Surviving the Storm: Leadership Lessons from History's Greatest

YouTube Version (If You'd Rather Watch 👉) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mroTN2atNfs

War, economic collapse, natural disasters, pandemics…

If there’s one thing you can count on as a leader… It’s that you will have to lead through a crisis of some kind at some point.

It’s not a matter of if it will happen; it’s when it will happen.

And when that crisis inevitably strikes, will you, as the leader, know what to do?

Will you have what it takes?

Today, we’re going to learn from three leaders who led through some of U.S. History’s greatest moments of crisis.

What can we learn from their wisdom and experience?

It seems like these days we’re living in a constant state of crisis.

How do we navigate these turbulent times?

What does it take lead through the storms?

Let’s go back over 200 years, to a boy born in a humble one-room log cabin.

This child’s early years were defined by poverty.

His mother died when he was 9 years old.

He had little to no access to formal education and had to resort to intensive manual labor from a young age in order to help support his family.

Through his adulthood, he faced multiple business failures, bankruptcy, a nervous breakdown, and over eight major political losses.

For many people, this would be enough to throw in the towel.

But for this man, these setbacks only fueled his persistence, enabling him to ultimately lead a nation through the greatest U.S. crisis of the 1800s, the Civil War.

That’s right… I’m sure you know of Abraham Lincoln, but you may not have known how punishing his journey into leadership was.

But it was this journey that shaped him into one of the greatest leaders in U.S. history.

The major crisis that Lincoln had to navigate was really the existential crisis of an entire nation.

By the mid-19th century, the country was split.

You had the Northern states, which were largely industrial and anti-slavery, and the Southern states, which were agrarian and heavily reliant on slave labor.

A lot of people have a surface-level understanding of the Civil War, you know, what you learned in history class back in the 9th grade.

But the truth is, as most history goes, the crisis was more complex than most people realize.

Excuse the play on words, but the issue wasn’t all black and white. There was a lot of grey area that Lincoln had to consider and navigate carefully.

Lincoln was viewed as a threat to the Southern way of life. His election prompted several Southern states to secede from the Union, beginning with South Carolina in December 1860. By February 1861, seven states had formed the Confederate States of America.

The crisis eventually reached a boiling point when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in April of that same year.

Lincoln called for federal troops to suppress the rebellion, marking the official start of the Civil War.

So, all of this was unfolding in just a matter of months.

Can you imagine how disillusioning that must have been from a leadership standpoint?

Now, there are a few leadership lessons I want to point out that we should all take away from Lincoln’s leadership.

First of all, we need to understand that Lincoln, as well as all the leaders we’re going to look at today, wasn’t perfect.

History books often sing the praises of historical figures as if they did no wrong, but the truth is, they’re just people like you and me.

They aren’t perfect. They make mistakes.

Even the best leaders make bad decisions.

However, the value of history is that it allows us to look back and learn from what was good and what was right.

Here are a few things I think Lincoln did well.

First, Lincoln was guided by purpose. He had a strong conviction, and he fought for it.

The war became a moral crusade against slavery.

Second, Lincoln demonstrated the importance of having a vision and communicating that vision.

He used his speeches, such as the Gettysburg Address, to articulate a vision of a united nation that was committed to equality and freedom.

His ability to communicate effectively is one of the chief reasons he rallied public support.

People caught his vision.

Third, Lincoln fought for unity.

Throughout the entire war, he advocated for reconciliation.

He famously quoted Mark chapter 3 in the Bible, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

He wanted to unify a divided nation.

Lastly, Lincoln modeled the importance of integrity in leadership.

You may be familiar with his nickname “Honest Abe.”

Apparently, Lincoln had a very upstanding reputation.

For example, while working as a young store clerk in New Salem, Illinois, Lincoln reportedly made an error in a customer's change, overcharging them by a few cents.

Upon discovering his mistake later that evening, he is said to have closed the store and walked several miles to the customer's home to return the money.

That’s integrity.

Sadly, many individuals today have lost sight of integrity.

Some of these individuals who hold positions of authority and power call themselves leaders.

But do you know what authority without integrity is?

Corruption.

That’s not leadership.

You don’t have true leadership without integrity.

Abraham Lincoln’s leadership exemplifies the qualities of a great leader through times of crisis: purpose, vision, communication, and a steadfast commitment to unity and integrity.

Okay, let’s fast forward about sixty years to another crisis.

It all began on October 29th in the year 1929.

It’s known in the history books as Black Tuesday.

The Wall Street Stock Market crashed, with over 16 million shares traded, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12% in one of history's largest one-day stock market losses.

What initially started as a financial collapse quickly spiraled into a severe economic downturn, leading to widespread unemployment, bank failures, and a dramatic decline in consumer spending.

By 1933, nearly 25% of the American workforce was unemployed, and countless families were plunged into poverty.

This particular crisis, I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, was the Great Depression.

As the nation grappled with this unprecedented situation, a leader known as Franklin D. Roosevelt stepped up to bat as the 32nd president of the United States.

Unlike Lincoln, Roosevelt inherited his crisis.

He wasn’t blindsided; he knowingly stepped right into the mess, famously declaring, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

But the Great Depression wasn’t the only crisis FDR would face.

It was a typical Sunday afternoon in the White House, around 1:30 pm on December 7th, 1941.

Roosevelt had just finished eating lunch when Navy Secretary Frank Knox burst into his study and announced that there had been a surprise aerial assault on Pearl Harbor.

Crisis.

Within hours, FDR was preparing his famous "day of infamy" speech for Congress, marking America's entry into World War II.

Not many leaders face this kind of crisis in their lifetime.

FDR stands apart.

I want to highlight a few key leadership insights we should all take away from his leadership experience.

First, FDR met the crisis of his time with innovation.

He met unprecedented times with unprecedented ideas.

He wasn’t afraid to experiment and make bold decisions.

Some of the more innovative ideas include the New Deal Framework, which encompassed financial reforms, job-creation initiatives, and social welfare programs.

He also established agencies such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which addressed unemployment issues.

FDR also created the Social Security Act, which most of us are quite familiar with today.

Innovation was a central component of FDR’s leadership that he used to navigate his time of crisis.

Second, like Lincoln, FDR understood the importance of communication.

He was committed to what was called the “Fireside Chats.”

The fireside chats were a series of around thirty informal, intimate radio addresses delivered by FDR between 1933 and 1944. That’s over ten years!

They were designed to calm fears, restore confidence, and explain complex policies and issues.

These points of communication enabled FDR to convey his leadership directly to millions of American households.

Third, and related to communication, was FDR’s ability to connect with people.

People trusted him, they related to him…

He had a way of spreading hope in a dark time.

I think that’s one of the reasons why he won four consecutive presidential elections. He’s the only U.S. president to serve more than two terms.

We now have the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two elected terms, but still…

FDR connected with people.

I think in a lot of ways, people were inspired by his story.

Like Lincoln, FDR faced personal hardships.

Twelve years before the time of his presidency, at the age of 39, he contracted polio and became forever paralyzed from the waist down.

Can you imagine the resilience it takes to become disabled at the age of 39 and still rise to become the president of the United States and lead a nation through arguably two of the hardest points of crisis in American history?

This brings up the third lesson we can learn from FDR.

Resilience.

The greater the resilience, the greater the leader.

So far, we’ve seen that resilience within Lincoln, and we’ve seen it within Roosevelt.

Okay, let’s fast forward another sixty years.

It was a Tuesday at 8:46 a.m. in the morning when President George W. Bush got word that a plane had accidentally crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.

Bush was visiting an elementary school in Florida to promote an education program when Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispered to him that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center.

It was no accident; America was under attack.

Crisis.

If you’re a millennial like me or older, then you remember this day.

I bet you remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, and how you felt.

I want to highlight the key leadership lessons we can learn from Former President Bush.

Before I do, I want to encourage you to go watch the Masterclass on Leadership that Bush did.

No, Masterclass is not sponsoring this episode.

It's a genuine recommendation for something I found highly impactful and inspiring.

He actually has an entire section in that Masterclass on leading through crisis.

If you recall, Bush also had to respond to Hurricane Katrina and the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis toward the end of his presidency.

He speaks to all of that as well.

Okay, here are a few leadership lessons that stand out.

First, Bush emphasized the importance of projecting a sense of calm and resolve in the face of crisis.

Perhaps one of the best examples of this is when he first received the news that the second plane hit and that America was under attack.

There’s footage of this if you haven’t seen it.

But Bush was literally in front of a classroom of kids.

He could have reacted in a thousand ways that could have sparked fear and worry, but he chose to stay calm.

That takes a strong leader.

Second, similar to Lincoln and FDR, Bush affirmed the need to communicate.

When there’s a crisis, Bush says people start to panic, imagining things, and the situation can turn south very quickly.

Bush views communication as a way to not deliver accurate details, but as a way to calm people.

Third, Bush modeled compassionate leadership.

There are stories of him seeing a woman who had lost her home to a fire, just weeping on her front steps, and he went over and hugged her and sat and talked with her.

Bush said, “I was commander in chief, but oftentimes I was comforter in chief.”

One of his self-appointed leadership missions in the wake of the 9/11 crisis was to try to ease people’s pain, help them heal, and give them hope for the future.

But there’s another lesson Bush gave us. In many ways, it’s the most important one that brings this entire episode home.

In reflecting on his own experience, Bush states, “One learns how to deal with a crisis by going through crises.”

Let’s look at one final crisis.

This is one we've all experienced.

In fact, it’s quite fresh.

Yes, I’m talking about the Global COVID-19 Pandemic, which dominated the attention of the world between 2020 and 2023.

Instead of highlighting a leader, I want to highlight something different.

Something important we need to discuss.

Something that has everything to do with your ability to lead through crisis.

It’s estimated that beginning in 2021, a record-shattering 47.4 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs.

The trend continued in 2022 with another 50 million.

Leadership turnover hit record highs.

Between January and September 2023 alone, more than 1,400 CEOs stepped down.

This phenomenon is now being called “The Great Resignation” and is attributed to burnout, market volatility, and intense pressure.

We must acknowledge that the most recent crisis led many leaders to throw in the towel.

And look, I get it, I got the snot beaten out of me during that period of time.

Did you notice that the mass exodus of leaders wasn’t at the beginning of the crisis?

It was towards the middle and end.

In other words, when things got hard.

Now, here's the sad thing, and listen closely because this might be the most important leadership lesson of this entire episode.

You will never become a leader who can lead through a crisis if you quit.

You will only become a leader who can lead through a crisis if you lead through a crisis and make it out the other side.

As Bush said, you’ve got to go through it to learn it.

Did you notice the pattern across all the leaders we looked at?

They all had to go through hard things to learn how to do hard things.

Resilience is the ability to adapt to adversity, manage stress, and recover from setbacks.

Therefore, you can’t become resilient unless you experience adversity, stress, and setbacks.

You might like the idea of being a resilient leader, but are you willing to go through the process of becoming one?

I can’t help but feel sorry for all of the leaders who threw in the towel during the most recent crisis because they missed out on the opportunity to become more resilient.

That’s not us, right?

We will continue to fight the good fight.

That’s it for today.

I’ll see you again real soon.