Lincoln on Leadership

I just finished reading a great book called Lincoln on Leadership, by Donald T. Phillips. This book is the first to examine our sixteenth president's diverse leadership abilities and how they can relate our leading in a complex world. Using lively anecdotes, dramatic descriptions, and Lincoln's own words, corporate manager and historian Donald T. Phillips reveals - from the pragmatic to the unconventional - the techniques and strategies that rallied a nation and transformed Lincoln's image from country bumpkin to the most revered and honored President this country has ever known.

Here are a few of my favorite Lincoln Principles:

- Seek casual contact with your subordinates. It is as meaningful as a formal gathering, if not more so.

- Wage only one war at a time.

- A good leader avoids issuing orders, preferring to request, imply, or make suggestions.

- You must set, and respond to, fundamental goals and values that move your followers.

- Have malice toward none and charity for all.

- Seize the initiative and never relinquish it.

- Unite your followers with a "corporate mission."

- The best leaders never stop learning.

- Loyalty is more often won through private conversation than in any other way.

- Provide a clear, concise statement of the direction of your organization, and justify the actions you take.