Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

In the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln”, author & historian, Doris Goodwin, tells the story of Lincoln’s decision to fill his cabinet with political adversaries, namely men who ran against him in the contentious 1860 election
Lincoln’s explanation for this decision was: the country needed the strongest, most capable men to lead it; collectively, these men could offer that. From his perspective, just because they had been bitter rivals during election didn’t justify depriving the country of their talents
His wisdom was both unprecedented & reflective of Lincoln’s own advanced leadership & high-degree of self-confidence. Sadly today, many political “leaders” have embraced an autocratic, “with me or against me” approach, demanding Blind support. They claim monopoly of competence
These leaders surround themselves with “yes men” and “yes women” who tell them what they want to hear and reinforce their existing positions and beliefs. Building a team that is comfortable with conflict and challenging each other is essential for good leadership to flourish
Like Lincoln, the best leaders triangulate their view with believable people who are willing to disagree and challenge their closely-held assumptions and beliefs. They do this because they want to significantly raise the probability of the best outcome or decision.