March 2019 - Beyond the Crucible by Warwick Fairfax

Abraham Lincoln is commonly regarded by most historians as the greatest American President. The great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy said that Lincoln’s supremacy compared to other great leaders in history was due to “his peculiar moral power and … the greatness of his character.” Lincoln was able to assemble a great team and create an environment for them to succeed. The cornerstone of his leadership that enabled him to do this was his character.

Appointing a Team of Rivals

Lincoln had a profound sense of self-confidence mixed with humility. He knew who he was and was content within his own skin. This sense of inner confidence and contentment with who he was enabled him to appoint a team irrespective of what they thought of him. He was not easily threatened, nor was he insecure. This was most apparent at the beginning of his presidency when he appointed three rivals for the Republican nomination for president to three of the most important positions in his cabinet. William Seward was his main political rival and he appointed him to arguably the most important position in the cabinet, Secretary of State. Salmon Chase, a former governor of Ohio and US senator, was appointed as Secretary of the Treasury and Edward Bates was appointed as Attorney General.

What was amazing about these appointments, is that not only were these men his political rivals, but they each thought that the wrong man had been nominated for president by their party. They had rather a dim view of Lincoln and saw him as a relatively uneducated person from the wilds of Illinois. Lincoln, however, wanted the strongest cabinet possible, irrespective of their personalities or even whether they respected or liked him. He stated that “we needed the strongest men of the party in the Cabinet” and that he “had no right to deprive the country of their services.”

Few leaders appoint a team of people who were their rivals for the top position and who don’t necessarily respect them. It’s a risky move. These former rivals may well try to undermine the leader and may potentially still lobby for the leader’s position. Salmon Chase was the most difficult of his cabinet and did work to undermine Lincoln at times. In 1864, which was an election year, Chase and his supporters published a pamphlet very critical of Lincoln saying that Chase had “more of the qualities needed in a President.” Chase would often threaten to resign to reassert his authority. Eventually Lincoln accepted Chase’s resignation but ended up nominating Chase to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in December 1864. Even Lincoln did not really want to do this, but he said that “there is not a man in the Union who could make as good a chief justice as Chase.”

Creating a Successful Environment

Lincoln not only picked a group of people with diverse skills to be in his cabinet, but he also created an environment for them to succeed. Lincoln was fiercely loyal to his team and would always support them. He would not let short-term political expediency make him sacrifice a key member of the team who deserved to stay. In 1862, the North suffered some military reverses. Members of Congress blamed the Secretary of State, William Seward, who in the early years of Lincoln’s presidency was seen as the power behind the throne. While Seward offered to resign, Lincoln calmly listened to his members of Congress and defended Seward against their accusations. Team members do not forget this kind of loyalty.

Lincoln also took input well. During Lincoln’s writing of the Second Inaugural Address after the 1864 election, Lincoln actually asked some of his team to give input into the address. Another example of Lincoln’s ability to receive input was shown by a meeting Lincoln had with a military officer who said that while he had not voted for Lincoln in the election, he would loyally support him. Lincoln said to the officer that “when you see me doing anything that for the good of the country ought not to be done, come and tell me so, and why you think so…”

By the end of Lincoln’s presidency and certainly after his death, the attitudes of Lincoln’s team had changed dramatically. William Seward, Lincoln’s key rival for the Republican presidential nomination, said Lincoln was “the best and wisest man he [had] ever known.” Edward Bates said that Lincoln “comes very near being a perfect man.” What accounts for such a turnaround in attitudes by Lincoln’s team? In summary, it was his character. Lincoln not only had this innate self-confidence, humility and self-awareness, but he took input well and was fiercely loyal to his team.

Learning from A Man of Character

What can we as leaders learn about organizational leadership from Lincoln? Appoint the best leaders to your team with a diverse set of skills and backgrounds irrespective of what they think of you. Your job is to set a clear vision and direction…and then win them over. The more secure you are and the more authentic and self-aware, the more you will build trust with your team.

It all boils down to your character as a leader. This is the key to assembling a great team and creating an environment for them to succeed. If you can’t be a leader of character who leads by example, you should not be a leader. It’s better to step out of the way and let a better leader, a leader of character, take your place.

Reflection

Examine your own character as a leader. Do you have the self-confidence to appoint a team with diverse skills, even if they may not even like you? If not, outline areas of deficiency (taking input, loyalty, delegation) and work up a plan to improve.

How good are you at taking input from your team? The next time you have a team meeting or are meeting with an employee individually, make it a point to listen first before you say anything.

To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com.

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We have looked at several different areas of leadership. Some have been internal, such as character, and some have been external, such as vision. We have talked of the ‘being’ of a leader. Character, internal beliefs, and crucible experiences often lead to vision. But how do we make vision become reality? What about the ‘doing’ of a leader? That is where organizational leadership becomes important.

There are two key aspects of organizational leadership; selecting the right people and creating an environment for them to succeed. This is a huge part of the doing of a leader. Yes, the leader has to lead the way in coming up with the vision in the first place. They must also continually be the primary evangelist of that vision both within their organization and to the outside world — but this is not sufficient. One of the primary roles of the leader day-to-day is to find the right people and to create a cultural climate that ensures their success.

Finding the Right People

Conventional wisdom says the most qualified candidate is the person with the most experience and skills for the position in question. That is part of the equation but not the whole part. To find candidates who will really drive the vision forward, you need to first hire for character, then for mission, and then for skills. When we talk about character, you should look for team members that are honest, driven, and hardworking. You’ll want them to be team players, humble, and willing to take input. Second, they need to be absolutely sold out for the mission of your organization. If you are Southwest and your mission is to connect people and families at affordable prices, you really need to find candidates who passionately care about this mission. Lastly, your team should have the skills and experience that are required for their roles.

Another layer on top of hiring your team is to consider what kind of leader — indeed what kind of person — you are. You have to know your unique design and how you are wired. This will help you hire a team with complementary skills. If you are a take-charge leader who acts first and thinks later, you might want to hire a team with a more reflective approach. If you are more of a contemplative leader, you might want to have people around you that are more action-oriented. You want to have a team around you with complementary skills, approaches, and ways of thinking.

Creating the Right Environment

Once you have hired the right team, you have to create an environment for them to succeed. A number of companies have excellent visions, great missions, and good values, but the trouble is that they often don’t live them out. Enron suffered one of the biggest bankruptcies in US corporate history in the early 2000s. The CEO was convicted and sentenced to many years in prison and the company was accused of misleading its board and the public. Enron’s core values it claimed it had were respect, integrity, communication and, excellence.

For an organization to succeed, it must truly live its values and mission. It starts at the top with senior leaders modeling the organization’s values and mission in how they live and treat people. Senior leaders such as this will do everything they can to ensure that all the organization’s systems such as hiring, retention, promotion, compensation, and benefits all support the mission, vision, and values of the organization.

When you hire great people and give them a clear mission, you then must step out of the way. Talented, motivated, and driven individuals won’t be micromanaged. Hire the right people based on character, mission, and skills and let them help you make your vision happen. They might do their jobs differently than you would do it, but that is OK. If the job is getting done the right way (in harmony with the mission of the organization by people of good character), then let your team make it happen.

Cultivating a Thriving Organization

The beauty of successful organizational leadership is that it allows senior leaders to do what they love doing and what should be a big part of their job. It allows them to dream big visions and put plans in place to make them happen. When an organization is led by bold visionary leaders who put dreams into action, it motivates the rest of those in the organization even more. After all, these senior leaders have already hired the right people. They have also created an environment for them to succeed. The outcome is that the organization now has leaders leading boldly with a team eager and waiting to bring the vision of the organization to life. Isn’t that what everyone wants?

Reflection

Are you looking for character first when hiring? If not, consider redoing your hiring process to ensure people are hired for character, then passion for the mission, and then skills.

Are all areas of your organization supporting your vision, mission, and values? Take a few moments to do a thorough examination of all your systems (hiring, retention, promotion, compensation, and benefits) to ensure that they all support the vision, mission, and values you believe your organization must have.

Are you micromanaging or giving your talented and motivated team members the freedom to soar? If you’re micromanaging, re-examine if you have the right team in place that complements you.

To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com.

Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and leave a comment at our YouTube channel and be sure subscribe and tell your friends and family about us.

Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at info@beyondthecrucible.com

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