Inside Out

I've been reading "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a biography of the team Lincoln built around him that the current administration seems to reflect.

More books have been written on Lincoln than any other American President, I have been curious to see what his magic in leadership comes down to.

It wasn't his charisma. It seemed to take the whole country some time to warm to him. "His popularity almost came from the inside out. His cabinet was the first to see something unusual about him."

Inside out.

Take William Seward, who originally was a rival. Only 8 weeks into his position as secretary of state, he wrote to his wife that Lincoln was unlike anyone he'd ever known. One after the other, they came to power thinking Lincoln was rather unexceptional and ended up believing that he was as near a perfect man as anyone they'd ever met.

I wonder if Lincoln would have even had a chance in our culture? Probably not, "video killed the radio star", right? That said, he represents a kind of leadership that is often lost and found wanting these days because we place too much value on charisma and presentation in the media-centric life we're accustomed to.... inside out leadership is extinct....well, not really, but at least on the endangered list.