This is Glynn Gilcrease, the founder of AbeLincolnSpeaks. Those of you who me, know that one of my idols and mentors is Abraham Lincoln. When I thought about how Lincoln would lead in todays divisive and trouble times, I reflected on some of his words and the characteristics of his leadership. I recall that, in his first inaugural, he spoke these words, “My countrymen, one and all. Think calmly and well upon this wholes subject (Of course, he was talking about Civil War). Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.” He was encouraging people not to be reactionary and angry. “If there be an object to hurry, any of you, in hot haste to a step you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time but no good object can be frustrated by it.” What he was telling people in those days when there was division not only in words but in war preparations is, let take a step back. Let us take a moment, to respect one another. In fact, he told us how to communicate in troubled times. So first, don’t be rushed. Then he had this to say, “Where the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind unassuming persuasion should ever be adopted.” That is how he communicated. We know his eloquent words from the Gettysburg address. Of the people, by the people, for the people. We know his majestic words from his second inaugural, with malic toward none and charity for all. Yet we sometimes forget that the man we recognized as our best president embraced patience and kind, gentle persuasion.
There are a lot of characteristics about Lincoln that are well known, and more books have been written about him than just about everyone else that has ever lived. Several things are very common in what we now know about Abraham Lincoln. We know that he communicated by telling stories. Often his stories had an element of humor to them. These were stories told for a purpose. They were told to make a point, often a moral point. Abraham had studied and read aloud Aesop’s fables. He knew them by heart. That is one of the ways he communicated rather than angry personal accusations against someone. He would diffuse the situation the situation with humor, elegance, and kind persuasion. He adopted what we know as common slogan, people may forget what you say but they will never forget how you made them feel. Abraham made those around him feel good. He made them feel like they were part of a family. He made them feel safe and comfortable even if they had strong disagreements. Stephen Douglas in the famous Lincoln/Douglas debates. They did not scream at each other or called them names. They both stated their positions with clarity and elegance. Lincoln was also self-deprecating which means he was willing to make fun of himself from time to time. You do not see that too often today in our political. He would make fun of his own looks. He knew that people would make fun of him, his clothes did not fit well. He was tall. He was gangly. We must also remember that he had only one year of formal education, but he was dedicated to caring about others.
He always had a moral to his stories that he told. I like, the best one even though it is more a humor than a story, Ulysses S. Grant took control of the Union Army and led it to victory. When Lincoln appointed him as the Commander and Chief of the Union Forces, members of Lincolns cabinet and other Generals said, “He drinks too much. He drinks to much.” Good ole Abe who was himself a tea toer, didn’t drink, said this, “That he drinks to much? That much is proven. Oblige me then and find out what kind of what kind of whiskey he drinks and send it to every General of the Army. He fights.” In other words, Grant got the job done and Lincoln respected that. He didn’t pick out some personal flaw and try to attack or demean General Grant. We can use stories in our own lives, and I would encourage all who are listening. Practice telling a couple of them. Pick a situation that might otherwise into an ugly argument and come up with your own General Grant story. Look at Aesop’s fables. Look at Lincoln as a matter of fact! You can look as there are many great books around. There is Lincoln’s wit, his humor, his famous quotes. I would really encourage you to go buy a book or even look online which you can do these days. See what you can do to emulate and copy our greatest president and greatest communicators, Abraham Lincoln.
