Lincoln's Leadership Style and IT

SunGard Summit 2011 presentation

2011-03-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

SunGard Summary of Summit 2011 Leadership talk. Please feel free to comment.

"Applying Lincoln Leadership Principles to IT
3/23/2011
Abraham Lincoln is consistently ranked as one of America’s favorite presidents, largely for his leadership skills at a difficult time in the nation’s history. And IT managers at colleges and universities can apply many of his leadership principles to the challenges they face in the workplace today.
Timothy Foley, director of client computing and library services at Lehigh University, cited examples of Lincoln’s leadership strategy and told attendees how they can apply those same principles on their campuses.
Lincoln was a technologist, Foley said, in that he was an early adopter of the telegraph as the IM tool of his time in order to monitor the latest news on the battlefield. He also is the only president to hold a U.S. patent for a device he invented to lift river boats over sandbars. “He was interested in the technology of his time and was very curious about how things worked.”
Foley cited several examples of how Lincoln managed by walking around and also spent 75 percent of his time meeting with people from all stations in life. “The lesson there is to spend talking to the people who work for you, learn about their needs and understand that everyone is different.”
Lincoln refined the art of persuasion and felt that force and coercion were for despots and tyrants. He also was adept at building strong alliances with his rivals and even added many of them to his administrative cabinet.
Other suggested principles Lincoln personified:
* Use force as the last resort
* Have courage to handle unjust criticism
* Delegate and empower people to act on their own
* Avoid orders – make requests and suggestions for actions
* Correct misrepresentation, but let minor ones go
* Understand the paradox of providing security while promoting risk-taking
* Don’t surrender until all the cards are played
* Control your emotions and try to understand your employee’s side
* When having a bad day, be positive and supportive of your staff – keep your darker side to yourself"

Hot on the Heels of Our Presentation

2010-04-20T15:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all that attended Tim and my presentation on the Leadership styles of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Kennedy during various crises at the SIGUCCS Management Symposium. As promised, the books referenced are:

Funny or Fun?

2010-03-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

How many times do you hear in your office, "He/She is really funny!"? How often do you feel "it would be fun to hang with that person"? As a manager, I strive to be the type of person people want to hang with. I would much rather have a group of people walking with me than following along in my wake (often times grumbling and pointing). One of the best ways to be that leader, is to have a sense of humor. Don't get to full of yourself. Use jokes to make a point. As part of your daily life, look for the humor and use it. You do not want to be thought of as funny, though. This leads to the perception that you do not take things seriously. Lincoln was a master of public speaking. In reality, that means that he was a performer. All effective leaders must be performers. Genuine performers. Lincoln was genuine and everybody knew it and responded to it. Your subordinates will quickly recognize if you are not genuine.

Don't hide behind fancy words or cliches. Use your own language and mannerisms. If you are comfortable with what you are saying and doing, other people will have confidence in what you are trying to say and do. If you find something to be funny, let people know it. Actors are always portraying somebody else. You must perform as yourself. That is the role of a lifetime!

Remember to take the time to "see" what you are saying. Be your own audience. What do I see? What do I hear? This is much easier when you have a prepared presentation. It is more difficult when your are asked to answer a question or are called into a meeting at the last minute. Think slow. Know the limits of your knowledge. It is better (and more genuine) to say you are not familiar enough with the material to answer the question than it is to talk.

So - Funny or Fun? As a leader, remember that people hang with fun. They take advantage of funny.

How about you?

2010-01-26T10:30:00.000-08:00

At the EDUCAUSE Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, a question was raised concerning how Lincoln's principles flowed upward in an institutions' structure. I believe the comment was "...we are not all "the Lincoln's" at our institution..." I immediately began to consider - how would I answer that question?

I think the obvious answer is that we are all "the Lincoln" in some fashion within our own organization. I am a manager so I am the Lincoln to my group and demonstrating his principles will make the group better. If the group performs better, it reflects on the institution as a whole. The real answer to the question, though, goes beyond that.

One of the things that made Lincoln such a great leader was that he did not shy away from his detractors. He included them in his cabinet. Their thoughts, ideas and opinions were valuable even if they were not necessarily what Lincoln was thinking. He empowered his generals to make decisions but was not afraid to respond and take action based on those decisions.

So, my answer would be...

Am I a "general" in my institutions' army? If so, am I a "Grant" or ...? Will I be perceived as a valuable leader of the group or am I making decisions that will force a response from my "Lincoln"?

Even more importantly, based on Lincoln's leadership style, am I worthy to be on Lincoln's cabinet? Will I respectfully disagree, provide insight and suggestions, and support the final decision for the good of the whole? Will I remain quiet, follow the crowd, and be a disgruntled employee that complains about the leadership at every opportunity?

I know where I think I am.

How about you?

Lincoln and other presidents

2009-04-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

One grandiose-sounding statement that is justifiably true is that it is hard to compare the job of the POTUS to any other one. Yes, leadership styles can be applied, as is being done on this blog, but in terms of sheer pressure, forces pulling and pushing, and certainly politics, being the POTUS is probably the ultimate test of one's mettle. It seems, therefore, that it might be useful to look at the leadership styles of other Presidents and consider them as well.

One that springs to mind is JFK. With the Cuban Missle Crisis, we came the closest to nuclear holocaust as any other time in history. It's comparable to the disolution of the union, I guess, though it certainly wasn't a 5 year struggle.

Irving Janis' GroupThink book, which is terrific, talks about the difference in leadership style between the Bay of Pigs invasion, conceived under Eisenhower but implemented by Kennedy's administration, and the Cuban Missle Crisis. Both had essentially the same set of men involved. However, with the Bay of Pigs, Kennedy basically listened only to what the military and CIA said, believed what they said, made presumptions about the "enemy," and went ahead without critical thought and trying to poke holes in the proposal. The result was an unmitigated disaster.

In comparison, Kennedy convened an "Executive Committee" for the Cuban Missle Crisis that approached things very differently. He learned from the Bay of Pigs. He asked just a bunch of smart people - the smartest around, not necessarily the smartest in his immediate cabinet (and in fact it was the former envoy to the USSR that came up with the real solution, not RFK, not McGeorge Bundy, not Robert McNamara, etc). He also asked them to question information, to play devil's advocate (RFK has been criticized for his aggressive approach to this in particular, but considering we did not evaporate in a nuclear cloud, I don't have a problem with his vehemence), to avoid presumptions about the accuracy of information or about the other side.

So what does this mean in terms of IT? Well, there's the "surround yourself with smart people" point. JFK also was at only one or two of the major meetings, so the "let your people do their job" idea can be in there as well.

Thoughts?

Managing while walking about

2009-04-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

One of the first principles Phillip's discusses in his book is the concept of managing while walking about or getting out into our organization to work with your staff. Do you feel this is vital or not. Can it become too time consuming? Where is it most appropriate?

Communication

2009-04-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

Master the Art of Public Speaking - Lincoln was careful of his words once he became president. He was an excellent oratory and speech writer. He influenced people through conversation and story telling. Humor was a major tool in his communication style. He created messages that were honest succinct and sincere. This is clearly illustrated in the Gettysburg address. Are there key ways that you use humor in IT to get your message across? Do you spend a considerable amount of time developing your vision and goals for your IT organization and how do you communicate this to your staff and clients? Can you think of some best practices in communication methods for both your staff and your clients?

Leading

2009-04-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

Lincoln lead by being led. He was a strong proponent of empowering his generals to make their own decisions. He gave them credit for their successes and took the blame for his generals' failures. He listened to his generals and staff and valued their opinions. He also made sure that his generals got the credit they deserved so they could take pride in their results. Finally, he only used his position of power when it was absolutely necessary. Can you give some examples of making sure credit for the success of IT projects was given to the teams involved. Have you had times that you used the power of your positon to get something done? Do you believe that a good manager has the best job in the world since as Casey Stengle would say "I get credit for watching other people hit home runs"? Do you have examples of you making sure the spotlight of success was on the team implementing the project and on the organization as a whole and not necessarily the CIO or the directors involved. Do you feel that this is a good principle?

Lincoln on Facebook

2009-04-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this graphic (Lincoln on Facebook) in the newspaper: http://www.indyweek.com/pdf/020409/LincolnFacebook.jpg I thought it was an interesting spin on how we can view history, relate to the past and apply to modern day life.

If Facebook existed in the time of Lincoln's presidency, would he have used it in his political campaign or to communicate with his generals? Would you have been his "friends?" Would we be just as interested in what he looked like before he had a beard...just as much as the media is interested in the presidential pup in modern day?

What are your thoughts?

Master of paradox

2009-03-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

Lincoln was:
Charismatic yet unassuming: Consistent yet flexible: Trusting and compassionate yet demanding and tough; When having a bad day be positive and supportive of your staff – keep your darker side to yourself (Lincoln wrote letters & did not send them). Do have examples from IT of these principles? Have you ever written a memo to staff but not sent it? Saved it for another day in case you still needed? Been trusting and compassionate while still demanding?

Character

2009-03-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

Lincoln had the courage to handle unjust crtiticism and he felt that the truth was the best defense against slander. To that end he felt that major misrepresentation should be handled immediately while minor ones should be ignored. He also felt that the possibility of falling in the struggle should not deter one from the struggle. Have you had instances in IT of dealing with untruths and how did you handle them? Where their instances that you felt it was just best to let things go since the truth would eventully come out? Do you agree that one should take risk when there is a possibility of failure? Are their pros and cons in IT for handling these risks while still trying to ensure service to clients and also continued employment?

Persuasion vs. Coercion

2009-03-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

Lincoln understood that persuasion was preferred to coercion when getting buy in on what he needed accomplished. He also understood human nature and that people responded to input in many different ways so he interacted with his generals in different ways depending upon their personalities. He believed that force should be used as a last resort and that people also needed to believe that what they are doing is their own idea. He also empowered his generals to act on their own and make their own decisions. Can you think of some IT examples of empowering your staff and managers depending upon their unique personalities? Can you also highlight sometimes when you had to resort to force to get things done.

Building strong alliances

2009-03-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Lincoln built strong alliances even with his adversaries. He made many of them members of his cabinet. He also forged alliances with his subordinates by empowering them to take action and tried to avoid the appearance of micro managing situations. Do you feel these principles will work in IT. Have you had both positive and negative experiences when aligning yourself with adversaries? Are there methods that you have used to be hands on without appearing to micro manage situations?