Sprinkler Age A Publication of the American Fire Sprinkler Association
One of my favorite books about leadership is celebrating 20 years since its publication. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, which was authored by Doris Goodwin. Ms. Goodwin has written a number of biographies and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1995 for her book No Ordinary Time, a biography about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and their work on the home front during World War II. She spoke at the 2009 NFPA Annual Conference about leadership. Her remarks were insightful.
In Team of Rivals, she observes how President Lincoln took the unusual strategy of surrounding himself with a cabinet that was made up of his most able political adversaries and created a team with individuals who were unafraid to take issue with him and, in some cases, felt that they would have made a better president.
One of these rivals was Salmon Chase, whom the President selected to be Secretary of the Treasury. Chase craved the presidency and felt that Lincoln was not fit for the job. Knowing this, Lincoln kept him in the post for three years, knowing that Chase was undermining him with other members of the cabinet and Congress at every opportunity. Lincoln put up with the personal attacks because he knew Chase was the best person to lead the Treasury Department. He was an expert in dealing with the financial markets, which was critical for finding the money to pay for the defense of the Union. It is a stark example of Lincoln working with individuals he felt would do the best job for the country, even when the individual was downright “mean-spirited.”
Ms. Goodwin stated in an interview with the Harvard Business Review that one cannot emphasize strongly enough the need to surround yourself with people who will disagree with you and question your assumptions. She further stated that it particularly helps to have people whose temperaments are different from your own. Case in point is Lincoln bringing in Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War. Stanton was much tougher and more secretive than Lincoln. Lincoln was too kind to his subordinates and too open, and he knew that Stanton’s temperament would balance his softness.
Lincoln had the smarts and confidence to surround himself with the best talent he could find. He needed people who were leaders in their own right and aware of their own strengths. However, the real genius Lincoln exhibited was in his ability to manage the ambitions and egos to form a team that could successfully confront the challenges of the Civil War. Further, Lincoln also displayed extraordinary emotional intelligence. He learned from his mistakes, took responsibility for the mistakes of others, and never held a grudge. How rare is this?
Lincoln first came across to those who worked with him as unexceptional. William Seward started as a fierce rival but several weeks after becoming Secretary of State, he wrote to his wife that Lincoln was unlike anyone he had ever known. One after another, these rivals came to believe that he was as near a perfect man as anyone could be. They recognized his flaws, but as with most of us, his greatest flaw came from his greatest strength. He genuinely liked people and worked to a fault at not hurting them. This was evidenced in that he kept many of his generals on far too long because he gave second and even third chances for them to succeed. He recognized his weaknesses and knew he needed his rivals to overcome his flaws.
However, one responsibility from which Lincoln did not shirk was making a decision when his team could not agree. He listened to the debate of his cabinet regarding slavery for months before finally taking the stand to end slavery in the states that had rebelled. When the firestorm erupted amongst rival political parties, he stood firm and took the attacks. He was the President, and in the end, the accountability was his and his alone.
Regardless of our job or role within our company, in our community, or at home we can learn much from Lincoln. In my opinion, he is one of the greatest leaders in world history. He came to power supported by a minority of the voters; his election commenced the formation of the Confederacy, and he was ridiculed as too dumb for the job. However, he exhibited humility, learned from mistakes, and surrounded himself with the best advisors he could find, regardless of how they had treated him in the past. Most importantly, he listened to them, digested their input, and then did what he thought best. Good advice for each of us if we desire to succeed in any facet of our life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Russell B. Leavitt, CFPS, SET, is Executive Chairman & Board Member of Telgian Holdings, Inc. Russell Leavitt’s Telgian roots can be traced to the genesis of the company. In 1990, he co-founded Fire Design Group, which merged with Tomes, Van Rickley and Associates (TVA) in 1991. He subsequently served in numerous executive positions including TVA Fire and Life Safety President, Managing Member of Fire Materials Group, LLC, and CEO of Telgian. Today, Leavitt serves as the Executive Chairman for Telgian Holdings, Inc., as well as the Chairman of Telgian Fire Safety and Telgian Engineering & Consulting.
Leavitt is active in numerous trade and professional associations and holds several leadership positions. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors as Immediate Past Chair of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), he has served as the Chair of the NFPA 13 Technical Committee for Fire Sprinkler System Discharge Criteria and continues to serve as a Principal Member. He is also a Principal Member of the NFPA Technical Committee for Installation and a Principal Member of NFPA 3 and NFPA 4. Leavitt also represents NFPA 13 on the Technical Committee for NFPA 909 (Code for the Protection of Cultural Resource Properties) and 914 (Code for the Protection of Historic Structures).
Throughout his career, he has authored numerous articles and training guides, including the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) Beginning Inspector Training Program and the AFSA Online Hydraulics Training Program. In addition, he is a major contributor to several NFPA Handbooks and served as the subject matter expert for numerous NFPA live and online training programs.
Leavitt shares his more than 40 years of experience in the fire protection industry by conducting training presentations for many professional and industry organizations including the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), NFPA, and AFSA.
In 2013, he received the AFSA Henry S. Parmelee Award for dedication to the professional advancement of the fire sprinkler industry and improvement of fire safety through automatic sprinklers. He is also the recipient of the NFPA Standards Council Special Achievement Award in 2018 for his leadership of the task group which completely reorganized NFPA 13 for the 2019 edition.
Leavitt is a Level IV NICET certified technician and Certified Fire Protection Specialist who holds fire protection contracting licenses in multiple states. He is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.