TRANSFORMATIVE
LEADERSHIP

Qualities that build strong leadership

BY Jayashantha Jayawardhana

President Abraham Lincoln is not without his share of vocal critics and detractors. But there’s no dispute that he was one of the greatest presidents the United States has had – and among the greatest leaders the world has seen.

Lincoln’s decision to issue and bring to fruition the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which declared that all persons held as slaves were henceforth free, is without any historical or modern parallels.

In her book titled ‘Leadership in Turbulent Times,’ Doris Kearns Goodwin examines four singular styles of leadership – viz. transformative, crisis management, turnaround and visionary. Through these styles, she explores answers to critical questions.

Do the times make the leader or does the leader shape the times? And how can a leader infuse people’s lives with a sense of purpose and meaning?

She uses Lincoln’s pivotal decision to make the Emancipation Proclamation a reality as her case study.

Since he was blessed with powerful emotional intelligence, Lincoln was both merciful and merciless, confident and humble, and patient and persistent. He was able to mediate among factions and sustain the spirit of his countrymen.

And he demonstrated an extraordinary ability to reconcile the conflicting wills of a divided people and reflect back to them an unwavering faith in a united future.

When Lincoln had the Emancipation Proclamation drafted and revealed to his cabinet on 22 July 1862, the matter was settled in his mind. He was adamant that ‘if slavery wasn’t wrong, nothing was wrong.’

Lincoln’s strong conviction on the subject of slavery and his fierce resolve to forge ahead despite all opposition was supported by the steadfast force of his emotional intelligence, empathy, humility, consistency, self-awareness, self-discipline and generosity of spirit.

These qualities proved indispensable to uniting a divided nation and completely transforming it; and they provide powerful lessons for leaders at every level.

Here are some of the key lessons we can learn from him on transformative leadership.

REALISATION Acknowledge when failed policies demand a change of direction.

In the last week of June 1862, Union General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac suffered a crushing defeat in its first major offensive. At one point, the capitulation of McClellan’s entire force seemed possible and Northern morale was at its lowest. When Lincoln realised this, he made a U-turn.

ANTICIPATION Lincoln mulled over all the possible conflicting opinions and did his groundwork so well that he could overcome all resistance to his proposition.

His process of decision making, which was born of a characteristic ability to entertain a range of opinions, seemed laborious to some people. But once he made his decision to act, the only question was ‘when?’ rather than ‘what?’

STRATEGISATION After revealing the draft proclamation to his cabinet on 22 July, Lincoln shelved it and bided his time.

The tide turned with the retreat of General Robert Lee’s army from Maryland and Pennsylvania. Five days after this victory, Lincoln convened his cabinet once more on 22 September and presented it with a slightly amended draft of the proclamation – and he argued his case home before them.

COMPASSION Lincoln never allowed his ambition to consume his kindheartedness.

During Lincoln’s daily interactions with his team, he left no room for meanspirited behaviour, grudges or personal resentments because they were all involved in a challenge that was ‘too vast for malicious dealing.’

COMPREHENSION Indeed, Lincoln understood the emotional needs of his team. His own high level of emotional intelligence enabled him to take great care of their emotional needs.

Lincoln’s team included Secretary of State William Seward and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton among others. He empathised with them and put them at ease as best he could while they wrestled with their tough roles.

FORGIVENESS Long before Lincoln was elected president, Stanton – who was a brilliant lawyer – had called the former a ‘long-armed ape.’

But when the president saw that it was in the best interests of the nation to bring his former adversary into the cabinet he headed, he suppressed that stinging resentment and brought him onboard. Before the end of their partnership, Stanton not only revered Lincoln but loved him too.

RESTRAINT When enraged by a colleague, Lincoln would write what he called a ‘hot letter’ where he’d unleash all his pent-up anger. He would then put the letter aside until he cooled down and could attend to the matter with a clearer head.

Finally, when his papers were opened at the beginning of the 20th century, historians discovered a raft of such letters with Abraham Lincoln’s notation underneath: “Never sent and never signed.”