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In the book Team of Rivals, author Doris Kearns Goodwin focuses on how Abraham Lincoln built his cabinet. Instead of choosing cronies and old pals, Lincoln’s choices included three of his major rivals for the 1860 presidential nomination, William Seward, Edward Bates and Salmon Chase.
None of these men thought Lincoln was presidential material, and, in fact, he was considered a light-weight who was not prepared for the job.
Lincoln won them over by genuinely and methodically building his relationships with them. In fact, relationship-building encounters were a key to Lincoln’s success, whether it was at the highest political echelons or meeting the troops at the front.
Is there a lesson here for our current Mayor and Council?
Every interaction can be a relationship-building encounter, if we genuinely believe that relationship building is at the center of what we need and want to do. We can all learn from Mr. Lincoln.
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2 comments:
Unfortunately, Mayor Morris is no Abraham Lincoln. Rather than being open and welcoming, she is small-minded, vindictive,vicious and far too insecure to accept suggestions or real input from anyone.
In Morris-town (oops, Aurora), we are limited to the "my way or the highway approach".
Integrity and trust were hallmarks for “Honest” Abe.
We are seriously lacking trust amongst some of our town council members.
And other council members trust too much at the risk of their own integrity.
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