as it applied to Lincoln. For example, Phillips says, “ For Lincoln, casual contact with his subordinates was as important as formal gatherings, if not more so, and today’s leaders should take note of this style. He preferred whenever possible, to interact with people when they were in a more relaxed, less pressure-packed environment” (16). This enabled Lincoln to accomplish many things, especially obtaining knowledge first hand. The importance of obtaining information first hand is very important for a leader. We saw the example in class with the telephone chain game. By the time the fourth person heard the story, it was so distorted that it didn’t make ant sense at all. This holds true for any information that a leader may obtain. The best method is to get all the information you can from the source in order to eliminate discrepancies. Lincoln did this and was able to do so by being around his people. Lincoln made himself very available and visible to the troops. “Lincoln made it a point to personally inspect every state regiment of volunteers that passed through Washington, D.C., on their way to the front; and early in the war, they all passed through Washington” (Phillips 19). It is very rare these days, at least in my experiences, to see the CEO of a major company walking around getting to know the people who are working way down at the bottom of the ladder. In class, you called them worker ants, what we will most likely begin as when we graduate. However, worker ants are very important. They are necessary for the company because they are producing the goods or services that the company needs to survive, and therefore they benefit the CEO. It seems to make sense then that the CEO would want to acknowledge these people, but they don’t. Lincoln, however, did see the advantage. “This type of personal contact helped Lincoln show the troops that the government appreciated their effortsR...
