Building the Bridge to Our Future: Leadership Lessons from the Battle of Gettysburg

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Building the Bridge to Our Future Leadership
Lessons from the Battle of Gettysburg

• Robert J. Bies, Ph.D.
• Georgetown University
• McDonough School of Business
• NIH AMC Symposium
• Gettysburg, PA
• November 18, 2008

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Leadership LessonsSage Wisdom

• Those who do not learn from history
• are doomed to repeat it.
• (George Santayana)

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Leadership LessonsWhy Study the Battle of
Gettysburg?

• From the US and beyond, countless executives from
  corporations, government agencies and institutes,
  and the military have come to study the Battle of
  Gettysburg because
• It provides a laboratory to explore contemporary
  leadership challenges such as strategy and
  execution, information gathering and decision
  making, inspiration and motivation, communication
  and teamwork, integrity and trust

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The Battle of GettysburgLeadership Lessons from
General Robert E. Lee

• Leading by intent v. Leading by explicit
  direction Failed to adapt to new subordinates
• Faulty decision making by not relying on others
  when J.E.B Stuart was missing and ignoring the
  advice of General James Longstreet on the third
  day
• But, demonstrated strength of character and skill
  as a leader by taking responsibility for the loss
  at Gettysburg

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The Battle of GettysburgLeadership Lessons from
Major General George Gordon Meade

• Having only been in his post for three days
  before the battle, he made good use of talented
  subordinates, delegating authority effectively in
  a rapidly changing environment
• Decision making style was inclusive and
  collaborative (e.g. the council of war on second
  day)
• Stayed near the action, gathering data directly,
  and intervening when necessary

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The Battle of GettysburgLeadership Lessons from
General John F. Reynolds

• Demonstrated character and integrity when he
  turned down the command of the Army of the
  Potomac offered by President Abraham Lincoln
• When Meade was named to the post, Reynolds offers
  personal congratulations setting an example that
  helped Meade gain the confidence of other senior
  commanders
• Demonstrated trust in his officers (e.g. Buford)

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The Battle of GettysburgLeadership Lessons from
General John Buford, Jr.

• Perhaps the most important unsung hero in the
  battle
• He demonstrates the ability to anticipate events,
  and developed plans to successfully take
  advantage of every opportunity when they were
  outnumbered (e.g. how deployed troops to buy
  time)
• Build credibility and trust with superiors (e.g.
  Reynolds)

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The Battle of GettysburgLeadership Lessons from
Major General J.E.B. Stuart

• One of the Confederacys most distinguished
  military leaders, his importance at Gettysburg is
  based on what he failed to do
• To restore his reputation, he interprets Lees
  orders to allow him to fight another battle that
  cuts him off from Gettysburg until the second day
  of the battle
• Illustrates how a personal agenda can cloud
  judgment of even the most talented, resulting in
  costly mistakes

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The Battle of GettysburgLeadership Lessons from
Major General Daniel E. Sickles

• Without asking Meades permission or even
  informing him of his decision, orders his troops
  to a new position in front of the rest of the
  Union Army
• By the time Meade had learned of the action,
  Confederate General Longstreet had launched a
  devastating attack on Sickles troops
• Sickles lacked decision making perspective on how
  his actions would impact the Union army as a whole

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The Battle of GettysburgLeadership Lessons from
Lt. General James Longstreet

• Lee put Longstreet in charge of the Day Three
  attack, which Longstreet felt had little chance
  of success
• Longstreet was so disheartened about the
  impending defeat, feelings which he conveyed to
  key subordinates, that he undermined his troops
  morale and their ability to carry out vital
  assignments in battle

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The Battle of GettysburgLeadership Lessons from
Lt. Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

• Ordered to hold his ground at all hazards on
  Little Round Top, and with one-third of his men
  killed or woundedand low on or completely out of
  ammunitionChamberlain turned to the one weapon
  he and his troops had available the bayonet
• His knowledge, timely decision making, and a
  willingness to try the unusual rather than lose
  by conventional means were key to his troops
  faith in him and their success in defending
  Little Round Top

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Leadership LessonsSage Wisdom

• Leadership and learning
• are indispensable to each other.
• (John F. Kennedy)

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• BUILDING THE BRIDGE
• TO OUR FUTURE AT NIH
• FOUR KEY PRACTICAL SKILLS

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Building the Bridge to Our Future Sage Wisdom

• Wisdom is knowing what to do next,
• skill is knowing how to do it,
• and virtue is doing it.
• (David Starr Jordan)

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Building the Bridge to Our Future Four Key
Practical Skills

• Building Three Kinds of Trust
• Signaling the Key Priorities
• Communicating Effectively
• Mastering the Language of Leadership

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The First Practical SkillBuilding Three Kinds
of Trust

• Three Kinds of Trust
• Personal Trust
• Do they trust the organizational leadersdo they
  trust you?
• Confidence, visibility, and delivering results
• Organizational Trust
• Are processes and decision making sensibleand
  are they fair?
• Consistency, voice, and transparency
• Strategic Trust
• Doing the right things in terms of goals and
  strategies?
• Vision, doability, early victories

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Building Three Kinds of TrustSage Wisdom

• Trust is mandatory
• for the optimization of any system.
• (W. Edwards Deming)
• Trust, but verify.
• (Russian proverb, translation by
• President Ronald Reagan)

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The Second Practical SkillSignaling the Key
Priorities

• Signaling the Key Priorities
• Budgets
• Calendars
• Metrics
• Questions
• Modeling

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Signaling the Key PrioritiesSage Wisdom

• Example is not the main thing
• in influencing others,
• it's the only thing.
• (Albert Schweitzer)

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The Third Practical SkillCommunicating
Effectively

• Communicating Effectively
• Information-Sharing
• Overcommunication (by a Factor of 10)
• Listening

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Communicating EffectivelySage Wisdom

• The problem with communication...
• is the illusion that it has been accomplished.
• (George Bernard Shaw)

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The Fourth Practical SkillMastering the
Language of Leadership

• Bring passion and optimism
• Provide the BIG PICTURE (i.e., the what and the
  why and the way)
• Amplify the importance of each persons
  involvementand their role in mission success
• Know that people want to believe their actions
  are part of something extraordinarythat they can
  make a difference
• Rely on stories and examples
• Change the pace

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Mastering the Language of Leadership Sage Wisdom

• When you reach for the stars,
• you may not quite get one,
• but you wont come up with a
• handful of mud either.
• (Leo Burnett)

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• BUILDING THE BRIDGE
• TO OUR FUTURE
• FINAL SAGE WISDOM

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Building the Bridge to Our Future Sage Wisdom

• We cant become what we need to be
• by remaining what we are.
• (Oprah Winfrey)

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Building the Bridge to Our Future Sage Wisdom

• Even if youre on the right track,
• youll get run over if you just sit there.
• (Will Rogers)

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Building the Bridge to Our Future Sage Wisdom

• If you have always done it that way,
• it is probably wrong.
• (Charles Kettering)

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Building the Bridge to Our Future Sage Wisdom

• No matter what accomplishments you make,
• somebody helps you.
• (Althea Gibson)

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Building the Bridge to Our Future Sage Wisdom

• Do what you can,
• with what you have,
• where you are.
• (Theodore Roosevelt)

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The Final Sage WisdomAn African Parable

• Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
• It knows that it must run faster than the fastest
• lion, or it will be killed. Every morning a lion
• wakes up, it knows that it must outrun the
• slowest gazelle, or it will starve to death.
• It doesnt matter whether you are a lion or a
• gazelle when the sun comes up, you had
• better be running.