Thursday's Leadership Insight.High Road Leadership Lessons from Our Presidents

This is a special week for recognizing leadership in the U.S. On Monday, we celebrated? The legacy of U.S. Presidents with Presidents Day, and on Thursday, we commemorate National Leadership Day. Both of these days can give us a pause to consider the state of leadership in the U.S. and the world today. McKinsey notes in an Oct 2024 article ?The art of 21st-century leadership: From succession planning to building a leadership factory, "Complicated times demand great leaders… When we ask CEOs and leadership teams about the biggest hurdles keeping them from achieving their aspirations and reaching their full potential, they cite talent and the leadership team on the field. Specifically, they cite an urgent need to build leadership capabilities in their organizations—not only to ensure that they can successfully manage through today's disruptions. "McKinsey concludes this article by saying, "The only certainty for today's global leader is that things will remain?uncertain. 2025 will likely be just as challenging as this year. So will 2026. It's incumbent on leaders, then, to stop falling back on what's worked for them in the past, adhering to business practices and rituals that have long since expired. Instead, they can collaborate with their teams, employees, and other key stakeholders to create the new rules of leadership." Gallup cites the historical lack of worker engagement as directly correlated to leadership in organizations around the world.

?"Unfortunately, most of these leaders are, bluntly speaking, not good; they aren't bad people, they just aren't good leaders, and it's not really their fault because the way that we teach and talk about leadership is extremely antiquated."

Jacob Morgan

This situation is evident in many other reports. Jacob Morgan, in a May 29, 2024, blog post We are Facing a Massive Leadership Gap Today, writes, "By 2030, we're going to have around 240 million leaders around the world; these are people who are responsible for the lives of other people at work.?Unfortunately, most of these leaders are, bluntly speaking, not good; they aren't bad people, they aren't good leaders, and it's not really their fault because the way that we teach and talk about leadership is extremely antiquated and that's largely what leaders today are familiar with and practice. In his article, Morgan notes research from Randstad that supports his findings: "60% of employees have left jobs or are considering leaving because they don't like their direct supervisors. Gallup notes poor leadership accounts for 70% of the variance in employee engagement reports, which are at record lows. He also cites Developmental Dimensions International leadership studies that show that only 14 % of organizations have strong "bench strength "to develop leaders. "

An intentional framework of leadership development is needed. The Three C's of Core leadership values are purpose, motive, and mindset, which guide the development of ?Content skills in the Context of the time. Provide this model in a week when we are celebrating U.S. Presidents and National Leadership Day, a pause to reflect on what great leadership looks like, and consider examples from our U.S. Presidents. In his book High Road Leadership, Bringing People Together in a World That Divides, John Maxwell writes that it doesn't have to be this way. Leaders can choose to learn to become high-road leaders.?? Leaders can learn to become and practice high-road leadership. In his book, He writes that leaders can adopt twelve tenets to follow the path of high-road leadership.

Accepting choice is the primary leadership content skill. Choosing to be a high-road leader is the second content skill of any leader in any. organization

This Thursday's Leadership Insight shares the twelve tenets of high-road leadership and quotes from a U.S. President about each tenant.

. In High Road Leadership: Bringing People Together in a World That Divides? , John Maxwell writes that "everything rises and falls on leadership." He notes that disrespect and divisiveness in the United States and the world mark today's leadership environment. He refers to this as a leadersad situation. Maxwell describes a trio of Leadership paths available for leaders. High-road leaders who bring people together and build people up. A middle-road leader who is transactional, seeking negotiations to create winners and losers getting their way. Maxwell describes a low-road leader who divides groups, causes division, and manipulates people and situations to get the best for themselves and their cronies.

With me, it is especially true that the Presidency is no bed of roses."

James K Polk

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Leadership Lessons from Our Presidents: High Road Leadership in Action

John Maxwell's concept of High-Road Leadership offers valuable insights into effective leadership. It emphasizes the importance of values and skills. By examining the words and actions of U.S. presidents through the lens of Maxwell's 12 tenets of High-Road Leadership, we can glean timeless lessons on leading with integrity and purpose.

The Importance of Values and Skills in Leadership

High Road Leadership combines both values and skills, creating a robust framework for leaders to navigate complex challenges and inspire others. Values form the foundation of a leader's character, guiding decision-making and fostering trust. Skills, on the other hand, enable leaders to implement their vision and manage diverse teams effectively. Together, they create a leadership approach that is both principled and practical.

Presidential Wisdom and High Road Leadership

Let's explore how various U.S. presidents have embodied the 12 tenets of High Road Leadership:

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1. Bring people together:

?"We are not enemies but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection." ?Abraham Lincoln

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." –

John Quincy Adams

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2. Value all people:

?"We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams."

?Jimmy Carter

1. Acknowledge your humanness:

Barack Obama took responsibility for the flawed rollout of the Healthcare.gov website in 2013, saying, "That's on me. We fumbled the rollout of this healthcare law."

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"Any man who tries to excite class hatred, sectional hate, hate of creeds, any kind of hatred in our community, though he may affect to do it in the interest of the class he is addressing, is in the long run with absolute certainty that class's own worst enemy."

Theodore Roosevelt

2. Do the right thing for the right reasons:

?"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." –

Abraham Lincoln

"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

Theodore Roosevelt

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3. Give more than you take:

?"Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country."

?John F. Kennedy1

4. Develop emotional capacity:

"People don't care much what you know until they know that you care."

Theodore Roosevelt

"I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow."

?Woodrow Wilson

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other

John F.Kennedy

5. Place people above your agenda:

"No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent."

Abraham Lincoln

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Franklin D Roosevelt

Use power to help people, for we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people."

George W. Bush

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6. Embrace authenticity:

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Harry S. Truman

7. Take accountability for your actions: "The buck stops here."

Harry S. Truman

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8. Live by a bigger picture:

?"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose."

Lyndon Baines Johnson

9. Don't keep score:

"We must build a new world, a far better world - one in which the eternal dignity of man is respected."

Harry S. Truman

10.? Desire the best for others:

"America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand." Harry S. Truman

These presidential quotes illustrate the enduring relevance of the tenents of High Road Leadership. The choice of High Road Leadership is a primary Leadership content skill. When aligned with a solid core of leadership, the leader will be effective in the context of the time. By embracing these tenets, leaders can foster unity, inspire trust, and drive positive change. As we face the challenges of our time, the wisdom of past presidents reminds us that authentic leadership is about serving others, valuing diversity, and working towards a greater good.

The leadership questions for you? are;

1. Which of these tenents describe your leadership practice?

2. Which of these leadership tenets will you choose to work on?

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