Navigating the Leadership Journey? Abraham Lincoln – Team of Rivals

I can hardly be classified as a history buff, but I do enjoy reading both fiction and non-fiction about various periods in the past. A few years ago, a friend pointed me to the book Team of Rivals – The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The book highlighted an aspect of Lincoln’s leadership that was not familiar to me at the time, significantly impacting my thinking about leading teams. It fascinated me how Lincoln turned conventional wisdom on its head in assembling his leadership team and how critical that was to his presidency as the U.S. faced its most difficult period, the Civil War. I won’t attempt to do a “book report” but I will highlight a few of the key leadership lessons I took away from the book (which, by the way, was also turned into a phenomenal movie!).?

First, Lincoln was perhaps the least-qualified and most unexpected person to serve as President of the U.S. until that time. He was not predicted to have much of a chance against more seasoned, highly qualified candidates. However, those politicians canceled each other out in the election, and Lincoln ultimately emerged as an unlikely winner. Then, he did an amazing thing. He asked several of the men he defeated to serve in his Cabinet. Two big lessons emerged from this incredible decision. First, Lincoln demonstrated amazing humility, recognizing that he needed their experience and expertise to address the daunting challenges facing the country on the brink of war. Second, he knew that leading the country through this period would require decisiveness in the face of ambiguity. He developed the conviction that he would get the best out of this “team of rivals” if he provided a strong hand of guidance coupled with a deep desire to get the best from each of them, which he then synthesized into plans of action.?

The metaphor for leaders, especially leaders guiding their teams through any sort of crisis, seems self-evident. First, whether or not teams are composed of former rivals (which is rarely true), a leader must be humble enough to recognize that “no one of us is as good as all of us”. For years, I’ve encouraged leaders to do their best to become highly “self-aware” by taking various diagnostic tests (Myers-Briggs, DiSC, StrengthsFinders, etc.) so they know themselves well. It’s a good idea to supplement this data with viewpoints from trusted friends and advisors to help ensure you understand what you’re good at and, importantly, what you’re NOT good at. Then, ensuring your team complements you in many ways, such as functional expertise, temperament, style, and what author Pat Lencioni calls "working genius" becomes straightforward. Building a great team starts with the mindset that the leader cannot, and should not, know it all or do it all.?

The second big takeaway is that the leader’s job is to lead, period. Lincoln continually assessed and re-assessed the circumstances and solicited input from his politically diverse leadership team to ensure he had the most comprehensive set of facts and opinions. Then, he decided what was to be done. Leaders must never abdicate their role to a purely democratic process.? At times, the best way to the correct answer is to solicit viewpoints from the entire team and go with the majority’s view. But, other times, leaders have to chart a different course and do so knowing they are ultimately accountable for that choice. This can be tough. Said another way, leadership can be very rewarding, but it isn’t for the faint of heart.?

So, as you chart your own leadership journey, remember to continually assess what you bring to the table and make sure your team members complement and supplement your areas of weakness. Solicit all the best thinking you can from that team and your advisors. But don’t be afraid to lead. In other words, build a great team, take in all the input you can, seek wise counsel, and make the call. That’s what leaders do.?