept repeating and renewing his vision so that it would not diminish in meaning. It was this process of renewal that was, in effect, Lincoln's greatest form of motivation. Over time, as values decay and incentives dwindle, leaders must constantly provide a rejuvenating process” (166).
The book contains some very good advice. It is a bit slow reading at times, which is why I gave it the low rating of "just ok." Basically, you get the principle, then an illustration of the principle from Lincoln's life and work. At the end of each chapter you then get some bullet points which summarize the chapter nicely. For people just wanting to scan, those bullet points would be the way to go. It is interesting to read about Lincoln, but as I said, the prose at times can be a bit dry. However, I still think the book is worth a look, and it is not too heavy.
As far as leaderships go, this was very conversational and painless. It was insightful, and there were a lot of stories of Lincoln and how he handled a variety of issues. This book demonstrates his amazing leadership ability and drive to succeed. Many leaders, especially national leaders, would do well to read this book and follow Lincoln's example. Of course, the principles brought forth in this book are applicable to everyone, even if you're a stay-at-home person. Dealing with people and situations are skills we all can improve upon.
I read this as part of a leadership book study group at my school. There are principles here which are applicable to our situation, but first a few criticisms.
1. This was published in the 1990s for a corporate audience. Things have changed and schools should not be run like corporations, necessarily. (There is an updated version of the book, but I can't comment on that one, as I did not read it.)
2. Lincoln clearly was a great leader and we can all learn from his style of influence. However, in a school, his position would be most comparable to the head principal and we teacher leaders are more like generals.
3. History and context are clearly important in a book about Abraham Lincoln and his leadership abilities. However, I personally found it a little heavy in historical details.
I think I'd like to seek out a more school-relevant book for our next study and something published in the last 5-10 years would be ideal. Again, there are good lessons here about leadership, but the world is ever-changing. I'd like something that is more current.
1. This was published in the 1990s for a corporate audience. Things have changed and schools should not be run like corporations, necessarily. (There is an updated version of the book, but I can't comment on that one, as I did not read it.)
2. Lincoln clearly was a great leader and we can all learn from his style of influence. However, in a school, his position would be most comparable to the head principal and we teacher leaders are more like generals.
3. History and context are clearly important in a book about Abraham Lincoln and his leadership abilities. However, I personally found it a little heavy in historical details.
I think I'd like to seek out a more school-relevant book for our next study and something published in the last 5-10 years would be ideal. Again, there are good lessons here about leadership, but the world is ever-changing. I'd like something that is more current.