Abraham Lincoln: The World's Most Powerful Leader

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John Wooden once said, “the most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example”( ). A leader is meant to show their peers, employees, or anyone they come in contact with that they are an example to live by for others lives. One man that was an example that many people look up to is Abraham Lincoln and his style of leadership. Lincoln used his personal life to be the example that influenced not just people, but the shaping of our nation. He created a group of the greatest minds during his time and was able to stand against hardship to move the country forward (Moreton, 2008). His role as a leader was so much more than what individuals think of today by bringing a country together and demonstrated this by being such an influential …show more content…

Lincoln was an individual who was very honest in what he does and was always very straightforward in what he wanted, giving him the nickname “Honest Abe”. This is something that every single leader needs to have because if they aren’t honest or have integrity than no one will look up to them and then things will fall apart. When a leader has integrity it “must be sincere. Through an individual’s words, deeds, and actions, integrity can be judged to be genuine” (2000). Leaders aren’t able to start lying to their employees because it will be very easy to point it and to have no one looking up to them for help. Employees trust their leaders to help guide them by being honest of what they need to do, by showing them in the right direction and to be the guide needed so they are able to move up in their careers. Trustworthiness is one of the foundations for an effective leader and happens from a leader being honest and has integrity. Leaders behavior needs to be consistent with what they are doing and they need to be clear in their intentions. This is something every leader needs to follow because “it takes a leader a long time to build trust, yet one brief incident of untrustworthy behavior can permanently destroy it” (DuBrin, 2016). Lincoln was always trustworthy in what he did because he knew one mistake would mess up the trust the country and leaders had for