[5-min leadership] Communicate your vision like Lincoln

On this Friday, (158 years ago!) on November 19th, 1863 Abraham Lincoln gave the infamous Gettysburg Address. 

And still, his vision and the words used to describe can be used as a lesson for contemporary leaders. 
 
Leaders must describe a vision for their organization and communicate it effectively. It is fundamental. 

Vision is a mental image of what the future world ought to be like and is important for several reasons. 

First, it provides an organization both direction and focus, which is essential when a leader is promoting change. 

Second, vision inspires members of the team, as well as encouraging both greater synergy and strategic alignment. 

Third, it describes a context for decision-making, resource allocation, and overall organizational development. 

Finally, vision is the basis for strategic thinking, planning, and programming. As it says in the Bible, “Without vision the people perish....” (Proverbs 29:18). 

Four months after the Battle of Gettysburg, on the morning of November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln left David Wills’ home in the center of Gettysburg for the dedication of the new national cemetery for the Union dead. His mind had been greatly relieved by the receipt of a telegram indicating that his son’s health had improved significantly.

The speech is brief—only 272 words—and consists of three paragraphs.

The first paragraph describes “where the organization has been,” the second portrays “where the organization is now,” and the final paragraph expresses “where it is going.”

Any leader can use this outline to organize their thinking and communicate with their team.

1. Where we have been....
The iconic opening of the speech “Fourscore and seven years ago” describes “where the organization has been.” It signals to the audience that a story is coming, and using an anecdote is an effective way for any leader to be more persuasive. This is not surprising as Lincoln frequently used stories as a means to illustrate his arguments. His narrative at the onset takes the listener back eighty-seven years, not to the signing of the Constitution in 1787, but to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This is important as the Constitution accepted slavery as a compromise in order to get Southern states to support ratification. Both the Declaration and Lincoln’s speech begin with the proposition that “all men are created equal.”

2. Where we are now....
The second part of the speech begins, “We are met on a battlefield of this great war.” That is where the organization is now. In this section, he reminds the audience that the vision had been solely to preserve the Union, “testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure.” It further provides him a point that everyone will totally agree on. Both he and the listeners have all come to this battlefield for the same purpose “to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting place for those who have given their lives that the nation might live.” If a leader is trying to achieve consensus on something big, it is often best to begin by acknowledging where agreement already exists.

3. Where we are going....
He then concluded his remarks by describing where the organization is going: “a new birth of freedom.” It may not be an overstatement to say that when the ceremony began on that day in November the purpose of the war was to preserve the Union. That is what Lincoln had argued in his first inaugural address delivered on March 4, 1861. With respect to slavery he had very explicitly stated, “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists.” He further reaffirmed the legality of such controversial laws as the Fugitive Slave Act. As people departed the cemetery at its conclusion, however, the purpose for the war was still to preserve the Union, but it was now also to end slavery.

Trying to move any organization in a new and different direction can be perilous for any leader, and that was certainly true for Mr. Lincoln. He knew that a large portion of the North had rejected his Emancipation Proclamation. In fact, some so-called Copperhead Democrats had urged Union officers to resign and soldiers to desert when it was announced. In this moment in Gettysburg, Lincoln showed significant moral courage when he announced his intention to move the nation toward “a new birth of freedom.”

All leaders should reflect upon these points as they ponder their organization’s future.

And, draw upon their courage, as Lincoln did, to do what is best for those they lead.