Abraham Lincoln is rated by the majority of scholars at the best US president ever.
Take the time today to Goggle Abraham Lincoln and read about him for a few minutes. Talk to your children about him. Tell them why he is considered the best president ever. He did the right things. He did not compromise on the slavery issue. He only had 18 months of formal education. He educated himself. He was an avid reader. He understood that leadership is about “how to be.”
Frances Hesselbein the former CEO of the Girl Scouts of America and current Chairman of the Leader to Leader Institute gave this reply when I asked her what the difference was between management and leadership. She said, “Mr Cockerell, leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do.”
How to be is about integrity, trust, values and principles. It is about how you treat people and how you do the right thing verses the easy thing. How to do is about just doing things without considering the issue of how to be.
Think about the times you do the right thing even when it puts you at risk in some way and the times you have done the wrong thing for self preservation. When we do the right things, in the long run we feel good. When we do the wrong things we often feel good about for a very short time but in the long run we end up with very poor reputations for being great leaders and role models.
Happy Birthday Mr. Lincoln. We owe you so much. American is a far better place because of your leadership…Lee