# Presentation: 370591

## “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

## Leadership Lessons:Sage Wisdom

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

## Leadership Lessons:Why 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

## The Battle of Gettysburg:Leadership 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

## The Battle of Gettysburg:Leadership 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

## The Battle of Gettysburg:Leadership 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)

## The Battle of Gettysburg:Leadership 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)

## The Battle of Gettysburg:Leadership Lessons from Major General J.E.B. Stuart

- One of the Confederacy’s most distinguished military leaders, his importance at Gettysburg is based on what he failed to do
- To restore his reputation, he interprets Lee’s 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

## The Battle of Gettysburg:Leadership Lessons from Major General Daniel E. Sickles

- Without asking Meade’s 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

## The Battle of Gettysburg:Leadership 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

## The Battle of Gettysburg:Leadership 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 wounded—and low on or completely out of ammunition—Chamberlain 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

## Leadership Lessons:Sage Wisdom

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

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

## 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)

## 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

## The First Practical Skill:Building Three Kinds of Trust

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

## Building Three Kinds of Trust:Sage Wisdom

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

## The Second Practical Skill:Signaling the Key Priorities

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

## Signaling the Key Priorities:Sage Wisdom

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

## The Third Practical Skill:Communicating Effectively

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

## Communicating Effectively:Sage Wisdom

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

## The Fourth Practical Skill:Mastering 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 person’s involvement—and their role in mission success
- Know that people want to “believe” their actions are part of something extraordinary—that they can make a difference
- Rely on stories and examples
- Change the pace

## Mastering the Language of Leadership: Sage Wisdom

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

*BUILDING THE BRIDGE*
*TO OUR FUTURE:*
*FINAL SAGE WISDOM*

## Building the Bridge to Our Future: Sage Wisdom

- We can’t become what we need to be
- by remaining what we are.
- 		(Oprah Winfrey)

## Building the Bridge to Our Future: Sage Wisdom

- Even if you’re on the right track,
- you’ll get run over if you just sit there.
- 		(Will Rogers)

## Building the Bridge to Our Future: Sage Wisdom

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

## Building the Bridge to Our Future: Sage Wisdom

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

## Building the Bridge to Our Future: Sage Wisdom

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

## The Final Sage Wisdom:An 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 doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a
- gazelle; when the sun comes up, you had
- better be running.