Team of Rivals Reflection

Team of Rivals, written by Doris Kearns Goodwin is all about Abraham Lincoln's rise to presidency, his presidency, and his everlasting legacy across the globe. The book, although roughly 800 pages, really caught my attention and I often times felt that I could not put it down. I would read it before and after work every day. One of the main reasons why the book was so interesting to me was how diverse all of the people were in regards to leadership styles and organizational behaviors.

Throughout the book, it astonished me on how many failures and trials Lincoln had to face both prior to becoming president and during his presidency. I feel that the trials assisted in molding him into one of the best leaders that the United States has ever seen. Since the beginning of the book, Lincoln was never as fortunate as his future cabinet members when it came to education and money. Lincoln was a self educated man who borrowed books from anyone that he could. He understood the true meaning of hard work and did not take it for granted.

During Lincoln's presidential campaign and during his presidency, he showed astonishing emotional intelligence. He was able to continuously make decisions without letting his emotions or personal desires influence him. Lincoln would often write the emotional letters but store them away for a couple days, reread them, than either keep them locked up forever or throw them away. He was on the level of self actualization and often sacrificed his personal health for the better of the country.

Lincoln was also a master negotiator and influencer of people. Although Carnegie's book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, was not written at the time; Lincoln possessed many of the attributes. He would also listen to anyone's personal opinion fully, even if he did not agree, and would often be seen sitting back and listening rather than trying to lead any argument. Lincoln was a master tactician and timed his comments precisely. He would often start with a story that would bring all sides together and have a meaningful purpose. This would calm the opposing sides down while slowly instilling his ideas into their heads. He would then give his points, and wait while the opposition would determine that it was their idea and agree with Lincoln.

I was also astonished with how diverse Lincoln's cabinet was. Lincoln knew that a more diverse cabinet leads to a more successful one. Having opinions from all sides of the spectrum does lead to more arguments, but it also brings about the best solutions. In the book it was said that Lincoln believed that a cabinet of like minds is the same as a single ruler. This personally touched me because in the past, I have often times found myself only wanting to be around my close group of friends. We are all similar with similar beliefs and backgrounds, which leads to similar ideas. If I want to lead a more diverse lifestyle I will need to reach out to more diverse minded individuals.

Overall, Team of Rivals improved my intelligence of Lincoln and the Civil War much more than I have ever known. Previously, I only know as much as school had taught me, which was minimal. The book also lead to a lot of self-reflection. I need to be able to have the self awareness that he had and listen and surround myself with more intelligent people. Understanding that I know little motivates me to learn more. I also need to be a better listener. Listening, for Lincoln, assisted him with maintaining friends all over the political spectrum. Lastly, I need to spread out and surround myself with more diverse minded people. In doing so, I will continue to improve my intelligence, and will learn better ways to solve problems that I would have never previously conceived.