William Herbert "Skip" Boyer, 32°
15817 N 6th Place, Phoenix, Arizona 85022
Skip.Boyer@bestwestern.com

Former President Abraham Lincoln had a management style which is still relevant today.

Abraham Lincoln has been dead for more than 130 years. And, yet, he's still right on when it comes to managing people. I recently read a small book by Donald T. Phillips. It's called Lincoln on Leadership, Executive Strategies for Tough Times. The author's basic point is that Lincoln's management style has been ignored throughout the reams of material reviewing his other strengths and weaknesses.

Phillips's book is not a biography. It is, instead, a look at the management techniques the 16th President used to hold America together during the Civil War. I was surprised how modern those techniques sounded. Whether you lead a large company, a little company, a small team or a Lodge of Brothers, here are a few tips from one of the world's legendary leaders. Incidentally, it is reported that Lincoln put off joining Freemasonry because, he said, he didn't want his joining to be interpreted as a move to court an influential portion of the electorate. He would petition the Lodge, he said, when he returned from Washington at the end of his second term.

Lincoln's principles of dealing with people:

	It is important the people know you come among them without fear.
	Seek casual contact with your subordinates.
	Be the embodiment of good temper and affability.
	Remember, everyone likes a compliment.
	If your subordinates can stand it, so can you.

Lincoln on getting the job done:

	Discourage formal grievances. Persuade. Compromise.
	Use force as a last resort.
	Avoid issuing orders. Imply, request.
	Delegate responsibility and authority.
	Remember that followers want to believe that it's their idea.

Lincoln on relationships:

	Never crush a man, thereby making him and his friends permanent enemies.
	Once a subordinate is destroyed, he ceases to contribute to the organization.
	Your organization takes on the personality of the leader at the top.
	Malice toward none. Charity for all.

Lincoln on communication:

	Be your organization's best stump-speaker.
	Extemporaneous speaking is your avenue to the public.
	Prepare yourself thoroughly for your public speaking engagements.
	Remember that there will be times when you should simply not speak.

Lincoln on vision:

	Provide a clear, concise statement of the direction of your organization.
	Harness your vision through implementation of your own personal roving leadership style.
	Unite your followers with a corporate mission.
	Sometimes it is better to plow around obstacles rather than to waste time going through them.
	Remember that compromise does not mean cowardice.

There's a good deal more in this slim volume. Author Phillips notes, "Lincoln knew that true leadership is often realized by exerting quiet and subtle influence on a day-to-day basis... He treated everyone with the same courtesy and respect. He lifted people out of their everyday selves and into a higher level of performance, achievement and awareness. He obtained extraordinary results from ordinary people by instilling purpose in their endeavors. He was open, civil, tolerant and fair, and he maintained a respect for the dignity of all people at all times. Abraham Lincoln was the essence of leadership."

Whether you lead the free world or a Lodge committee, that's not a bad way to be.

William H. Boyer is the Director, Executive Communications, Best Western International, Inc. He is a member of Paradise Valley–Silver Trowel Lodge No. 29, Phoenix, Arizona, and serves as editor of the Lodge's Trestle Board. Brother Boyer is a member of the Philalethes Society and writes a regular column in the Society's popular magazine. A Chevalier of the Order of DeMolay, a member of the Brotherhood of the Blue Forget-Me-Not and of the Scottish Rite Bodies of Phoenix, Arizona, he is a native of Omaha, Nebraska, and holds the prestigious Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) designation from the International Association of Business Communicators. Brother Boyer has earned more than 70 regional and national awards for his writing and editorial work.