Long Before the Football Team...

Long before all the conversation slamming the NCAA for upholding rule barring the football team from competing for a conference championship or a spot in a bowl game despite a remarkable start to just their second FBS season, our local university’s namesake was known for being “the Father of the Constitution.” While armed with a similar education to his friend, mentor, and political ally, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison had a very different approach. Not only did he vary in his physical attributes, being quite a bit smaller than most in those circles, he was also very reserved in his demeanor. Although referred to as “but a withered little apple-John” by Washington Irving at his own Presidential inauguration, Madison was able to garner respect from his most prominent peers through his intellect and his intentional approach to bring opposing parties together.

While he never welcomed the “Father of the Constitution” title, largely because he felt many others had equal stakes in the writing and ratification, Madison’s acute attention to detail as he took notes throughout the Constitutional Convention played a big role in him being dubbed with the unwanted handle. Additionally, “Madison, then 36, spent the months leading up to the convention in Montpelier’s library, studying many centuries of political philosophy and histories of past attempts at republican forms of government.” An article called The Life of James Madison on the Montpelier.org website went on to share:

His plan proposed a central government with three branches that would check and balance each other, keeping any one branch from wielding too much power. No such government had ever been created before, and Madison had to use all of his diplomatic skill to argue for his position. He also had to accept compromises to ensure that the Convention would produce a Constitution that all the states could accept.

Madison’s academic record at The College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton University) - being the first graduate student in the school’s history - coupled with his activity in the Virginia legislature and friendship with Thomas Jefferson may have helped him get involved in the Constitutional Convention but he had some very specific strengths that led to the ratification of the document he helped author as well as successes in leading a young nation.

Using the Tools He Had…

While some of James Madison’s physical attributes likely fall more in the weakness column than the strengths column we’ll be looking at here, he overcame his small stature by effectively utilizing his strengths! An article called James Madison: Impact and Legacy from the Miller Center at the University of Virginia shared this:

He is said to have been a master of the small arena. Studious, keenly political, and a perceptive judge of men and issues, Madison could shape constitutions and influence legislation with few peers… Behind the scenes, in small intimate groups, few men, however, could resist his sharp mind or his persuasive reasoning.

Unlike one of his closest friends and political allies, the Father of the Constitution chose a more amicable approach to reaching a consensus rather than some of the more shifty things that Thomas Jefferson was accused of to sway opinions. In detailing his prowess in the art of persuasion, Montpelier.org refers to him as a “Natural Diplomat” in saying that “Madison next served in the Continental Congress from 1780 to 1783, gaining a reputation for thoroughly considered arguments and for bringing multiple interests together in coalitions.” This, coupled with his intensive study of how governments were structured throughout history, played a significant part in him being given that moniker he was never very willing to accept, saying that “the document was not ‘the off-spring of a single brain,’ but ‘the work of many heads and many hands’,” as noted in his bio on the WhiteHouse.gov website.

And while his outward appearance didn’t command attention like Washington of Jefferson, his wife Dolly helped make up for it through her warm and inviting approach with their political allies and adversaries alike, “turning the White House into a place of hospitality, where politicians and their spouses could come together to have civil and even pleasant conversations, despite being on opposite sides of an issue.”

As an interesting side note, I referenced previously that Jefferson and Madison were vehemently opposed to Alexander Hamilton on several issues. You may have heard the story of how Hamilton died from wounds sustained in a duel resulting from his differences with one Aaron Burr. That same Aaron Burr was who first introduced James Madison to the then Dolly Payne Todd.

As with our looks at Franklin and Jefferson, this certainly isn’t a comprehensive list of all James Madison’s strengths but these did have a significant impact on why we remember him today as one of the Founding Fathers of our great nation. Before we tie all this together with how the leadership traits of these founders can serve each of us in our respective roles today, let’s take a quick look at some of the weaknesses Madison had to overcome to accomplish all he did.

Better Through the Support of Others!

I sure can relate with James Madison on a few things, although his academic success and ability to achieve collaboration with even his fiercest opponents aren’t among them… I feel like I can get a good bit accomplished on any given day, but like Madison, the work I do is always much better (and more pleasing to general audiences) when my bride is involved! Just like Cindy does so much to smooth out my rough edges and help ensure the details I rarely give much thought to are at least some part of the equation, Dolly filled some significant gaps for James! The folks at Montpelier shared this to emphasize how important she was in even his political success:

Guided by Dolley Madison’s hand, the Executive Mansion achieved a happy medium between the too-stiff protocols of Washington and Adams and the overly-casual and male-dominated gatherings of Jefferson. Visitors to the White House felt warmly welcomed in what would become synonymous with the American way—a not-too-formal environment built on respect for each individual guest.

And as I mentioned before, his effectiveness in small groups and ability to influence his peers through all that he learned from his intense studies helped overcome what could quite possibly hinder many men still today; Madison was only 5’ 4” tall… This is how the Miller Center article compared him to a few of the other Founding Fathers:

Studious, keenly political, and a perceptive judge of men and issues, Madison could shape constitutions and influence legislation with few peers, but he was too cautious for the kinds of presidential leadership that left clear marks upon the political landscape. Moreover, unlike the tall, statuesque Washington and Jefferson, Madison's shorter-than-average body seldom dominated the scene. Even the very short John Adams, with his rocklike character, had exuded authority, yet among his contemporaries, Madison had trouble outshining anyone else in the room.

Even with his outstanding negotiation skills, Madison still didn’t get his way every single time; who does? Like Jefferson, he was very opposed to many of the ideas Hamilton pushed on George Washington but James had what seems to have been a more even keeled approach. Even the folks at the (first) university Jefferson founded shared this about Madison:

His executive sense of priorities, in other words, always considered first and foremost the immediate demands of crisis and the national needs of the moment. In some ways—because he was on the winning side of every important issue facing the young nation from 1776 to 1816—Madison was the most successful and possibly the most influential of all the Founding Fathers.

I’ll share once more for clarity, my goal here has not been to provide an extensive list of the strengths and weaknesses of these three Founding Fathers but to call attention to a few of the traits that you and I just might benefit from applying as we lead our own teams. As we wrap this up, let’s connect a few of the dots…

Let’s Put a Bow On It!

Make no mistake, nothing I’ve shared here as we’ve looked at the strengths of these Founding Fathers - Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison - has been with the intention of suggesting they were perfect. Quite honestly, that’s why I included some of their weaknesses! I also believe that each of them would have been very quick to acknowledge their own shortcomings. In digging through resources for what I’ve shared, I found an article called Why is James Madison a Good Leader? that quoted James Madison as saying, ““If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” If he was so keenly aware of this, I can’t imagine that group of men believing they themselves didn’t fall into the same mix - even those most of their political descendants seem to today…

With all that in mind, let’s put a bow on this idea by considering how we can apply even a few of their examples as we lead the teams that are counting on us. While we’re not creating the foundation for a new nation (yet), the impact we have on our team members’ lives is never something we should take lightly!

In considering Franklin, how can we apply his curiosity and work ethic to provide an even better atmosphere for our teams or better service for our clients? And what would modeling his passion for learning do to drive continuous improvement in our organizations??

While few may become as articulate with the written word as Jefferson - and I certainly won’t be one of them - how could just working to improve the effectiveness of our messaging reach more people? And whose lives would be better if we were as passionate about our beliefs as he was, albeit less undermining in how we approach our adversaries…?

When we think about Madison, how much more could we accomplish by learning from his ability to build consensus within a group, be that through collaboration or even compromise? And since we all have weaknesses too, what can we do to support those by aligning ourselves with folks with corresponding strengths? Dolly certainly did that for him, but many others did as well, and none of that appears to have been accidental!

All in all, those Founding Fathers, along with the few dozen others who mutually pledged their lives, fortunes, and their sacred honor to create our great nation provided an example that I believe serves us all today; one that can help us build better teams within our own companies as we follow it!