Honestly
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, and he is quite a story. He attempted to get into political leadership a number of times. His wife, Mary Todd, had health issues. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, in fact he was born into poverty and grew up in a dirt floor, wood cabin. After he became president, he successfully led the U.S. through the American Civil War. He stood up against all sides, and delivered the famous Gettysburg Address. Sadly, he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a left wing democrat against nationalism, patriotism, healing and freedom.
To this day, he is considered one of the top, if not the top, president ever to serve the U.S.A.
Unlike Honest Abe, I worked with a person who ended up being a prolific con man, a business cheat and a dishonest person to his family, his business partners and his community. One of the most identifiable traits of President Lincoln is his honesty. It seems to be a lost virtue in society today with the media and our government.
This former partner was such a chameleon that he often forget what he told someone and would tell others something entirely different, based on what he thought you deserved to know or what aspect of the story he determined you needed to know. He definitely lacked a conscience about his fibs, twisted tales, and lies.
Ironically, we learned to decipher when my former partner would lie because he would start with this sentence, “To be honest with you….” My response to this was, “So you have to tell us when you are sorta telling the truth?”
“If you wish to see the character of a person, give them power.” —Abraham Lincoln
One of the main qualities of great leaders is integrity. It is nearly impossible to have dedicated followers, strong teammates and loyal customers if you lack integrity. Merriam Webster describes integrity as “the adherence to moral and ethical principles with a soundness of moral character and honesty.”
Paradoxically, if you are out and about and you look back, and none of your associates are with you, then you are merely taking a walk. This would apply to my former partner. He took many walks and no one followed because it was honestly impossible to follow such an unprincipled person.
One of my favorite book titles is from Patrick Lencioni: Get Naked. The title catches everyone off guard. Almost like they are expecting it to be a similar book genre as 50 Shades Of Gray. No, Get Naked is about a leader being transparent and true to their word.
Here’s my leadership challenge for us. Honest Abe taught us to be authentic, real, truthful, virtuous, principled, and compelled to do the right thing. Leadership isn’t easy. Pressures from all angles makes leadership tough at times, but do not fall into the trap that my former partner got caught in. Rather be like Abe: honest even if it costs you something temporarily. At least others will know where you stand both in your head and heart. That makes it much easier for others to follow, contribute, and join in.
