Abraham Lincoln : His leadership qualities and their relevance to today's business leadership

Abstract

It has been almost 150 years since the great civil war was fought in the United States and in this bloody civil war which killed more than 600.000 soldiers Abraham Lincoln emerged as a statesman who preserved the Union and abolished slavery. Lincoln's journey from a country lawyer in Illinois to the greatest U.S. presidents has been well documented. However, there is not a lot of literature around his distinctive leadership qualities and how they shaped the future of America. Lincoln was not the primary choice of the Republican Party as a nominee in the Presidential election of 1860. In fact he was the fourth choice. In spite of this, his supporters managed to nominate him as the party's candidate and he won the election. Lincoln's generosity and kind heartedness are legendary. With these traits he changed the hearts of many of his political enemies some of whom eventually helped elect him to the Presidency. His Presidency faced some of the biggest crises the US has ever seen and through his leadership the country was able to stay united in extremely delicate circumstances. He achieved seemingly impossible feats in the four years of his Presidency. This work explores the qualities which made him a great leader and how they can help today's business leaders surmount the massive problems they face.