Leadership Lessons of Great Presidents

"The Prayer at Valley Forge" by Arnold Friberg, http://www.fribergfineart.com/

George Washington worked alongside many great statesmen who were much more educated than he was.  People like Ben Franklin, John and Sam Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Hamilton, Madison, Dickinson, the Randolphs and the Lees.

Yet with all these brilliant men involved in forging a new nation, and at three major milestones (the Revolution, the Constitutional Convention and the selection of the first President) George Washington was their man.  Their chosen leader.

Why?

Washington was selected for many reasons, but perhaps primarily due to his demonstrated noble and incorruptible character.

Few would argue that he was in fact noble and incorruptible, but he was also good at balancing and managing many of the paradoxes of leadership, which was perhaps his greatest leadership secret.  How well do you balance:

• strategy vs. tactics
• goals vs. objectives

Abraham Lincoln is of course a national hero today, but when he became President, he inherited a real mess.  Here’s what he walked into…

• He was the first Republican President elected by only a minority of the popular vote.
• He was ridiculed in the press as a buffoon.  A gawky, ugly second rate country bumpkin lawyer unqualified for the job.
• His own hand-picked cabinet members were his rivals and considered him nothing more than a figurehead.
• Just ten days before he took the oath of office, the south seceded, taking all Federal agencies, forts and arsenals with them.
• There were rampant rumors of a military coup and/or assassination during the inauguration.

How would you like to have that on your plate the first day on the job?

What Lincoln went on to do for our country is legendary.

The lessons he left behind to help us become better leaders and inspire top performance from those around us are priceless.  And there are many.  So many, in fact that I wrote a five part series of articles on Lincoln’s leadership lessons in this newsletter in 2007.

But after surveying the long list of Lincoln’s leadership skills, I think the most profound is endurance.

During the colossal struggle to abolish slavery and bring the nation back together, Lincoln endured ridicule, hate, depression, grief (he lost his youngest son, Tad while in the Whitehouse).

Plus, he endured a series of bad hiring decisions.

He actually went through 11 generals in three years before finding Grant.  Now that’s turnover!

Franklin D Roosevelt was a man of action.  When he took office, he had to act quickly to begin lifting the country out of the great depression.

He said this in his inaugural speech:

“Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.”

Although action was his trademark, Roosevelt’s most striking trait as President was his confidence.

Even during two of the greatest crises in American history, the Great Depression and World War II, Roosevelt never seemed afraid–and he was able to communicate this lack of fear to the American people.

Who could forget his famous line during his inaugural address:

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself–nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

Whatever the problem, Roosevelt always exuded confidence.  He believed that solutions could be found and that he was the man to help find them.

Do you exhibit confidence to your team?  Can they count on you for solutions in tough times?

Ronald Reagan was known as the “Teflon President.”

Like Lincoln, Reagan knew good leaders don’t let public opinion or the dissention of their team sway them.

They are firm in their decisions when they need to be, but recognize when it’s prudent to compromise. Most of all, they have the confidence to stay the course and do what’s right, even when others are trying to talk them out of it.

But Reagan also had another well deserved nickname… “The Great Communicator”.

FDR was actually a hero of Reagan’s, and it’s no accident they were both skilled at painting a vision for the future.

From the beginning, Reagan inspired all Americans with the promise of  a better future, and he wove a tapestry with words that became a vision for America.

In his farewell address, he envisioned America “…still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom for all the pilgrims from the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness toward home.”