Today's Business Lessons
Abraham Lincoln but not the movie
(The Philippine Star)
Updated July 13, 201
Have you ever been insulted? Painful isn’t it? Especially when the
insult comes from people you love, or people who may be below you in
position or stature.
Listen to insults people make:
1. “Artificial intelligence is no match for your natural stupidity.” Wow. That stings!
2. Famous comedian of old Groucho Marx once said, “I never forget a
face, but in your case, I’ll be glad to make an exception.” Hmmm… That
hurts. .
3. One pretty girl told her suitor, “Sorry, I don’t date outside my species.” Now that’s really painful.
4. Comedian Rodney Dangerfield has a knack for insulting himself. He
said, “My psychiatrist told me I was crazy, and I said I want a second
opinion. He said, okay, you’re ugly too.” Very self-effacing.
So how do you deal with insults? Let me tell you a story.
A political enemy once accused Abraham Lincoln of being two-faced.
Abe laughed and said, “Now, do you think that if I had another face I’d
be wearing this one?” Lincoln, who rose from a Kentucky log cabin to the
White House, showed the world what humility really means. In spite of
his great power as president, he never lost touch with the people he
grew up with, or claimed to be something he wasn’t. He never tried to
impress people.
Insults attack the personal pride of people. Proud people will do
everything within their means to defend their pride. But humble people
know how to deal with insults. They counter insults by humbly and
quietly holding on to their personal dignity.
Look at Lincoln’s humility in action in story from Climbing Jacob’s Ladder by Jeanne Larson and Ruth McLin:
One of Lincoln’s last acts before he left Springfield, Illinois, to
go as president to Washington, DC, was to visit his old law office and
say goodbye to his partner, William Herndon. After they finished
discussing business, he lay down on the office sofa and stared at the
ceiling.
“Billy,” he asked, “How long have we been together?”
“More than 16 years.”
“We’ve never had a cross word, have we?”
They talked about the many funny things that had happened through the
years, and then, as Abe picked up his books to leave, he pointed to the
signboard swinging on its rusty hinges at the foot of the stairway.
“Let it hang there,” he said. “I want the people to know that the
election of a president makes no change in the firm of Lincoln and
Herndon. If I live. I’m coming back some time, and we’ll go right on
practicing law as if nothing had happened.”
Lincoln never allowed his position to get into his head. But many people I know do.
Larson and McLin wrote:
“Most politicians from the East thought of Lincoln as an ignorant
frontier lawyer. They were sure he could never handle the problems of a
president. They knew he could never fit in with the educated, polished
people of Washington.
“Abe never argued about that. He didn’t change his homely way of
speaking. He kept right on telling his funny stories and didn’t worry
about whether people admired him or not. ‘My course,’ he said, ‘Is as
plain as a turnpike road. It is marked out by the Constitution. I am in
no doubt which way to go.’
“Although many people didn’t like having this long, lean
rail-splitter for president, they couldn’t help but see honesty and a
natural dignity in his face. He never tried to pretend to be what he
wasn’t and he never forgot the humble background from which the Lord had
brought him.”
Abraham Lincoln exhibited godly humility. This is what leadership is
all about. If only every business executive or government official led
like Lincoln did, wouldn’t you agree with me that our country would be a
better place to live in?
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