Abraham Lincolns personality and character - Term Paper Example

First 5 March, Abraham Lincoln Introduction Leadership, though not a new concept, has always been a much treasured quality in every walk of life. Leaders can bring out the magnificent qualities in people and create an atmosphere in which they feel safe and supported; this further motivates them to do anything that the leader desires or visualizes. Such responsibility comes with immense trust in the leader and vice versa. Leaders are meant to guide others to their fullest potential and make others realize what they are capable of achieving. In other words, leaders hold the lives of others in their hands. Therefore, it becomes even more sensitive to care for and support their people. To cultivate such abilities, leaders need to possess and/or develop certain qualities, which Abraham Lincoln exemplifies through his personality and achievements for the Americans. These qualities helped Lincoln lead Americans through the path of success and lifted them to greater heights above all kinds of suffering that was prevalent during his leadership. This discourse explores Abraham Lincoln’s personality and character in order to understand what leadership qualities lead him to the successful image that is conferred upon him today by the world. Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States and served for four years before he was assassinated. He was instrumental in ending slavery in America and in promoting economic transformation. He was born in a poor family, but received minimal education post which he struggled hard to complete his education in the field of law. After much struggle and many failures, he was elected as the President of United States of America in 1861. Lincoln’s story to Presidency and his leadership exemplify his struggle as well as his character. Abraham Lincoln’s leadership qualities: Abraham Lincoln possessed some natural qualities that formed the basis for other leadership qualities. Naturally acquired qualities included honesty and integrity, empathy for common man, and devotion to the rights of individuals (Phillips, 6). His education and profession in law provided other qualities required for him to move into leadership role. Lincoln’s personality can be understood through one of the articles published by the London Daily News post Lincoln’s assassination, which stated, “Rising from among the poorest of the people, winning his slow way upward by sheer hard work, preserving in every successive stage a character unspotted and a name untainted, securing a wider respect as he became better knowing, never pretending to more than he was, nor being less than he professed himself, he was at length, for very singleness of heart and uprightness of conduct, because all felt that they could trust him utterly, and would desire to be guided by his firmness, courage, and sense, placed in the chair of President at the turning point of his nation’s history’ (Shea, p.252). Abraham Lincoln is one leader the world knows of as the ‘true’ leader that emerged stronger every time he failed. Lincoln was known for his kindness, honesty, shrewd intelligence, hard work, integrity and character perseverance, courage and confidence; in short, he is regarded as embodiment of true leader in all aspects. Hence, there is much that contemporary leaders can learn from his personality. Visionary: Abraham Lincoln had a vision of future America that would foster equality and freedom for all. This, he continuously preached wherever he went. This vision was able to move Americans through persuasion. Besides preaching his vision, Lincoln reaffirmed importance of common man in achieving his vision. As Phillips puts it, ‘Lincoln set his goals, preached his vision, and accomplished his mission,’ (p.97). Leader’s vision helps in forming a direction to the leader as well as followers. To achieve the vision, goals need to be set in order to ensure right steps are being taken towards the vision. Communication: Lincoln was a good listener. As described by David Herbert Donald, Abraham Lincoln encouraged criticism from others and listened carefully to the criticism (Wood, 265). Lincoln was closely connected to his people in order to understand what they valued and what they needed. He was also always curious to know his people’s opinions and/or feedback on the actions and decisions he was taking. It is believed that he had opened the doors to the White House for his people to share their thoughts and feedback with him. Another key quality that Donald points out is his clear and concise communication styles. Lincoln adopted a very simple and clear communication style in both writing and reading so that all people could understand. He liked to speak naturally and used most common words that people were able to relate with their understanding and knowledge (Wood, 265). Lincoln always ensured to take feedback from all people he was associated with as a political leader, which included his people. This helped him to understand the perceptions his people had and also assess his effectiveness as a leader. The feedback also served to know what his people expected of him and paved the direction for his future strategies. People connect: Lincoln had developed deep interest and attachment to people of the country; he was particularly interested in the uneducated and downtrodden fellow beings. He emphasized education, ability to read and understand scriptures, history, and other religious material. As described by Howard, ‘Lincoln became the man that is recognized the world over as the great liberator of human potential. Not only did he liberate his own potential, he engineered social changes that freed the potential of others’ (69). Firstly, Lincoln connected with people of America by sharing his vision that they were also able to relate to. Lincoln understood his people’s suffering, issues and concerns. Hence, when he spoke to the people, he was able to establish a connection, not only with them mentally, but also with their emotions, feelings and psychology. He was able to win the hearts of millions of people through his vision, which was also his people’s deepest wish. Public speaking: Abraham Lincoln strongly believed that a leader should have the ability to attract people by making effective speech. His conversational and public-speaking skills had a profound impact on individuals and large crowds. Lincoln consciously enhanced his oratory skills with every speech because he believed that this would help him persuade and influence people. These efforts to improve his persuasion and influencing skills helped him even after he became the President. Though Lincoln possessed good extemporaneous skills, he still planned and prepared his speeches beforehand in order to avoid unnecessary misinterpretations (Phillips, 148). Lincoln was very cautious of what he spoke, how he spoke, to whom he spoke and when he spoke. Choosing the right people: Abraham Lincoln strongly believed in his principles and values, and thus looked for similar values in others. This helped him in identifying the right people for the job. For example, Lincoln had chosen Johnson, a war Democrat from Tennessee, to attract moderate Democrats for forming a party. Lincoln had identified that Johnson believed in similar values as his own; Johnson believed in free labor and a postwar society that was different from that of Republicans (Richardson, 40). Lincoln chose many other subordinates that were willing to take risks; they were willing to act without waiting for direction; and always asked for responsibility rather than avoid it (Phillips, 138). Lincoln did not hesitate to expel officers that were not willing to or able to perform their job well. He stayed strongly focused on his vision and objectives, which did not shake his confidence when some of his officers failed to achieve their objectives, especially on the war front. Lincoln’s personality: Passion: Abraham Lincoln is regarded as a leader driven by immense passion for his nation, for his people and for his values. Passion is apparent in his leadership in many ways. Lincoln had immense interest in learning from others, from texts, from scriptures, from experiences and also for bringing change. He had great power to influence his countrymen’s emotions and instill the same passion through his vision. His energy, commitment and conviction were infused into his colleagues and followers with same intensity. Consequently, he was able to inspire and move large masses of people towards common purpose. These attributions can be related to what Kouzes and Posner state, ‘Passion is suffering! (p.17). Lincoln underwent much suffering in the form of sheer hard work for his people in order to alleviate their suffering. Story-telling quality: Abraham Lincoln was a great story teller with abilities to convince anyone and anytime. He used story telling to persuade rather than any other reason. Lincoln’s story telling abilities had the power to inspire his followers, motivate them to join him in achieving the vision. He also established strong interpersonal relationships with his close aides, which further strengthened their loyalty. His story-telling was not fictitious, but true and honest. He probably gained such vast information through his immense reading. He was very careful with what kind of narrations he made, the place, the time and also the purpose. Innovative and original thinker: Lincoln exhibited tremendous curiosity about new things that might enable him to achieve his goals (White & Prywes, 131). Lincoln’s very purpose was out of the box because he had developed the conviction to remove slavery from America after seeing the suffering undergone. Even his actions were different from what most leaders in that position showed. Innovation is necessary for leaders to achieve their goals and succeed. This will provide vital opportunity for them to attract and motivate their followers. Involvement of followers in leader’s innovative approach is equally important because it is through the followers that the leaders can achieve their goals. Lincoln is regarded as a transformational leader who was able to change the entire political and social system in the United States by fighting for abolishment of slavery and improving economic condition. His leadership was able to enhance motivation and morality that touched people’s hearts like not many people had tried or successes earlier. Influencing abilities: Lincoln had great ability to influence anyone of anything through talking face-to-face (Phillips, 40). This is a great quality that will help leaders in the long run. For leaders to convince followers of their (leaders’) vision, they need to gain the followers confidence through commitment and loyalty; this can happen only when the leaders are able to convince the followers to join them in achieving a common vision. Abraham Lincoln had achieved this with much grace. His influencing power had also helped in developing strong relationships with peers and public. Strong interpersonal relationships are important for leaders in order to motivate and mobilize their followers for achievement of goals. By influencing their followers on specific aspects, leaders can guide their actions, influence their attitude and values. Persuasive influence is far more impactful than coercive or any other influence. This will also improve or divert followers’ understanding and knowledge, as well as trust in the leader. Lincoln’s character/nature Honesty and Integrity: Lincoln’s honesty was the main reason for attracting large mass of followers and their loyalty. Phillips points out, ‘Lincoln always did the right thing’ (p.54). Lincoln was known to be very humble and strongly supported truth. He was highly against deception and falsehood. For leaders, honesty and integrity form the basis for building strong and trusted relationships. By exhibiting honesty and integrity through their actions, leaders gain respect, admiration and commitment from their followers. Continuous learning and seeking knowledge: Lincoln devoted much of his life time to reading about most successful individuals, about history and other scriptures that gave him information and knowledge. Lincoln greatly admired America’s first President, George Washington, and read intensely about Washington in order to understand how and what made him such a great personality. Based on all reading and information gathered, Lincoln molded his mind and value system by defining his ideals that guided his behavior and judgments. Lincoln’s behavior was guided by principles and values. He struggled to get down to the truth of issues with honesty and integrity before taking any decision. His belief in the values and in truth helped in developing strong conviction, which resulted in great determination that was difficult to be broken by any individual or situation. Lincoln’s conviction made him strongly focused towards his goals (Howard, 70). Winning attitude: Lincoln is best known for a leader that bounced back every time he failed to achieve any objective. He never compromised on people or their purpose, but on the hurdles that were stopping them from achieving his vision; this included both his allies and foes. He never lost confidence in his people when they failed to achieve what they desired; in turn he encouraged them to think innovatively and bounce back on their goal. He always believed in winning by helping his associates win their battle or achieve their objectives. His passion, hard work and strong mentality fostered winning nature (White & Prywes, 4). Each of these qualities and attributes resulted in the leader of Abraham Lincoln that the world knows now. Lincoln failed to achieve many of his goals, but failure never stopped him from trying again. His colleagues described Lincoln as poor administrator and, confused and moody; he was slow in decision making because of his soft-hearted nature. Lincoln was infamous as the President, but very famous as people’s leader because of his compassion and honesty. The positive aspects of his personality were admired even by his enemies. Thus, compassion and honesty have sustained as well as enhanced Lincoln’s image in front of the world. For Lincoln, leadership was in the service he provided for his people. As pointed by Kouzes and Posner, ‘being a leader brings with it a responsibility to do something of significance that makes families, communities, work organizations, nations, the environment, and the world better places than they are today,’ (p.13) and Lincoln was able to provide this kind of service to his nation. In other words, Abraham Lincoln left a legacy behind, which was once his vision. Hence, he is a true and accomplished leader. Lincoln’s efforts had fetched him many laurels and applauds along with his short-term goals; but, what is more important is that his efforts resulted in long-term development of people of America and their prosperity for many generations. This was Lincoln’s vision, which he ultimately achieved through immense hard work, perseverance and determination. People all over the world remember Abraham Lincoln for what he achieved for the people of America, and not what he had achieved for himself. This memory that Lincoln created in people is an indication of true qualities of a leader. Conclusion To summarize, Abraham Lincoln’s character and qualities personify true leader in all senses. The basic principles his character was founded was right intent, honesty and humanity. These principles helped in his achievements that prevailed despite all sorts of failures and criticisms that he attracted because of some of his habits. His qualities that include his visionary thought process, communication, people connect and strong personal relationships, public speaking abilities, passion and hard working nature, story-telling quality, innovative thinking, willingness to take risks, influencing abilities, honesty and integrity, winning and optimistic attitude, and humility and kindness may be attributable to what the nation has achieved during and post his life time. Lincoln has certainly left a legacy that America is proud of and has taught the rest of the world. Works cited Howard, Donald E. The role of reading in nine famous lives. North Carolina: McFarland, 2005. Kouzes, James M and Barry Z Posner. A leader's legacy. California: John Wiley and Sons, 2006. Richardson, Heather Cox. West from Appomattox: the reconstruction of America after the Civil War. USA: Yale University Press, 2007 Shea, John Gilmary. Ed. The Lincoln memorial: a record of the life, assassination, and obsequies of the martyred President. New York: Bunce and Huntington, 1865. Accessed 5 March 2011 from, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ty0OAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Phillips, Donald. Lincoln on leadership. Illinois: Companion Books, 2009. Accessed March 3, 2011 from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=HlyHIPbME2cC&pg=PA6&dq=leadership+qualities+abraham+lincoln&hl=en&ei=hphvTYvSMsqPcYmV6fgC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=leadership%20qualities%20abraham%20lincoln&f=false White, Joseph and Yaron Prywes. The nature of leadership: reptiles, mammals, and the challenge of becoming a great leader. USA: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, 2007. Wood, Julia T. Communication in Our Lives. Edition 5. MA, USA: Cengage Learning, 2008. Read More