Page 228 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

THE WHY OF WORK

1831: He failed in business.
1832: He ran for the state legislature and was defeated.
1832: He lost his job. He wanted to go to law school but couldn’t get in.
1833: He borrowed money from a friend to begin a business and lost it all
by the end of the year. He spent the next 17 years paying off his debt.
1834: He ran for the state legislature again and won.
1835: He was engaged to be married when his fiancé died and his heart
was broken.
1836: He had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
1838: He sought to become speaker of the state legislature and was
defeated.
1840: He sought to become elector and was defeated.
1843: He ran for Congress and was defeated.
1846: He ran for Congress again and won. He went to Washington and
did well.
1848: He ran for reelection to Congress and was defeated.
1849: He sought the job of land officer in his home state and was
rejected.
1854: He ran for Senate of the United States and was defeated.
1856: He sought the vice presidential nomination at his party’s national
convention and got fewer than 100 votes.
1858: He ran for the U.S. Senate again and was defeated.
1860: He ran for, and was elected, president of the United States.

Clearly, Lincoln not only learned from setbacks but dem-
onstrated almost inconceivable resilience. His biographers
have described the emotional strengths that contributed to
his enormous resilience:

• • Empathy: He could put himself in the place of others
and appreciate their point of view.

204