QUOTES YOU CAN USE IN PRESENTATIONS, REPORTS, AND CONVERSATION
***Where You Are Headed
“One ship sails East, And another West, By the self-same winds that blow,
Tis the set of the sails And not the gales, That tells the way we go.”
 --Ella Wheeler Wilcox (American poet, 1850-1919) 

***Thoughts and Action
“The ancestor of every action is a thought.” 
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (American poet and essayist, 1803–82)

***Something For Nothing
“People rarely if ever appreciate what they can get for nothing.” –Gene Griessman

(Commentary: When I first began to do Lincoln presentations, I believed that if I did a presentation for free, organizations that got a pro bono presentation would appreciate it more than ones that paid a fee.  I was wrong.  Example:  When I requested a dressing room to change into costume, organizations that paid took the attitude, “No problem.  What else can we do to help?”  Organizations that got it for free typically asked if I couldn’t use a public rest room.  I have come to the conclusion that this is a general principle that applies to many aspects of life.  G)

LINCOLN AND THE MEDIA
After 200 years, the 16^th President is getting plenty of attention.   I’ve participated in the bicentennial celebration with appearances at the Carter Presidential Library, on CNN, “Fox and Friends,” “Family Net,” “The Small Business Advocate,” “The Good Life,” stories in The Atlanta Journal/Constitution, the Orlando Sentinel, local network affiliates, university publications, etc.   Thank you one and all.  

LEADERSHIP:  HOW TO SAY IT

It requires great skill to successfully say to one’s superior, “I want to do it my way instead of your way.”

Yet the need for this skill can come into play whether you’re a three-star general with a four-star general, a CEO communicating with the board or key investors, vice presidents with CEOs, etc. 

History provides us with many case studies of how to do this.  One of the clearest illustrations I know of involves a general—in this case, General William Tecumseh Sherman—saying “I want to do it my way” to his superior (and personal friend) General U.S. Grant.

The background: General Grant was under great pressure from the President and Secretary of War to wrap up his campaign against Richmond.  The siege had gone on long enough, and continuing casualties were sapping support for the war. Sherman, far away from these pressures in Georgia, had just completed his famous march, and had reached Savannah. 

To gain overwhelming force, Grant ordered Sherman to send his troops north on ships as soon as possible. Sherman, however, thought it best to capture Savannah before leaving, and then march his army north, destroying everything in its path.  Capturing Savannah would be a huge psychological victory for the Union cause, and marching instead of going by sea would take a bit longer, but would give him a chance to do extensive damage, a skill he had perfected.

Sherman had also perfected his ability to communicate.  When he learned of Grant’s priorities, instead of saying No to his superior, or challenging him directly, Sherman agreed to proceed north.  But he also provided Grant with information that he hoped would change his mind. 

Marching north instead of putting 60,000 troops on ships would take two weeks longer than sailing—assuming that enough ships could be found.  Finding and using that many ships would be a big drain on Union resources, Sherman pointed out. (Years later in his Memoirs, Sherman wrote that he estimated it would have taken ‘little less than a hundred steamers and sailing-vessels.”) In today’s language, Sherman provided his superior with a benefit statement for doing it his own way. 

Here’s what’s fascinating about Sherman’s communication.  Sherman began by indicating that he had “initiated measures looking principally to coming to you with 50,000 or 60,000 infantry, and, incidentally, to take Savannah, if time will allow.” 

What happened?  Grant agreed with Sherman.  Sherman captured Savannah, and in a grand gesture, offered Savannah to the President as a Christmas gift.  Then when the weather permitted, Sherman marched--instead of sailing--northward. 

Sherman used a technique that I have long recommended to those I coach.  If you communicate with someone in a superior position, begin by indicating that you are completely willing to comply with their expressed wishes.  Then as diplomatically as possible, ask if he/she would like to hear your thoughts about alternatives.  Usually, you’ll find that the medicine will go down easily if you begin by sounding cooperative.  Expect resistance if you sound argumentative and insubordinate. 

Think about it.  If two of the most war-hardened generals in American history found it useful to communicate with respect and deference to one another, gentle persuasion can certainly be a useful approach for you.

(For a fascinating account of Sherman’s March and a detailed account of this exchange of messages, see Noah Andre Trudeau, SOUTHERN STORM: SHERMAN’S MARCH TO THE SEA.  NY:  HarperCollins, 2009,  See pp. 459, 460.)

LEADERSHIP: LINCOLN AND THE 10,000-HOUR RULE
The Beatles did it before they became a phenomenon.   Bill Gates did it before there was a Microsoft.  And Abraham Lincoln did it before becoming President.  Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers, maintains that anyone who expects to become world-class at anything had better plan on doing it.

And what is It? 

It is getting thousands of hours of practice at whatever you plan to do.  In the case of the Beatles, they played night after night in Hamburg, Germany’s strip clubs.  Here’s how John Lennon remembered the experience:  “We got better and got more confidence.   We couldn’t help it with all the experience playing all night long….In Hamburg, we had to play for eight hours, so we really had to find a new way of playing.”   When they returned, they had become a seasoned, musically disciplined band with their own sound.

Bill Gates started getting his practice-time in when he was in the eighth grade.  His high school purchased a teletype machine that was linked to a mainframe computer in Seattle.  Bill Gates and his buddy Paul Allen used that system to the max, then found a way to get computer time at a software company where they spent literally thousands of hours.  Here’s Bill Gates on that topic:  “It was my obsession.  I skipped athletics.  I went up there at night.  We were programming on weekends.  It would be a rare week that we wouldn’t get twenty or thirty hours in.”

And Lincoln?  Historian Gerald J. Prokopowicz writes:  “Over the 25 years that he practiced law, Lincoln (and his partners) handled an average of more than two-hundred cases a year, an awesome workload.” 

Do the math.  Two-hundred cases for twenty-five years come to 5000 cases. (Actually there were more than 5000 cases.)  Let’s say Lincoln spent just two hours on each case.  (On some he certainly spent less time, on others far more.)  That easily comes to the magic number 10,000 hours that Gladwell has written about.

Lincoln, like everybody who has ever made a lasting mark in any field, got to be good at what he did by putting in thousands of hours of practice.

(For a beautifully written account of this phenomenon, see Malcolm Gladwell, OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS, NY: Little, Brown, & Co.  Chapter Two)

LINCOLN’S LOG:  DID LINCOLN BELIEVE IN RACIAL EQUALITY?

A new book, by Gerald J. Prokopowicz is a keeper.  Its entitled: DID LINCOLN OWN SLAVES: AND OTHER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ABRAHAM LINCOLN   (NY: Random House, January 2009)  Prokopowicz is currently chair of the history department at East Carolina University.   For nine years Prokopowicz served as the Lincoln Scholar at the famed Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

I have put this new book on my library shelf next to my most frequently used reference books on Lincoln.  The book is organized chronologically—The Boy Lincoln, President, Martyr—and topically, with an excellent index.  Not only is the author widely and deeply read on not just well-known and sometimes hotly disputed topics, but he also provides fascinating details that one might never think of asking. 

Here’s an example of what you’ll discover: Critics of Lincoln have long maintained that even though he hated slavery, Lincoln did not believe in racial equality.  Indeed, Lincoln made statements during his debates with Douglas that clearly support this contention.  However, there’s strong evidence on the other side of the argument.  Prokopowicz provides the following excerpt from a speech that Lincoln gave in Chicago on July 10, 1858:

“…Let us discard all this quibbling about this man and the other man—this race and that race and the other race being inferior, and therefore they must be placed in an inferior position—discarding our standard that we have left us.  Let us discard all these things, and unite as one people throughout this land, until we shall once more stand up declaring that all men are created equal.” 

EXCERPT FROM THE NEW BOOK LINCOLN SPEAKS TO LEADERS 20 POWERFUL LESSONS FOR TODAY’S LEADERS FROM AMERICA’S 16^TH PRESIDENT, by Gene Griessman and Pat Williams, with Peggy Matthews Rose

Gene Griessman as Lincoln
“If you want to grow and improve yourself and any organization that you lead, make some friends and find some associates who are different from you, who have had different experiences from yours, who see the world in different ways.  They will help you discover solutions to problems that you cannot solve, and see opportunities that you might otherwise miss.”

Pat Williams
“To have a great team you must have outstanding talent.  You can’t be afraid of talent, even though talented people are often creative, imaginative, and independent in their thinking.

“By the way, I’ve been practicing this whole team-building exercise in my home for years.   We have built a family of great diversity with nineteen children—fourteen of whom have been adopted from four foreign countries, South Korea, the Philippines, Romania, and Brazil.  It’s truly a United Nations family.”

Leadership Tip:  Why not use Lincoln Speaks To Leaders with your leadership team?  The 20 Lessons can serve as your roadmap for leadership development.  Quantity prices are available.   Call 404-256-5927

INVITE LINCOLN TO YOUR NEXT IMPORTANT MEETING.  2009 IS LINCOLN’S 200TH BIRTHDAY YEAR, AND DEMAND IS STRONG. CONTACT US RIGHT AWAY BEFORE THE BEST DATES ARE TAKEN.

FEEDBACK

“This book (Time Tactics of Very Successful People) has helped me and many friends I have recommended it to in a way that no other book has. It is concise, effective, and humorous on occasion. It is the perfect blend of a large volume of information and a small space in which it is revealed. As a doctor, former politician, and teacher, I can honestly say this is the most effective book I have ever read. Ever.  An anonymous review at the Barnes & Noble website.

“As a history-degree holder as well as a business person, this was a huge treat.  The best way to describe it is with a 7-letter word: A-W-E-S-O-M-E!  --Stephanie Rhodes, HR Manager, Dunn Building Company

“A must see.  Fantastic presentation; good stories and humor to keep attention.”  Casimir Barczyk, Purdue University

“Excellent.  Something for each attendee—whether director or spouse, etc.   Thoughts that will enrich and edify each of us.  --Earlie Brady, Director, RTMC

“Having seen you a number of times and having watched my tapes of you…something occurred to me yesterday as we were driving home from your performance at the Carter Presidential Library.  You—as I have said before—wrap yourself in the essence of Lincoln.  More than that—and this is what came to me—you have evolved into a national treasure.”  --Dick Freeman, President (retired), Webstorm Design