How did Abraham Lincoln's leadership style contribute to his success as a leader?

Abraham Lincoln was an American politician, who served as the United States’ 16th president between the years 1861-1865. During his presidency, Lincoln was an effective, honourable, and overall, a successful leader. Throughout this essay, I will illustrate how Lincoln’s time in power was particularly successful, as he was both a charismatic and a transformational leader. However, this degree of success is debateable, for Lincoln’s political advances resulted in a loss of followers and the American Civil War (1861-1865). Some leadership-followership theories suggest that, given his inability to ‘control’ and sustain his level of followers, Lincoln’s reign was therefore, unsuccessful.

To begin, I will define the concept of leadership, followership, and what it means to be a successful leader. In this essay, leadership is the process of an individual(s) – who has legitimacy and authority – who influences and directs the behaviours and thoughts of others.[1] A good leader, however, acts in the virtue of righteousness and for the betterment of society. Meanwhile, followership is the ability to satisfy what is expected of you as a follower[2], when “following in the leadership process”.[3] Ultimately, a successful leader satisfies this definition of leadership, operates for the betterment of society and its people, and upholds a degree of followership. The discussion on whether a successful leader depends on followership will be discussed in the latter. For now, it will be argued that Lincoln was a successful leader as he meets this definition of leadership.

Additionally, Lincoln was a successful leader, for he was charismatic and transformational. Charismatic leaders are typically favoured, for they operate with confidence, and with the ability to inspire certain emotions within their followers. As defined by Riggio, charismatic leaders are “essentially very skilled communicators, individuals who are both verbally eloquent, but also able to communicate to followers on a deep, emotional level. They are able to articulate a compelling or captivating vision, and are able to arouse strong emotions in followers”.[4] Lincoln was a charismatic leader for he cared for his followers and expressed to them in an eloquent and confident manner, why slavery must be abolished. In addition, this decision had aroused significant emotions across various followers and inspired many.

Moreover, transformational leadership theory depicts successful leaders “as instrumental in building follower commitment to achieving goals and challenging/inspiring/motivating them to perform.”[5] As described by Uhl-Bien and colleagues, “[t]ransformational leaders … focus on followers' needs and ability to grow and develop—in essence, transforming the seemingly lesser valued followers into more vaunted leaders”.[6] Overall, transformational leaders act to ‘transform’ the behaviours and outlooks of followers, and motivate them towards change. Lincoln was a transformational leader, as his policies (such as preserving the union and abolishing slavery) focused on his followers’ needs and helped these individuals grow. Indeed, the abolishment of slavery and preservation of the union, acted to promote greater equality, meeting his followers’ needs for adequate human rights and fairness. Further to this, the abolishment of slavery acted to aid growth within American society, both socially - where African Americans were no longer recognised as property - and economically, where the beginning of machinery would be utilised on plantations. Moreover, Burns believed transformational leadership to be when “leaders and followers make each other advance to a higher level of moral and motivation.”[7] This further underpins how Lincoln was a transformational leader, for his political agendas advanced him and his followers morally; motivating them to work towards a more righteous future.

Lincoln’s charismatic and transformative nature made him a successful leader, for his ability to connect with his followers emotionally, enabled him to push for the emancipation of slavery. Without this ability, it is doubtful that slavery would have been abolished in this timeframe, especially given the social mores of the time. Part of his success comes from his ability to effectively advance him and his followers to a higher level of morality, which resulted in positive change in society, both socially (through greater equality) and economically (through an increase in technical efficiency). Henceforth, Lincoln satisfies what it means to be a successful leader, for he was charismatic and transformative, which gave him the platform to connect with his followers and direct them onto a path of greater equality.

While “Lincoln is generally considered to be one of the two greatest American presidents”[8], under certain theories this does not hold true. For instance, the social-identity theory of leadership operates under the belief that “leadership effectiveness [is] dependent on followers [and a] leader’s ability to influence followers”.[9] Given his loss in followers, and inability to influence a group of them into agreeing with his policies, Lincoln can therefore be an unsuccessful leader under this theory. I disagree with this view, for it was Lincoln’s leadership performance that made him a successful leader, not his leader appeal. As discussed by Winter, “leadership performance [and leader appeal are] very different”.[10] Indeed, Winter continues and states that “the greatest presidents were those who were least congruent with the followers of their society.”[11] Thus, Lincoln’s success did not depend on his public appeal, but rather on his political performance.

As a result, Abraham Lincoln was a successful leader, as he satisfies the definition of what it takes to be an effective leader. He had legitimacy and authority over his followers (through his presidency status) and used such to move and inspire his followers. This ability to connect with and care for his followers, positions Lincoln as a charismatic and transformational leader. This contributed to Lincoln’s success as a political figure, as it led to positive change, and the betterment of people and society. Indeed, it was Lincoln’s impact and performance – which he achieved through his skills, enterprise, and emotional abilities – which made him a successful leader. Henceforth, while some theories suggest that Lincoln was unsuccessful given his reduction in followership, he was nonetheless a successful leader due to his positive leadership performance and impact.

Reference List:

Burns, James M., Leadership. New York: Harper & Row, 1978.

McCallum, John. “The Importance of Being a Good Follower.” Forbes. (October 2013): https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2013/10/25/the-importance-of-being-a-good-follower/.

Matthews, David M. “Psychology and the Study of Leadership.” Psychology Today. (June 2014): https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/head-strong/201406/psychology-and-the-study-leadership.

Riggio, Ronald E. “What is Charismatic Leadership? Leading Through Conviction.” STU Online.

(September 2012):

https://online.stu.edu/degrees/education/what-is-charismatic-leadership/

Uhl-Bien, Mary., Riggio, Ronald E., Lowe, Kevin B., & Carsten, Melissa K. “Followership Theory: A Review and Research Agenda.” The Leadership Quarterly 25, no. 1 (2014): 83-104, https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.007

Winter, David G. Leader Appeal, Leader Performance, and the Motive Profiles of Leaders and Followers: A Study of American Presidents and Elections. 1st ed. Political Psychology, 2004.

[1] David M. Matthews, “Psychology and the Study of Leadership,” Psychology Today, (June 2014): https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/head-strong/201406/psychology-and-the-study-leadership.

[2] John McCallum, “The Importance of Being a Good Follower,” Forbes, (October 2013): https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2013/10/25/the-importance-of-being-a-good-follower/.

[3] Mary, Uhl-Bien., Ronald E. Riggio, Kevin B Lowe, & Melissa K Carsten, “Followership theory: A review and research agenda,” The Leadership Quarterly 25, no. 1 (2014): 83, https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.007

[4] Ronald E. Riggio, “What is Charismatic Leadership? Leading Through Conviction,” STU Online,

(September 2012): https://online.stu.edu/degrees/education/what-is-charismatic-leadership/

[5] Uhl-Bien, Riggio, Lowe, & Carsten, “Followership theory: A review and research agenda,” 86.

[6]Ibid.

[7] James M. Burns, Leadership. (New York: Harper & Row, 1978), 20.

[8] David E., Winter, Leader Appeal, Leader Performance, and the Motive Profiles of Leaders and Followers: A Study of American Presidents and Elections, 1st ed. (Political Psychology, 2004), 201.

[9] Uhl-Bien, Riggio, Lowe, & Carsten, “Followership theory: A review and research agenda,” 87.

[10] Winter, David G. Leader Appeal, Leader Performance, and the Motive Profiles of Leaders and Followers: A Study of American Presidents and Elections, 173.

[11] Ibid.