21 Great Leaders

“What a unique combination this book provides! You will discover an intriguing view of twenty-one world-class leaders followed by leadership lessons that will help you grow as an influencer. My friend Pat Williams has written a leadership classic.” John C. Maxwell New York Times bestselling author “More and more I am convinced that one of the best ways to teach leadership is through the use of stories. When it comes to storytelling, no one does it better than Pat Williams. His newest book, 21 Great Leaders, is a tour de force that integrates leadership stories and lessons that will help anyone with the practical insights they can put into practice.” John Baldoni Internationally recognized leadership educator and executive coach Author of MOXIE: The Secret to Bold and Gutsy Leadership and Lead with Purpose. “Pat Williams’ new book 21 Great Leaders is magnificent. The stories are fascinating and the leadership lessons at the end of each chapter will prove invaluable to leaders at every level.” Frances Hesselbein President and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom “Leadership may be an elusive commodity these days, but this highly useful collection will serve to remind leaders and would-be leaders alike that they need only look again to proven leaders of the past for the lessons and inspiration they need to face modern challenges. This primer should be read by everyone who aspires to manage and influence others.” Harold Holzer Chairman of the Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation “All Americans who love their country can benefit from this important book. Although most political dogs in government are probably too old to learn new tricks, the nation might return to its former glory if they emulated the great leaders Pat Williams describes so brilliantly.” Harlow Giles Unger Author of John Marshall, The Chief Justice Who Saved the Nation “Wow! What a compelling collection of leaders who personify leadership excellence at the highest level.” John Swofford Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner “In these difficult times, we all need to step up and lead. Pat Williams uses 21 Great Leaders to show us how.” Dr. Larry J. Sabato Director, UVA Center for Politics Author of The Kennedy Half Century “Plutarch, who wrote the biographies of every great man in the ancient world, said their virtues were like a ‘looking-glass, in which I may see how to adjust… my own life.’ Pat Williams holds up twenty-one great men and women from George Washington to Bill Gates as mirrors for our time. Look at them, and learn.” Richard Brookhiser Author of Founders’ Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln “Pat Williams asks us to join him in observing excellent leadership in twentyone men and women from across the political spectrum. He has an eye for the revealing anecdote, an ear for different voices, and a knack for storytelling.” Joseph J. Ellis Author of Founding Brothers “Whether you are involved as a leader in sports, business, or your family, you will find immense value in Pat Williams’ book, 21 Great Leaders. It’s a great read full of fantastic stories and practical advice that will increase your influence. You will not be disappointed in this investment into your leadership library.” Mike Slive Southeastern Conference Commissioner “21 Great Leaders is a thoughtful and insightful reflection on the lives and lessons of leaders—recent and distant—who’ve made a meaningful difference. Pat’s near encyclopedic knowledge of history and leadership, and his extraordinary personal experience as a leader and coach, give this book an authenticity that is incomparable. 21 Great Leaders is at once a deep meditation and a practical guidebook that you will find useful in becoming the best leader you can be.” Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner Coauthors of the bestselling The Leadership Challenge

If you’re like most people, you have leadership responsibilities in dozens of arenas in your life—in your home, your profession, your community, your religious life, and your neighborhood. You have a leadership role to play in your blogging and social media, your advocacy for political and social causes, and your service on committees, boards, and juries. I define leadership as “the ability to achieve difficult, challenging goals through other people.” Leadership is an attractive quality that people recognize in an individual who has developed a certain set of traits and skills. Leadership is not bossing people around or manipulating people. Rather, leadership is inspiring people to achieve what they want to achieve but could never achieve without the influence of an inspiring, guiding individual. There are very few “born leaders,” people who are genetically gifted with leadership ability. Most leaders are made, not born—and that’s good news for you and me. This means leadership can be learned. Leadership ability, including that elusive quality known as “charisma,” can be studied and practiced. Our world is crying out for leaders. Who should the next leader be? The person next to you? The person behind you? Nope, you’re it. You’re the next business leader, community leader, youth leader, or civic leader our world is looking for. After decades of study and experience, I’ve concluded that the essence of leadership comes down to seven key ingredients—the Seven Sides of Leadership: 1. Vision. The first task of leadership is envisioning a clear idea of what you want to achieve then inspiring your people to transform your vision into reality. 2. Communication skills. Next, the leader must be able to communicate the vision to the team or organization. Communication skills are essential to leadership. 3. People skills. Great leaders have the people skills to help people feel confident, energized, and motivated to achieve great things. People skills are vital tools of influence that can be learned and improved with practice. 4. Character. Good character is essential to trust. People decide whether or not to follow you based on whether or not they perceive you to be a person of good moral character. 5. Competence. People are willing to be led by those with proven competence as leaders. The word competence encompasses the word compete. Competent leaders make organizations competitive. 6. Boldness. Boldness is a form of courage, the willingness to take reasonable risks in order to achieve worthwhile goals. Boldness is not recklessness or throwing caution to the wind. A bold leader seizes timely opportunities, acts firmly and decisively, and avoids second-guessing. The confidence of a bold leader inspires optimism throughout the organization. 7. A serving heart. An authentic leader is not a boss but a servant. Followers don’t exist to serve the leader; the leader exists to serve, empower, equip, motivate, and inspire the followers. Serve them well, and they will turn your leadership vision into a reality. Some people are naturally gifted with some of these traits, but I’ve never known anyone who was born with all seven. Fortunately, the Seven Sides of Leadership are learnable skills. We can acquire them and improve them with practice. The more complete we become in all seven of these traits, the more effective we will be in every leadership arena of our lives.

Nelson Mandela served one term as president of South Africa then retired from politics—but not from leadership. He continued to play a vital role on the world stage throughout the closing years of his life. On December 5, 2013, Nelson Mandela died at his home in Johannesburg, surrounded by his family. He had suffered from a long respiratory illness and died at the age of ninety-five. His body lay in state from December 11 through 13 at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. It rained on and off throughout those days —and the rain produced some beautiful rainbows. Today South Africa is defined by its peaceful elections and peaceful race relations. But South Africa is also defined by crime, poverty, inadequate education, ineffective health care, and government corruption. South African leaders who followed Nelson Mandela have not always followed his example of selflessness, integrity, and vision. Mandela’s vision has lapsed into disrepair. Nelson Mandela did more than anyone thought one man could do. Now the nation needs leaders who will learn from Mandela’s example, check their selfish impulses at the door, and become visionary leaders in their own right. Here are some leadership lessons that we can learn from the amazing life of Nelson Mandela: 1. Let your vision power your leadership life. Nelson Mandela had many great leadership qualities, but I believe his vision was the engine that powered his other leadership skills. When people talk about the qualities that made Nelson Mandela great, they usually think of his forgiveness. Instead of holding grudges or seeking revenge, Mandela reached out to enemies and converted them into friends. Or people think of his perseverance. Though sentenced to life in prison, he refused to give up his vision for South Africa’s future. But Mandela’s vision of a unified South Africa came first. His vision of a unified South Africa gave him a reason to forgive. And his vision of a unified South Africa sustained him as he persevered through the long years of isolation. 2. Let your vision be your road map to keep you focused on your goals. In 10 Simple Secrets of the World’s Greatest Business Communicators, leadership expert Carmine Gallo writes: Few visions have had as profound an impact as Nelson Mandela’s “dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.”…His vision saw him through those years [in prison] and inspired hundreds of millions of people in South Africa and around the world. Your vision might not be as grand as a world in which race and color don’t matter, but it proves that a big and bold vision cannot be underestimated. Mandela had a road map; he knew where he wanted to lead his people and how to get there. What’s your road map?15 What is your dream? What is your vision for the future? No matter how challenging and intimidating your dream may be, it probably doesn’t compare to the challenges that Nelson Mandela faced. Write down your vision. Post it on the wall. Read it every day. Then go make your leadership dream come true. 3. Don’t confuse your vision with your viewpoint. Stay true to your vision. Be obsessed with your vision, be possessed by your vision—but hold your viewpoint loosely. In the realm of ideas, always be willing to flex, learn, change, and grow. Nelson Mandela demonstrated a remarkable ability to revise his views while maintaining his vision for South Africa. Mandela was a socialist at heart. In January 1992, he flew to Davos, Switzerland, for the five-day World Economic Forum. Before that trip, Mandela was committed to a socialist agenda, including nationalizing South African corporations. Ironically, delegates from two Communist nations, China and Vietnam, urged Mandela to adopt free-market capitalism instead. A member of the South African delegation recalled that Mandela had some “interesting meetings with the leaders of the Communist Parties of China and Vietnam. They told him frankly as follows: ‘We are currently striving to privatize state enterprises and invite private enterprise into our economies. We are Communist Party governments, and you are a leader of a national liberation movement. Why are you talking about nationalization?’ ” The Chinese and Vietnamese economies were thriving. Their advice forced Mandela to rethink South Africa’s future. “They changed my views altogether,” Mandela told his biographer, Anthony Sampson. Mandela dropped his nationalization plans, and pushed South Africa to open its markets to global investment. The nation soon had the fastest-growing economy on the African continent.16 It happened because Nelson Mandela had the wisdom to revise his economic beliefs while holding fast to his vision for South Africa’s future. Wise leaders adapt their belief systems in order to stay true to their vision. 4. To communicate effectively and persuasively, communicate your vision. During Mandela’s Rivonia Trial, he was literally on trial for his life. In April 1964, he delivered his famous “I Am Prepared to Die” speech, saying, “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.” The judge was not impressed by Mandela’s vision—but his words rallied the world to his cause. It took years of sanctions and diplomatic pressure to win Mandela’s freedom and dismantle apartheid, but Mandela’s vision prevailed. What is your vision for the future? What is the cherished ideal you would bet your life on? If you want to make a difference, if you want to make some history, then learn from Nelson Mandela. Communicate your leadership vision. It always seems impossible until it’s done. NELSON MANDELA

Steven Jobs was one of the great visionary leaders of our time. He said his goal was to “make a dent in the universe.”16 He built, lost control of, then rebuilt the most successful company in history. Our world has been shaped by his vision and inventions. His vision has shaped not only the way we use computers, but the way we talk on the phone, take pictures, listen to music, read books, watch movies, and more. He created products that people didn’t even know they wanted until they saw them. That’s visionary leadership. As a young man, Steve Jobs had no vision for his life. He had no formal training in engineering, industrial design, management, business administration, or leadership of any kind. Yet he became one of the great visionary leaders of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Let me suggest some lessons we can learn from this leader of vision: 1. To sharpen your vision, absorb the lessons of failure. Before Steve Jobs could achieve heights of unprecedented success, he had to pass through a time of exile and failure. He had to hit the reset button on his career. He had to spend a dozen years in the wilderness of NeXT before he could make his triumphant return to Apple. Jobs once reflected, “I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”17 That statement is amazingly similar to one Walt Disney made after the 1923 bankruptcy of his Laugh-O-Gram studio in Kansas City. Disney recalled setting off for Hollywood feeling “free and happy” in spite of being broke. Disney added, “I had failed. I think it’s important to have a good hard failure when you’re young.”18 Steve Jobs suffered his “good hard failure” when he was booted out of Apple at age thirty. During his NeXT years, Jobs lost sight of what it means to be a visionary leader. He became obsessed with petty details while neglecting strategic priorities. On one occasion, he kept a delegation of visiting retail executives waiting on the sidewalk for twenty minutes while he gave meticulous instructions about sprinkler heads to a landscaping crew. Jobs’s senior advisers tried to get him to pay attention to big-picture issues of corporate vision and strategy, but he refused to listen. He became like Captain Queeg in Herman Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny, a sea captain who obsessed over a quart of strawberries while his ship was on a deadly collision course. New York Times business writer Randall Stross wrote of Jobs’s strangely unvisionary performance during the NeXT era: Mr. Jobs’s lieutenants tried to warn him away from certain disaster, but he was not receptive. In 1992–93, seven of nine NeXT vice presidents were shown the door or left on their own. In this period, Mr. Jobs did not do much delegating. Almost every aspect of the machine—including the finish on interior screws—was his domain. The interior furnishings of NeXT’s offices, a stunning design showplace, were Mr. Jobs’s concern, too. While the company’s strategy begged to be reexamined, Mr. Jobs attended to other matters.19 The failure of NeXT forced Steve Jobs to reexamine his leadership priorities. He learned that his top priority was to be the steward of the corporate vision, not the steward of the sprinkler heads. Kevin Compton, a senior executive at Businessland, contrasted the Steve Jobs who returned to Apple with the visionimpaired Steve Jobs who ran NeXT into the ground. “He’s the same Steve in his passion for excellence,” Compton said, “but a new Steve in his understanding of how to empower a large company to realize his vision.”20 2. To be a leader of vision, avoid the character flaws of Steve Jobs. Emulate his visionary strengths without adopting his failings and flaws. Make every effort to become a complete seven-sided leader. Steve Jobs was not a complete leader by any means. We can give him high marks as a leader of vision, communication skills, competence, and boldness, but he was almost completely lacking in people skills and a serving heart, and a bit sketchy in the character department (remember how he deceived his partner, Steve Wozniak). Why do I say that Steve Jobs lacked people skills and a serving heart? Let me introduce you to the dark side of Steve Jobs: Ryan Tate observed in Gawker: “Jobs regularly belittled people, swore at them, and pressured them until they reached their breaking point. In the pursuit of greatness he cast aside politeness and empathy. His verbal abuse never stopped.”21 And Malcolm Gladwell, writing in the New Yorker, called Steve Jobs “a bully,” and based that assessment on these facts: Jobs gets his girlfriend pregnant, and then denies that the child is his. He parks in handicapped spaces. He screams at subordinates. He cries like a small child when he does not get his way. He gets stopped for driving a hundred miles an hour, honks angrily at the officer for taking too long to write up the ticket, and then resumes his journey at a hundred miles an hour. He sits in a restaurant and sends his food back three times. He arrives at his hotel suite in New York for press interviews and decides, at 10 p.m., that the piano needs to be repositioned, the strawberries are inadequate, and the flowers are all wrong: he wanted calla lilies. (When his public-relations assistant returns, at midnight, with the right flowers, he tells her that her suit is “disgusting.”)22 Adam Lashinsky of Fortune tells another revealing story. In 2008, Apple debuted MobileMe, an e-mail system for its iPhone. But MobileMe performed poorly, resulting in user complaints and poor reviews. Steve Jobs called a meeting with the MobileMe team. He opened the meeting with a question: “Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?” One member of the team explained MobileMe’s function. “So,” Jobs continued, “why the [expletive] doesn’t it do that?” Then, in an obscenity-laced tirade, he blistered his team for the next half hour. “You’ve tarnished Apple’s reputation,” he said. “You should hate each other for having let each other down.” Then, in front of the whole group, he demoted the team leader and named a new executive to head the team. This incident, Lashinsky concluded, was no aberration. It’s a glimpse into “Apple’s ruthless corporate culture” under Steve Jobs—a culture that could often be “brutal and unforgiving.”23 Steve Jobs had only himself to blame for the disastrous rollout of MobileMe. He had created a culture of fear in which no one dared to bring him bad news. The MobileMe team worked feverishly, day and night, hoping to perfect the software in time for the rollout. When they failed to meet their goal, no one dared give Steve Jobs the bad news. Leaders need to hear bad news long before it becomes a public humiliation. Jobs’s dysfunctional leadership style guaranteed that bad news would not reach his ears until it was too late. Great leaders don’t have to be bullies. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Ronald Reagan transformed nations while maintaining gracious, even courtly manners. They demonstrated respect for the people they led. The late UCLA head basketball coach John Wooden won ten NCAA national championships (seven in a row) and never once yelled or swore at his players. Tony Dungy coached the Indianapolis Colts to an NFL championship in Super Bowl XLI—and he never screamed or cussed. Steve Jobs’s abusive leadership style earned him many enemies and cost his company a lot of top talent. Yet Apple continues to thrive. How do we explain the contradiction? How did a leader who displayed only four of the Seven Sides of Leadership become one of the most successful business leaders in history? Relly Nadler, author of Leading with Emotional Intelligence, offers an explanation: The power of Steve Jobs’s vision was so strong and compelling that it compensated for Jobs’s leadership deficits. Nadler explains: Jobs’ vision…overpowered what can be considered his coercive leadership style…. Did his employees just tolerate his style for the sake of being a part of changing the world? Did they accept his “emotional towel snapping” and humiliation in front of peers for the exhilaration and pride of being…[part of the] coolest company on the planet? I think so. The power of his vision…seemed to mute the negativity of his management.24 Dr. Nadler asks, could Steve Jobs have achieved the same heights without being a tyrant? His answer: absolutely. “His prickly, demanding personality was not the critical factor for his success,” Nadler concludes. “Jobs often stated, ‘This is just me,’ without the awareness that he could or would benefit from changing.”25 My advice: Study the visionary brilliance of Steve Jobs, harness the power of leadership vision. Then make sure you build all the other sides of leadership into your leadership life for good measure. 3. To be a visionary leader, learn to focus. In an interview with Fortune, Steve Jobs talked about a leadership lesson he learned while pruning trees in the apple orchards of Robert Friedland’s hippie commune. Just as pruning branches makes apple trees more productive, pruning away extraneous ideas makes a company more productive. He explained: People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of many of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done.26 Great visionary leaders don’t confuse their followers with an array of visions. They focus their followers’ attention and energies on one compelling vision. Great visionary leaders have mastered the art of “pruning” ideas. They say yes to the best and no to the rest. 4. To become a leader of vision, don’t look around you—look within. Once Steve Jobs got his priorities straight, it wasn’t hard for him to be a visionary. He didn’t need to study historical trends or read books by futurists in order to determine his vision of the future. He simply had to look within. He asked himself, “What should computers do that they don’t already do? If I could build the perfect phone, what features would it have?” Then he gathered a team of engineers to design it and build it. True visionaries don’t study trends—they set trends. True visionaries don’t try to anticipate change—they drive change. True visionaries don’t need focus groups to tell them what the public wants—their instinct, intuition, and experience tell them what people will want the moment they see it. The mature, visionary Steve Jobs peered into the future by looking within himself. He imagined the future; then he committed himself to building the future he saw within. Anyone can imagine possible futures. That’s called daydreaming. But Steve Jobs committed time, energy, personnel, and resources to his dreams, and that’s called visionary leadership. Whatever his flaws—and they were huge—Steve Jobs envisioned and invented the future. Yes, he treated people badly. Some people walked away— but many stayed. Why did they stay? Because Steve Jobs showed them such an exciting vision of a future that, in spite of Steve Jobs’s toxic personality and wretched people skills, they wanted to help build it. Steve Jobs talked about changing the world, about making a dent in the universe. When you give people a vision of making a difference in the world, you give them a sense of meaning. For most people, being employed at Apple was more than a career. At his best, Steve Jobs made people believe their work had meaning. That’s our mission as visionary leaders: look within, discover our vision, then communicate that vision to our followers with power and a sense of meaning. When you and your followers truly believe that together you are making a dent in the universe, there’s no limit to what you can achieve. I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next. STEVE JOBS

Winston Churchill towered as a role model of the Second Side of Leadership, communication skills. His career is rich in lessons for our leadership lives today. Some examples: 1. Always communicate hope and optimism. As prime minister, Churchill was often the bearer of bad tidings. Yet he never delivered bad news without surrounding it in hope. Even as Hitler’s armies rolled through Europe, Churchill envisioned a coming day when “the joybells will ring again.” Even when Churchill had nothing to offer the British people but “blood, toil, tears and sweat,” he inspired them with a promise of “victory, victory at all costs.” In your leadership life, you will sometimes be called to deliver bad news. Make sure you treat every “bad news day” as an opportunity to inspire and motivate your followers with the promise of ultimate victory. 2. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Churchill wanted to make sure the boys at Harrow School did not miss his meaning. So he said, “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never!” Sometimes it helps to repeat a statement multiple times in one speech. Sometimes it helps to repeat the same message again and again, week after week. People learn by repetition. Great leaders don’t hesitate to communicate the vision then communicate it again and again and again. Don’t assume that communicating it once is sufficient. By about the tenth time you’ve delivered the same basic message, you’ll be sick of it—but that’s when people are beginning to grasp what you’re telling them. Be relentless in communicating your vision. 3. Be witty. A gentle sense of humor is an enormous asset to a communicator. During a parliamentary debate, Churchill appeared to be nodding off as a political opponent spoke. The speaker was offended and distracted by Churchill’s apparent slumber. Glowering at Churchill, he said, “Must you sleep while I’m speaking?” “No,” Churchill replied, “it is purely voluntary.”17 Avoid using humor to attack others—but a quick wit can be extremely helpful in deflecting other people’s attacks on you. 4. Be visual. Churchill understood the power of visual symbols—even something as simple as his two-fingered V for “victory.” Churchill began using that sign in July 1941 when the BBC launched its “V for Victory” campaign, encouraging listeners in Nazi-occupied Europe to scrawl the letter V to show support for the Allies. After Churchill adopted that symbol, the V for Victory sign went viral around the world. When you speak, make your message memorable by making it visual. Use symbols, pictures, props, PowerPoint, and any other medium you can think of to reach not only the ears of your listeners, but their eyes as well. 5. Be succinct. As a speaker, don’t wear out your welcome. Often, the less you say, the more they’ll remember. Churchill’s speech to the students at Harrow School was just 750 words long. Even more concise, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was 272 words long, and his second inaugural address was only 700 words. As King Solomon observed in Ecclesiastes: “The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?”18 There is a maxim that is often attributed to Winston Churchill: “A good speech should be like a woman’s skirt; long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.” I don’t think he actually said it, but I’m pretty sure he would agree. Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory. He who enjoys it wields a power more durable than that of a great king. He is an independent force in the world. WINSTON CHURCHILL

Like Dr. King, you may have a dream you want to communicate. Great leaders are great communicators. That’s why the Second Side of Leadership is communication. With these principles as our starting point, let me suggest some ways to become a more effective communicator of your leadership vision. 1. Use humble words to communicate grand ideas. The more you study Dr. King’s life, the more you appreciate what a learned intellectual he was. He was extremely well read and well acquainted with great literature and great ideas. Yet he communicated his grand and sweeping thoughts in humble words. He never tried to impress his audiences with jargon or big words. He used language to serve God and people, not to serve his own ego. Dr. King learned the beauty of simple words from his father, Daddy King. Whenever Martin began to “gain altitude” and become grandiose in his preaching, Daddy King (who always sat front and center) would lean forward and whisper, “Keep it simple, son, keep it simple.”9 A number of years ago, an American president proposed a new policy of urban development. That policy, he said, would “strengthen linkages among macro-economic sectoral place-oriented economies.” Translation: his new policy would enable cities to cooperate together for mutual economic benefit.10 You have to wonder why he didn’t just say so. If you really want to impress people with your communication skills, always communicate clearly and concisely. When people understand you, they think you’re brilliant! 2. Throw away the script and speak from your heart. What do people remember from the “I Have a Dream” speech? The conclusion—the final onethird of the speech. There’s nothing wrong with the first two-thirds. During the first twelve minutes, Dr. King made a powerful case for human equality. But when Dr. King set aside his notes and talked about his dream, his words thundered. When Dr. King told us, “I have a dream,” an electric thrill went down our collective spine. His dream of America’s future gripped our hearts and captured our imaginations. He enabled us to see that dream through his eyes— and he made us want to take part in it. How are the last five minutes of the speech different from the first twelve minutes? Answer: In the last five minutes, Dr. King spoke straight from his heart, no notes, no script. You might say, “I can’t give a speech without notes! And I can’t memorize a speech word for word.” I’m not suggesting you memorize a speech by rote. Your audience wants you to share your convictions, your ideas, with spontaneous passion. You won’t find energy and enthusiasm in a stack of notes. You must communicate straight from your heart. How did Dr. King deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech completely impromptu and unrehearsed? Actually, he didn’t. Two months earlier, Dr. King had given a speech at the Detroit Walk to Freedom (June 23, 1963). The organizers of the Detroit event included Rev. C. L. Franklin (father of singer Aretha Franklin), Harry Belafonte, and Mahalia Jackson. Dr. King’s Detroit speech contained many of the same phrases and ideas found in the last five minutes of the “I Have a Dream” speech. If you compare the two speeches side by side, you find many strong similarities—but they’re not the same speech. Dr. King had practiced the Detroit speech many times. Mahalia Jackson had heard him talk about the dream at the Walk to Freedom—and she wanted to hear those stirring words again. So she called out to Dr. King, “Tell them about the dream!” Dr. King simply had to reach into the depths of his soul and pull out the ideas and passion he had delivered in Detroit two months earlier. You can communicate powerfully, without notes, straight from the heart, just as Dr. King did. The key to delivering a compelling, heartfelt speech is always to have ready what I call a “signature speech”—a presentation you have crafted and rehearsed hundreds of times and can tailor to the occasion. You can stretch it out by adding a few stories or condense it by mentally editing your speech on the fly. The beauty of a signature speech is that you can deliver that speech a thousand times—and it will never be the same speech twice! You know the outline, themes, stories, and organization of the speech; you know exactly what you want to say at all times—but every time you give that speech, you compose a new and original version, sentence by sentence, as you speak. You deliver your speech the same way you would have a one-on-one conversation with a friend. You compose it as you go, while looking your audience in the eye. And most important of all, you speak confidently, with passion and enthusiasm, in a compelling conversational style. If you want to communicate your dream, your leadership vision, in a way that persuades and inspires, throw away the script. Speak from your heart. 3. Communicate passion, not just ideas and information. Great communicators don’t just dump information on their listeners—they fire up their listeners with excitement and enthusiasm. If you want to transmit information, send an e-mail. But if you want to motivate and persuade, you have to communicate your passion. Dr. King communicated passion and enthusiasm every time he spoke. He used rolling phrases to stir the souls of his listeners. He employed a powerful rhetorical device called anaphora—repeating important phrases for emphasis: “Now is the time…”; “One hundred years later…”; “We can never be satisfied…”; “Let freedom ring…”; “Free at last…”; and above all, “I have a dream….” Dr. King didn’t sugarcoat the obstacles his people would face on the way to the promised land of equality and brotherhood—but in the midst of the crisis, he communicated hope. As he spoke, he opened the floodgates of his emotions, and his listeners were carried away on that emotional flood. Your message should be logically organized and supported by facts (as Dr. King’s message was). You want to reach the emotions of your listeners, not manipulate them. But facts and logic alone are not enough. Your leadership vision deserves a powerful presentation. Tell them about your dream—and tell them with passion. 4. Speak with authority. Dr. King did not mince words. He spoke like a general issuing marching orders to his troops: “We shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.” Avoid “weasel words” that suck the power and authority out of your message. People use weasel words to avoid taking responsibility for their thoughts. Qualifiers are weasel words that cloud your meaning. For example, avoid saying “basically”—it weakens your statement. “To be honest” makes people wonder if you were dishonest before. Replace the squishy-sounding phrase “I feel” with a strong declarative statement. Instead of qualifying your position with “in my opinion,” get the facts that enable you to speak with authority. Speak with confidence and you’ll inspire confidence in your listeners. No one wants to follow an uncertain leader. As the apostle Paul wrote, “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?”11 5. Don’t soft-pedal bad news. Dr. King stated the truth with unsparing clarity: “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” He always paired bad news with his optimistic vision of the change that was coming. If your organization is struggling, if your game plan is not working, candidly say so. Then, with confidence and enthusiasm, give your listeners an injection of hope and optimism. Motivate them, energize them—then lead them into your vision of the future. 6. Communicate a sense of urgency. Dr. King wanted the nation to know that the African-American community had reached the end of its patience. He said, “We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time…!” Motivate your listeners to action with a sense of urgency. 7. Identify with your listeners. Let them know you’re struggling alongside them, not talking “at” them. Tell them you understand their sacrifices. As Dr. King said, “I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations.” When you acknowledge their sacrifices, they’ll know they can trust you and follow where you lead. 8. Finish strong! Many good speeches have been ruined by weak endings. Don’t let your presentation trail off. Drive your point home with a powerful statement or a heart-tugging story. End with a call to action. Your closing sentence should pull your audience out of their chairs for a standing ovation. Learn from Dr. King. Lead like Dr. King. Tell them about the dream. And so I say to you today, my friends, that you may be able to speak with the tongues of men and angels; you may have the eloquence of articulate speech; but if you have not love, it means nothing. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Here are the lessons we can learn from Ronald Reagan, so that we can become “great communicators” in our own right: 1. Use the power of communication to teach, inspire, and persuade. When Michael Reagan appeared as a guest on my Orlando radio show in 2011, I asked him, “What was your dad’s greatest strength as a leader?” His unhesitating reply: “His ability to communicate. They called him the Great Communicator, and it was absolutely true. Not only was he the commander in chief, but he saw himself as the communicator in chief. He used his communication skills to teach, to preach, and to get the American people on his side. Their support enabled him to plow right through the opposition. That’s how he got things done.” You cannot lead effectively if you cannot communicate effectively. Some would say, “I’m the boss. I give orders; they comply. That’s all I need to know about communication.” But any dictator can demand compliance. Leaders inspire enthusiasm and motivate people to go beyond compliance. Only a real leader can cast a vision then energize followers to turn that vision into a reality. Ronald Reagan changed the world through the power of communication. If you want to change your world and change your organization, you must become complete in the Second Side of Leadership. 2. Communicate hope and optimism. Ronald Reagan dared to believe that America could win the Cold War. History has validated his optimism. Michael Reagan describes how his father’s optimism impacted the nation: My father communicated hope and optimism even in hard times. Long before the economy turned around, people felt good about America because Ronald Reagan was president…. In the wake of Vietnam, Watergate, the energy crisis, and stagflation, just changing the mood of America was an enormous achievement. Ronald Reagan always lifted America up. When he spoke about this land, you could see America through his eyes. He was like a child on Christmas morning—that’s how he felt about his country, and he never tired of telling people how wonderful America is.14 Stephen F. Knott teaches national security affairs at the United States Naval War College. He contrasts Reagan’s leadership style with that of his predecessor, Jimmy Carter: Ronald Reagan’s…sunny optimism helped restore the people’s faith in their nation and in the American presidency. Gone was the talk from the Carter years of a crippled presidency and the need to revamp the Constitution and import a parliamentary system to replace our system of checks and balances. Ronald Reagan’s words will remain with us long after his policies are forgotten…. In the end, Reagan’s words, like those of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt, may prove to be his most durable legacy.15 If you are too young to remember the Carter years, take note of this excerpt from President Carter’s Oval Office speech of July 15, 1979: The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us. For the first time in the history of our country a majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years. Two-thirds of our people do not even vote. The productivity of American workers is actually dropping, and the willingness of Americans to save for the future has fallen below that of all other people in the Western world. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning…. I’m asking you for your good and for your nation’s security to take no unnecessary trips, to use carpools or public transportation whenever you can, to park your car one extra day per week, to obey the speed limit, and to set your thermostats to save fuel.16 President Carter thought he could lead the American people by scolding them and confronting them with a pessimistic vision of the future. When Reagan arrived, with his irrepressible charm and infectious optimism, the American people were eager to follow. As Warren Bennis observed in On Becoming a Leader, “The leader’s world view is always contagious. Carter depressed us; Reagan, whatever his other flaws, gave us hope.”17 Every day, you as a leader have a choice to make: “I am going to be a leader of optimism” or “I am going to be a leader of pessimism.” As Colin Powell has said, “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”18 A positive outlook can take all the resources you possess and multiply them exponentially. Here’s why optimism wins: • Optimists are more confident, so they accept challenging goals. • Optimists believe setbacks and problems are temporary, so they don’t give up. • Optimists have confidence that their decisions will turn out right, so they are more decisive. • Optimists don’t take rejection personally, so they don’t waste time on resentment. • Optimists know that failure is never final, so they bounce back from adversity. • Optimists enjoy life and love their work. Where others see obstacles, look for opportunities. To lead successfully, become a communicator of optimism and hope. 3. Communicate grand ideas in vivid, visual terms. Ken Khachigian, Reagan’s chief speechwriter, explained his boss’s effectiveness this way: He “educated” America throughout his presidency. In an early speech to a joint session of Congress, he made clear the dimensions of an approaching one trillion dollar national debt by saying: “…if you had a stack of thousand-dollar bills in your hand only four inches high, you’d be a millionaire. A trillion dollars would be a stack of thousand-dollar bills 67 miles high.” (When I questioned where he came up with that number, he smiled and said: “by long division.”)… He told Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall—symbolism which spoke more loudly then the rest of his speech. He not only educated his country, he educated a world…. He was the Great Communicator because he was the great educator and great illustrator.19 In your leadership communication, be as vivid and visual as possible. Create word pictures. Use props and visual aids. Use motion and gestures, light and color, images and video to make your message come alive. At the same time, keep it simple. It’s easy to overcomplicate your presentation but hard to oversimplify it. Become an educator and an illustrator. 4. Always tell the truth. People didn’t always agree with Ronald Reagan, but even his enemies believed he was telling the truth as he saw it. In the foreword to his book Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches, Reagan said: Some of my critics over the years have said that I became president because I was an actor who knew how to give a good speech. I suppose that’s not too far wrong. Because an actor knows two important things—to be honest in what he’s doing and to be in touch with the audience. That’s not bad advice for a politician either. My actor’s instinct simply told me to speak the truth as I saw it and felt it. I don’t believe my speeches took me as far as they did merely because of my rhetoric or delivery, but because there were certain basic truths in them that the average American citizen recognized. When I first began speaking of political things, I could feel that people were as frustrated about the government as I was. What I said simply made sense to the guy on the street, and it’s the guy on the street who elects presidents of the United States.20 As a leader, you must earn the trust of your followers. To earn that trust, always tell the truth. 5. Become a storyteller. Ronald Reagan’s son Michael told me, “Judge William Clark told me something about my father that I had never understood before. ‘Michael,’ he said, ‘your dad was not just a storyteller. He spoke in parables. Even his jokes were parables. Whenever he wanted to teach an important truth, he would put it in the form of a story.’ “I had lived with Ronald Reagan all those years and had never seen that before. I had always thought of dad’s stories as funny and entertaining. But Judge Clark was right—if you pondered what he was saying, you could always find a deeper truth beneath the surface. “During the Cold War, Dad joked about life in the Soviet Union. One of his favorite stories went like this: In the Soviet Union, you had to wait ten years to buy a car. A Soviet citizen went to the government showroom and plunked down his savings for a car. The bureaucrat at the showroom said, ‘Come back in ten years, comrade, and you can pick up your car.’ The citizen said, ‘Morning or afternoon?’ And the bureaucrat said, ‘Ten years from now, what difference does it make?’ The citizen said, ‘The plumber’s coming in the morning.’ “Dad was giving us an insight into the harshness of the Communist system. It was a painless way of teaching us that people had to put up with shortages and red tape under Communism. Now, if all you got out of that story was a chuckle, that was fine with him. But if you listened closely, he’d always give you something to think about.” Dinesh D’Souza offers a similar insight, relating an encounter between President Reagan and former President Nixon: Nixon had visited Reagan in the White House and tried to engage him in a discussion of Marxist ideas and Soviet strategy, but Reagan simply wasn’t interested; instead, he regaled Nixon with jokes about Soviet farmers who had no incentive to produce under the Communist system. Nixon was troubled to hear such flippancy from the leader of the Western world. He wrote books during the 1980s criticizing Reagan’s lack of “realism” and warning that “the Soviet system will not collapse” so “the most we can do is learn to live with our differences” through a policy of “hard headed détente.” Yet two and a half years after Reagan left office, Nixon admitted that he was wrong and Reagan was right.21 To be a great communicator, become a storyteller. History shows that great storytellers often make the best leaders. 6. Trust your instincts and convictions. In 1987, when Reagan was preparing to give his speech at the Berlin Wall, he circulated his speech to advisers in the State Department and the National Security Council. Dozens of advisers read the speech, and almost without exception, they went apoplectic over one line: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Secretary of State George Shultz opposed it, and so did National Security Adviser Colin Powell. One diplomat said that line was “in bad taste.”22 Every review copy of the speech came back with that sentence crossed out. But Ronald Reagan knew that it was the heart of the speech, the signature line. Reagan called Deputy Chief of Staff Ken Duberstein, into the Oval Office and said, “I’m the president, right?” “Yes, Mr. President,” said Duberstein. “So I decide whether the line about the wall stays in?” “That’s right, sir. It’s your decision.” “Then it stays in.”23 Even that conversation didn’t settle the matter. While President Reagan was on Air Force One, flying to Berlin, both the State Department and the National Security Council faxed him new versions of the speech without the “tear down this wall” line. As historian Steven Hayward observed, many who opposed that line later tried to take credit for it.24 But that line was pure Reagan. As a leader, you should solicit advice and consider it—then make your own decision. Have confidence in your instincts and convictions. Even if all your advisers say you’re wrong, listen to that still, small voice within—and do what that voice tells you. Then go out and give a speech for the ages. I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things, and they didn’t spring full bloom from my brow, they came from the heart of a great nation. RONALD REAGAN

I would define “people skills” as the ability to show people you care about them. When people know you care, they will adopt your vision as their vision, your success as their success, and they will work hard to make your shared vision a reality. I could sum up my concept of people skills in a single word: love. By love, I don’t mean an emotional feeling. I’m talking about the kind of love the ancient Greeks called agape (pronounced ah-GAH-pay)—love that is a deliberate decision. Agape love means that you, as a leader, continue cheering for your followers even when they mess up, cost you money, and break your heart. You choose to love your followers even when they disappoint you. Loving your people and using good people skills doesn’t mean you never apply discipline or enforce the rules. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do for your people is to hold them accountable for bad decisions. You do so because you want the best for them. James Kouzes and Barry Posner, founders of The Leadership Challenge, write, “Love is the soul of leadership. Love is what sustains people along the arduous journey to the summit of any mountain. Love is the source of the leader’s courage. Leaders are in love: in love with leading, in love with their organizations’ products and services, and in love with people.”14 Love for people you lead is not an act, not a technique for manipulating people into staying later and working harder. Your leadership love must be sincere. Here are some people skills to help you authentically love your people: People Skill No. 1: Be visible and available. In his 1982 bestseller In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters urges leaders to “manage by walking around” (MBWA). Sam Walton was an MBWA leader long before Peters coined the term. Peters observed that the most effective leaders spend considerable time simply “hanging out” with their people in the lunchroom or on the shop floor. Years before In Search of Excellence was published, Mr. Sam crisscrossed the country in his little two-seater plane, visiting every store in his empire, shaking hands and giving encouragement to the frontline staff while keeping his eyes and ears open at all times. Mr. Sam was an iconic figure in his white cap with the blue Walmart logo on the front. He would teach and preach Walmart values, but he spent most of his time listening and learning. If he uncovered a potential problem, he would help people find solutions. Based on Sam Walton’s example, here are some ways to improve your “walking around” skills: 1. Keep your visits spontaneous and unplanned. Make sure it’s not all about business. Be genuine. Ask people about their families, the sports teams they follow, or the books they read. 2. Keep it friendly and nonthreatening. People should be thrilled, not terrified, when you appear unannounced on the floor. 3. Express a willingness to hear bad news. Reward candor, and you’ll get more of it; punish candor, and you’ll be left in the dark. 4. Ask for ways to improve the organization. Are there processes that aren’t working? Can customer care be improved? Are there ways to improve products or services? 5. Avoid favoring one employee over another. Spend equal time and show equal interest in everyone. 6. Catch people in the act of doing things right. Praise people for their contribution to the organization. 7. Bring donuts. Or baked goods. Or pizza. Make your visit a time of fun and refreshment. Create a positive vibe, and you’ll always have a positive impact. Quality expert Neil Snyder observed, “Walton knew of no better way to scrutinize the stores than to talk to associates, shaking hands and meeting people, all the while keeping a sharp eye out for ideas, successes, and failures…. He was out on the floor with them, and that gave them pride.”15 People Skill No. 2: Be a good listener. Many leaders are great talkers, but the greatest leaders are skilled listeners. Everyone in your organization needs to be heard. Be a leader who listens. Mr. Sam himself said, “Great ideas come from everywhere if you just listen and look for them.”16 Sam Walton was committed to learning from everyone in his organization, regardless of position. Lee Scott was CEO from 2000 to 2009. He recalled, “For a long, long time, Sam would show up regularly in the drivers’ break room at 4 a.m. with a bunch of donuts and just sit there for a couple of hours talking to them.”17 People Skill No. 3: Delegate. The art of delegating is the essence of leadership. To accomplish goals through others, you must delegate tasks and authority. Early in my career as a sports executive, I did everything myself—and I had the angry stomach lining to prove it. But I quickly learned to delegate, and I eventually became very good at it. Today I have the cleanest desk in the state of Florida because I delegate so many tasks to my capable staff. Though leaders must delegate authority, leaders cannot delegate responsibility. You should never say, “I take full responsibility—but my underlings are to blame.” A leader is always responsible for the results. You are responsible to set benchmarks, maintain communication, and assess performance. When things go wrong on your watch, you are to blame, like it or not. Give your people permission to make decisions—and mistakes. And count on it: they’ll make some doozies. A wise leader will let them learn from mistakes. If you punish mistakes, you’ll punish initiative and imagination. Unleash the talent of your people, and you’ll be amazed at what they achieve. People Skill No. 4: Be loyal. Always stand up for the people you lead. Critique their performance in private, but always defend them in public. You and your people rise or fall as a team. Be loyal to your people even when they let you down. People Skill No. 5: Manage conflict. Great leaders face conflict squarely, resolve it fairly, and extract the lessons and benefits of it. Peter Drucker’s first law of decision making states, “One does not make a decision without disagreements.”18 Let your people speak their mind and give them a chance to persuade you. Then you, the leader, must have the final say. Make sure everyone buys into your decision, agree or disagree. People have a right to their opinions, but they also have an obligation to implement your leadership decisions. People Skill No. 6: Level with your people. One of “Sam’s Rules for Building a Business” is “Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners. The more they know, the more they’ll understand. The more they understand, the more they’ll care. Once they care, there’s no stopping them.”19 To lead people, you have to level with them. Great leaders speak the truth. People Skill No. 7: Practice Sam Walton’s Ten-Foot Rule. This is the rule he followed as a student at the University of Missouri. Whenever he was within ten feet of another person, he would speak to that person—calling them by name if he knew them. The Ten-Foot Rule is one of the cornerstones of Walmart customer service: whenever you come within ten feet of the customer, make eye contact, greet the customer with a smile, and offer assistance. Today many businesses observe the Ten-Foot Rule, but it originated with Sam Walton. MR. SAM’S CONFESSION As the largest employer in the United States, Walmart has been continuously targeted by Big Labor for unionization. In 2009, the American Prospect, a proorganized-labor publication, reported on Sam Walton’s opposition to a minimum wage increase in the early 1960s: Around the time that the young Sam Walton opened his first stores, John Kennedy redeemed a presidential campaign promise by persuading Congress to extend the minimum wage to retail workers…. Congress granted an exclusion, however, to small businesses with annual sales beneath $1 million—a figure that in 1965 it lowered to $250,000. Walton was furious…. [He could hire employees] for a song, as little as 50 cents an hour. Now…he had to pay his workers the $1.15 hourly minimum. Walton’s response was to divide up his stores into individual companies whose revenues didn’t exceed the $250,000 threshold.20 It’s true that Sam Walton opposed the federal minimum wage. But the claim that he responded with an illegal scheme to “divide his stores into individual companies” to avoid compliance is false. As Nelson Lichtenstein reports in The Retail Revolution, Sam Walton employed a business model in which each store was legally a stand-alone entity. He did so long before the change in the minimum wage law. This way each of his managers could invest in his own particular store and have a personal stake in the success of that store. When the federal government more than doubled the minimum wage, Sam Walton used the already-existing structure of his business to avoid paying the higher wage. The courts ultimately ruled that Walmart’s decentralized structure did not exempt the company from paying the higher minimum wage. The company issued checks for back pay and penalties.21 Sam Walton had sound fiscal reasons for resisting federal intrusion into his business. The federal minimum wage forces an employer to pay a store clerk in Bentonville, Arkansas, the same as a store clerk in New York City, where the cost of living is three or four times higher. Walton, who earned a degree in economics, believed market forces, not government fiat, should determine his labor costs. Still, he later regretted his opposition to the minimum wage. As he wrote in Made in America: In the beginning, I was so chintzy I really didn’t pay my employees very well…. It wasn’t that I was intentionally heartless. I wanted everybody to do well for themselves. It’s just that in my very early days in the business, I was so doggoned competitive…that I was blinded to the most basic truth, really the principle that later became the foundation of Wal-Mart’s success…. I ignored some of the basic needs of our people, and I feel bad about it.22 Long before he wrote those words, Walmart upgraded the compensation of its bottom-tier employees, offering profit-sharing plans and matching contributions to (401) k retirement funds. This incident was a “people skills” learning experience for Sam Walton. AN OPEN-DOOR POLICY Sam Walton maintained an open-door policy, which is still practiced today. He wanted everyone to know that they could take their ideas and concerns all the way to the CEO himself. Impractical? Maybe so. What if all 1.3 million Walmart employees in the United States decided to jam the CEO’s office at once? Yet somehow it has always worked. Mr. Sam’s longtime associate, Michael Bergdahl, tells a story about Sam Walton’s open-door policy. It was told to him by a man who started as an associate in a store and went on to work for the corporate office. In those days, the corporate headquarters in Bentonville had a hallway called “executive row,” and all the executive offices literally had their doors open. “You could walk right into the executives’ offices,” this man told Bergdahl. “I was taking a class one week at the corporate offices,” he recalled. “I wanted to get a shirt signed by Sam Walton while I was there, so I walked over to executive row.” He found that Mr. Sam was out visiting stores that day—but Sam’s executive assistant offered to get the shirt autographed for him. The next day, this man was in the classroom when the executive assistant walked in and gave him the shirt, boldly signed by Mr. Sam. The man’s classmates ogled and envied his shirt. “In all of my dealings with Mr. Sam,” the man concluded, “he was always accessible.” When you are a complete leader with great people skills, your followers won’t just want to work for you—they’ll want to wear your name on their backs. That’s how Wal-Mart became Wal-Mart: ordinary people joined together to accomplish extraordinary things. SAM WALTON

Sometimes Roosevelt’s New Deal programs created personality clashes within his administration. He had to apply his people skills to keep his aides and cabinet members focused on serving the people instead of serving their own egos. Two of the most important relief programs under the New Deal were the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Public Works Administration (PWA). The WPA was headed by Harry Hopkins, one of FDR’s closest friends (he had served in the New York governor’s office). WPA jobs generally went to people who were unemployed. The Public Works Administration, headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, also created government jobs, but applicants were not required to be needy. Because the two projects competed for the same funding, administrators Hopkins and Ickes were locked in a continual feud. President Roosevelt repeatedly brokered peace between the two men, even taking them on a cruise of the Potomac on the presidential yacht. He hoped they would get to know each other and end their feud. No such luck. In May 1936, a newspaper headline indicated that Ickes’s future in the administration was in doubt. Ickes blew up. He cornered President Roosevelt in the Oval Office and complained that Hopkins was plotting against him—and he accused FDR of collusion with Hopkins. “Harold,” the president said ominously, “you’re being childish.” Ickes stormed out. After cooling down, he realized he’d been foolish—and he’d probably trashed his White House career. That night Ickes recorded his regrets in his journal, writing, “I responded hotly. I never thought I would talk to a President of the United States the way I talked to President Roosevelt last night.” But Roosevelt had no plans to fire Ickes. He knew Ickes was hot-headed by nature. It would do him good to suffer for a while. A few days later, during a cabinet meeting, FDR singled Ickes out in front of everyone. Ickes was scheduled to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee about the PWA. Roosevelt warned Ickes not to disparage Harry Hopkins or the WPA in front of the committee. Ickes felt humiliated. President Roosevelt had just taken him to the woodshed in front of his peers. It was a public shaming, and Ickes could see out of the corner of his eye that some of his colleagues enjoyed his discomfiture. Yet Ickes could not deny he had it coming. After the cabinet meeting, Ickes tried to get a few moments in private with the president so he could apologize—but FDR wouldn’t see him. Ickes’s remorse turned to outrage. He was sure the president planned to fire him. So, in a whitehot fury, he typed up his resignation letter, signed it, and sent it to the president’s attention. The next day, Ickes was in the White House dining room, having lunch and feeling sorry for himself. He looked up and saw the president approaching in his wheelchair. The look in FDR’s eyes was part anger, part hurt. The president handed Ickes a handwritten memorandum: Dear Harold— 1. PWA is not “repudiated.” 2. PWA is not “ended.” 3. I did not “make it impossible for you to go before the committee.” 4. I have not indicated lack of confidence. 5. I have full confidence in you. 6. You and I have the same big objectives. 7. You are needed, to carry on a big common task. 8. Resignation not accepted! Your affectionate friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt. That letter was a masterful demonstration of Franklin Roosevelt’s people skills. It was the perfect balance of tenderness and toughness—and FDR achieved his objective. Ickes learned his lesson and later reflected on how his boss had handled the situation: “What could a man do with a President like that! Of course I stayed.”11 The Ickes-Hopkins episode is a practical example of one of FDR’s own leadership maxims: “Put two or three men in positions of conflicting authority. This will force them to work at loggerheads, allowing you to be the ultimate arbiter.”12 Frances Perkins admired the people skills of FDR. She wrote, “His capacity to inspire and encourage…was beyond dispute. I, and everyone else, came away from an interview with the President feeling better. It was not that he had solved my problem or given me a clear direction which I could follow blindly, but that he had made me more cheerful, stronger, more determined to do [my job]…. This is very important in the leadership of a democracy.”13 FDR’S CARS During his presidency, Franklin D. Roosevelt owned two cars equipped with hand controls so that he could drive them without the use of his legs. Both cars also give us a fascinating window into FDR’s people skills. The first specially equipped car Roosevelt owned was a 1931 Plymouth PA Phaeton, built by the Chrysler Corporation (“phaeton” refers to an automobile body type that is open, windowless, and has no weather protection). A Chrysler designer named W. F. Chamberlain created the hand controls, and Mr. Chamberlain and a mechanic personally delivered the car to the White House. Mr. Chamberlain later told the story of his encounter with FDR to author Dale Carnegie. “When I called at the White House,” Chamberlain said, “the President was extremely pleasant and cheerful. He called me by name, made me feel very comfortable, and particularly impressed me with the fact that he was vitally interested in things I had to show him and tell him…. He remarked: ‘I think it is marvelous…. I’d love to have the time to tear it down and see how it works.’ ” A crowd gathered around, including FDR’s wife, Eleanor, and Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins. They all wanted to see the president’s new car. Chamberlain instructed the president in the operation of the hand controls. Then FDR said, “Well, Mr. Chamberlain, I have been keeping the Federal Reserve Board waiting thirty minutes. I guess I had better get back to work.” The mechanic who accompanied Chamberlain was shy and hung back, but FDR sought him out, shook his hand, and thanked him by name.14 No wonder FDR was elected to four terms as president! The man was loaded with people skills. He made sure to call Chamberlain and the mechanic by name (every leader should acquire that habit). He praised Chamberlain in front of everyone (public praise is a huge self-esteem builder). He took a vital interest in all of the special features Mr. Chamberlain had added to the car (taking an interest in people’s achievements lets them know you value them). If you want a reputation for charm and charisma, study the people skills of FDR. The second specially equipped car Roosevelt owned was a 1936 Ford Phaeton. FDR used that car to enhance his people skills. The biggest obstacle Roosevelt faced in dealing with world leaders was his physical disability. He felt that confronting a prime minister or a dictator from a wheelchair made him look weak. So Roosevelt came up with an ingenious way of increasing his leadership stature: he drove a car. By the late 1930s, Roosevelt had replaced the hand-controlled Plymouth with a hand-controlled Ford Phaeton (he liked the phaeton body design because it was lightweight, open, and fast). It was against Secret Service rules for President Roosevelt to drive—but how could the Secret Service order the boss not to drive if he wanted to? In June 1939, when President Roosevelt hosted England’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, for a weekend at his Hyde Park estate, he treated them to a ride in his Ford. FDR himself did the driving—and he drove fast. The Queen Mother later described that ride as more frightening than the London blitz. She told journalist Conrad Black: President Roosevelt drove us in his car that was adapted to his use, requiring great dexterity with his hands. Motorcycle police cleared the road ahead of us but the president pointed out sights, waived his cigarette holder about, turned the wheel, and operated the accelerator and the brake all with his hands. He was conversing more than watching the road and drove at great speed. There were several times when I thought we could go right off the road and tumble down the hills. It was frightening, but quite exhilarating. It was a relief to get to the picnic.15 (The picnic, by the way, was an all-American repast of hot dogs and baked beans, with strawberry shortcake for dessert.)16 Roosevelt merged his people skills with his driving skills—and in the process he replaced the image of a wheelchair-bound paraplegic with the image of a strong, adventurous leader who is going places fast. The King and Queen Mother probably had no idea that FDR was deliberately altering their mental image of him. But if they had come to America expecting to find him in a wheelchair with a shawl around his shoulders, he dispelled that image in a hurry. Roosevelt had a similar welcome ready for Winston Churchill in June 1942 (this was their second meeting; the first had been in December 1941, not long after the attack on Pearl Harbor). Author Robert Cross describes Churchill’s arrival: As the small plane carrying Winston Churchill banked over the majestic Hudson River, President Roosevelt waited patiently below in the driver’s seat of his blue, hand-controlled Ford. The plane bumped as it landed on the Hackensack airfield near Hyde Park…. After greeting his English friend, FDR drove Churchill around his Duchess County estate, talking business and giving the prime minister more than a few scares as the president “poised and backed on the grass verges of the precipices over the Hudson,” and drove his car through fields and woods, successfully playing hide-and-seek with his Secret Service guards.17 Again, FDR had a serious purpose in scaring the daylights out of visiting dignitaries. After sharing a wild, frightening ride with President Roosevelt, Churchill knew he was dealing with a man of strength, daring, and courage—not a wheelchair-bound invalid. Roosevelt used his specially equipped Ford as a symbol of his leadership—and his formidable people skills. “HE IS THE TRUEST FRIEND” One of the toughest challenges for Roosevelt’s people skills was Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. In 1943, Roosevelt flew to Tehran for a summit meeting with Churchill and Stalin. When the two leaders were introduced, Roosevelt found Stalin to be cold and unfriendly. Roosevelt tried working his charm on Stalin, but the Russian leader was made of stone. For the first three days of their summit, Roosevelt could find no way to establish trust between himself and Stalin. On the fourth day, FDR decided to try a different approach. That morning, before they entered the conference room, he told Churchill, “I hope you won’t be sore at me for what I’m about to do.” Churchill had no idea what Roosevelt had in mind. Moments later, they joined Stalin in the conference room As Roosevelt later explained: I talked privately with Stalin…. I said…“Winston is cranky this morning, he got up on the wrong side of the bed.” A vague smile passed over Stalin’s eyes, and I decided I was on the right track…. I began to tease Churchill about his Britishness, about John Bull, about his cigars, about his habits. It began to register with Stalin. Winston got red and scowled, and the more he did so, the more Stalin smiled. Finally Stalin broke out into a deep, hearty guffaw, and for the first time in three days I saw a light. I kept it up until Stalin was laughing with me, and it was then that I called him “Uncle Joe.” He would have thought me fresh the day before, but that day he laughed and came over and shook my hand.18 The ability to break the ice in order to create trust is an important people skill. Roosevelt had a deep understanding of what makes people tick. He even coaxed a laugh and a handshake out of one of the cruelest thug dictators who ever lived. In the end, of course, Churchill figured out what his friend, the American president, was up to—and he approved. Churchill not only respected Roosevelt —he treasured their friendship. Perhaps Churchill’s experience as a passenger in Roosevelt’s Ford helped to strengthen the bond between them. We catch a glimpse of Churchill’s emotional bond with Roosevelt at the Casablanca Conference in French Morocco, January 14–24, 1943. There Roosevelt and Churchill conferred with Free French generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud and planned their strategy for the next phase of the war against Hitler. When the conference was over, Roosevelt prepared to return home. Churchill accompanied Roosevelt to the airport and helped him board the plane. Then Churchill turned his back on the plane and said to an aide, “Let’s go. I don’t like to see them take off. It makes me far too nervous. If anything happened to that man, I couldn’t stand it. He is the truest friend; he has the farthest vision; he is the greatest man I have ever known.”19 The fourth inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt was held on January 20, 1945. He left the White House on March 29, traveling to the “Little White House” at Warm Springs, Georgia, for a few weeks’ rest. On the afternoon of April 12, he was sitting for a portrait by artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff, when he remarked, “I have a terrific pain in the back of my head.” Then he collapsed, having suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage. A fitting epitaph was offered by a grieving soldier outside the White House fence. Frances Perkins stopped to chat with him and asked what he thought of the late president. “I felt as if I knew him,” the soldier said. “I felt as if he knew me—and I felt as if he liked me.”20 The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

What does the example of Pope John Paul II teach us about the role of forgiveness in leadership? Let me suggest a few principles: 1. Forgive others to liberate yourself. Pope John Paul II lived free of bitterness, resentment, and fear. Forgiveness enables us to make peace with our past and move forward with our lives. 2. Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling. Even when you don’t feel like forgiving, you can make a choice to forgive. Even when the other person is unrepentant, you can make a choice to forgive. The decision to forgive others doesn’t depend on anyone else. It is completely up to you. Very often, when you make a choice to forgive, the feelings of forgiveness soon follow. 3. As the leader, set an example of forgiveness. The people in your organization need to know that you don’t hold grudges—you forgive. Bitterness and resentment can tear an organization apart. Forgiveness enables teams, organizations, and nations to function smoothly. Like Pope John Paul II, become an inspiring example of forgiveness to the people you lead. 4. Forgiving does not mean forgetting. The reason we forgive is precisely because we can’t forget. The memory of being hurt will keep hurting us until we make a decision to let it go. You will probably feel wary around a boss, a subordinate, or a coworker who has hurt you. That’s normal. Memories and feelings won’t immediately change. What will change is your determination to let go of all bitterness and resentment. 5. Forgiving does not necessarily mean maintaining a relationship with someone. Pope John Paul II forgave the gunman, but he did not become close friends with the gunman. Sometimes the person you forgive is simply toxic to you, and you can’t maintain contact. But at least you can let go of the bitterness and get on with your life. Pope John Paul II led by forgiving, and so should we. Though he forgave, he suffered. His wounds healed, but the pain never completely went away. Later in life, he was afflicted with weakness and tremors due to Parkinson’s disease, but his forgiving spirit was strong to the end. On April 2, 2005, Pope John Paul II died at his apartment in the Vatican. His funeral, held six days later, is believed to be the largest funeral in the history of the world. Almost immediately after his death, people chanted, “Santo subito! Sainthood now!” The Church canonized him on April 27, 2014, making him Pope Saint John Paul II. Of all the saintly qualities that marked his life, I think the greatest was the people skill of forgiveness. A person’s rightful due is to be treated as an object of love, not as an object for use. POPE JOHN PAUL II