By: Clint Baldwin on June 23, 2014
When I consider Goodwin’s delineation of Lincoln choosing, Stanton, Chase, Seward, and Bates – his direct political rivals – to become major figures of his political team, I am reminded of the writer Baltasar Gracian and his text The Art of Worldly Wisdom. Gracian was a 17th century Spanish Jesuit philosopher who among other things…
By: Michael Badriaki on June 23, 2014
Doris Kearns Goodwin’ book “Team of Rivals” was a knee read because it covers an extraordinary period of American history. The author’s narrative focus is on the sixteenth president of the United States of American Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet. The stage is set with the scene of the national Republican convention in Chicago in…
By: Mark Steele on June 21, 2014
Hiring is both a science and an art. A few times in my career, I have used tried and tested hiring processes by carefully screening candidates, carefully choosing behavioral questions, using multiple panel interviews, and still hiring the wrong person. Lincoln had a similar experience when he found himself hiring multiple generals until he finally…
By: Richard Rhoads on June 20, 2014
Stories are powerful! Embedded in story is the ability to touch another soul. Story goes beyond communicating facts at a purely intellectual level, rather, story communicates by touching the intellect, emotions and the soul of another. For myself, most of my upbringing was filled with story. My dad, the great fisherman, would at least once…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on June 20, 2014
This book is a totally believable world of blood thirsty vampires in the mid 19th century where our hero Lincoln slays his way to the White House. The action, the suspense, what a great read. There are even pictures that prove all of it to be true……Oh, sorry wrong book. We were suppose to read…
By: Julie Dodge on June 20, 2014
Would I follow that guy who got the job I wanted? It was an unlikely thing that Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860. His Republican competitors, by outward appearances, were far more qualified. William Henry Seward had a stellar political career as Governor of New York, and U.S. Senator. Salmon Chase served as Governor…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on June 20, 2014
Doris Kearns, in her book, Team of Rivals: The Political genius of Abraham Lincoln, eloquently writes the story Abraham Lincoln, America’s greatest president and his three competitors, William Henry Seward, Salmon Portland Chase, and Edward Bates for the Republican nomination for the presidency of the United States in 1860s. I especially enjoyed reading about the…
By: gfesadmin on June 20, 2014
I continue to draw and glean from our reading of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. In the several weeks since I finished our reading there are several traits that I continue to reflect upon, ones I hope to carry with me in my own leadership development. Among…
By: Richard Volzke on June 20, 2014
Listening to the audiobook, Team of Rivals by Goodwin, provided interesting insight on effective leadership. The author used Abraham Lincoln as an example of how one can develop leadership ability throughout their lifetime. Lincoln’s leadership style is relevant in today’s culture and there is much we can learn from his life and presidency. The book…
By: Bill Dobrenen on June 19, 2014
I will never forget my first reading of the Lord of the Rings. I loved Tolkien’s characters, especially Frodo and Samwise Gamgee. Although Frodo and Sam loved each other deeply, they did not always agree – especially about how to deal with Gollum – the obvious antagonist in the story. Sam was at times ready…
By: David Toth on June 19, 2014
As a young pastor in my first full time pastoral position, I began facing conflict from one of the families in the church. It was a fairly small church averaging just under 100 in Sunday morning attendance. There were about five families that had been in leadership in the church for over 30 years. The…
By: Sam Stephens on June 19, 2014
One may assume that with the volumes of published material on the life and leadership of Abraham Lincoln, nothing more remains to be written. Doris Kearns Goodwin through her book A Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln proves that assumption wrong. She does provide some fresh insights on the man who from…
By: Stefania Tarasut on June 19, 2014
There are a few things that I noticed as I read through Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin over the past couple of weeks. First, you don’t always have to be the best… all you can do is your best today. Goodwin suggests that Lincoln made the decision to be a second choice nominee…
By: rhbaker275 on June 19, 2014
Dores Kearns Goodwin in Team of Rivals attributes Lincoln’s defeat of his contenders for the Republican nomination to Lincoln’s being the “shrewdest and canniest of them all.”[1] In the aftermath of the general election to the presidency, Lincoln incorporated each of his rivals into his leadership cabinet, as well as opposition party leaders. Such an…
By: Chris Ellis on June 19, 2014
Team of Rivals is an unparalleled and in-depth look at the circumstances and people of Abraham Lincoln’s campaign for the Presidency, the Civil War and his eventual assassination by John Wilkes Booth. Having grown up in the United States school system I felt that I knew Lincoln’s story well enough. Those illusions were destroyed by…
By: Deve Persad on June 19, 2014
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51) Leadership capacity has been written about exhaustively. Endless is the list of skills to acquire and strategies to employ in order to accomplish those goals and ideals that one would want to pursue. In common…
By: John Woodward on June 19, 2014
Serving in a number churches over the years, I found the common practice of most church leaders was to surround themselves with like-minded people. Often ministers would subtly craft their eldership and leadership teams with their protégés, placing in positions of influence those who not only saw things their way, but faithfully towed-the-line. What resulted…
By: Garrick Roegner on June 19, 2014
The United States of America had been through some tough times. However, never has the country been so divided by disparate interests, violence, racism, personal infighting, political conflict, and cynical self-advancement as during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. And for Lincoln this was all within his unionist government, he still also had to deal with…
By: Liz Linssen on June 19, 2014
Lincoln was a man who not only engineered the war victory that brought a great nation together, but who did so through exercising exceptional and humble leadership skills. He was a man who had a strong sense of purpose for his life, coupled with a clear vision: that “the weights should be lifted from the…
By: Fred Fay on June 18, 2014
Would you tolerate someone on your team with whom you had vast personality differences? Would you call people into account whom you knew had made verbal attacks on your character and abilities to lead? It seems irreconcilable differences are a good reason for so many who work together to not work together. Often when it…
