BOLD Ministry

Lincoln didn’t have much political experience and it was a surprise he was nominated by his party. Identifying leadership in someone, whether it’s a new executive hire or a presidential candidate, isn’t always easy. How do you see what may not be obvious?

The résumé tells you one thing, but it doesn’t tell you everything. If you look beneath the résumé, you would have seen even during those years [before Lincoln was elected] he had an enormous array of emotional strength that was more important than his résumé. He had the ability to acknowledge his errors, learn from mistakes and shoulder the responsibility for the failure of others. If you’re looking to evaluate talent as a leader some of those emotional strengths are equally important to actual success.

Today’s leaders and politicians don’t say they model themselves after Lincoln’s leadership style. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Wilson Truman are often mentioned, but not Lincoln. Why is that?

Leaders of the 21st century are more familiar with the challenges of Truman, Roosevelt and Kennedy. The Civil War and Lincoln seem so distant. As I’ve read about various presidents, they read about Lincoln more than anyone else. When Roosevelt was in the middle of the coal strike–he got some books about Lincoln and how he was able to negotiate. When Truman was about to fire MacArthur, he went to the Library of Congress to see how Lincoln had handled such difficult times.