The Leadership Style of Abraham Lincoln

The purpose of this paper is to examine the leadership style of Abraham Lincoln, the impacts of his leadership style on these who follow him, and his contribution to the situation of American Civil War.

Curiously, with everything that has been written about Abraham Lincoln, little is known about his extraordinary leadership ability. This is perhaps because leadership theory itself is a relatively recent phenomenon. Only in the last ten to fifteen years has the study of leadership been examined closely, and not as part of the “management” philosophy of the business world.

Leader

Lincoln’s Characteristics

In a way, Abraham Lincoln represented the summation of those leadership qualities that had helped to form a nation. The last great leader before industrial change, Lincoln stood for all that was right, honest, and self-evident. As a boy, his heroes were the Founding Fathers, and he studied the history of that young nation that was so devoted to human rights. He grew up in poverty and had a binding link to the common people. He was innovative at a time when the age of discoveries and inventions was just beginning. He was patient, persistent, consistent, and persuasive rather than dictatorial. “Lincoln’s resiliency in defeat was one of the defining characteristics of his presidential leadership” (Gienapp, 2002, 164-165). Lincoln was an exceptionally human. “His characteristics were more original, more diversified, more intense in a sober way, and yet more flexible under many circumstances” (McClure, 1997, 72). But, without a doubt, the foundation of Abraham Lincoln's leadership style was an unshakable commitment to the rights of the individual.

Lincoln’s Early Life

On February 12, 1809, that Abraham Lincoln was born in the family’s crude, one-room log cabin. Abraham Lincoln had a very close bond with his stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln. “His