​The holidays are here, and we can almost hear the bells jingling and the crunch of cookies. (Is there anything better than a Christmas cookie to bring people together?) Whether you’re loading up the break room with treats to share, or simply enjoying a cookie with your team, sweet treats have a magical way of turning even the toughest co-worker into someone more human. So, in the spirit of the season, we’ve dug through history to find some lighthearted stories about our nation’s Presidents and their favorite desserts.

Imagine it: the storied halls of Mount Vernon, where George Washington, that resolute commander, was caught sneaking a cookie! Martha Washington’s famous jumbals, tiny cookies speckled with caraway seeds, were a Christmas favorite at Mount Vernon, and her husband couldn’t resist their charm. Legend has it that on one winter evening, he caught a whiff of the freshly baked treats and—without a second thought—snatched one off the cooling rack. "These cookies are worth any revolution," he reportedly said with a wink. ​

Martha Washington’s Jumbals:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar (Or Swerve, if you’re sugar free)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp ground caraway seeds
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

Mix ingredients, roll into small balls, and bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes. 
​

​Franklin D. Roosevelt, known for his fireside chats and thoughtful leadership during the Great Depression, had another great love: icebox cookies. These cookies were a simple but comforting treat, made from ingredients most families could afford, even during the Great Depression. Eleanor Roosevelt often caught Franklin sneaking into the kitchen to grab a few for a late-night snack, always with a playful grin.

Recipe for Icebox Cookies:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar (Or Swerve, if you’re sugar free)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

Mix ingredients, shape dough into a log and chill for at least an hour before slicing into rounds. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes.

​Long before Abraham Lincoln saved the Union, gave the Gettysburg Address, or signed the Emancipation Proclamation into law, he had a soft spot for gingerbread men. Back in his Kentucky childhood, his mother baked these spicy, fragrant cookies whenever she had a little extra grocery money, and they became a nostalgic treat for Honest Abe. The story goes that while campaigning, Lincoln joked with a difficult crowd about how much he loved gingerbread cookies, saying, “If I had a choice, I’d choose them over any of the speeches I’ve given!” The joke worked, softening the crowd, and he continued without heckling.

Recipe for Cowboy Cookies:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar (Or Swerve, if you’re sugar free)
• 1 cup brown sugar (Or brown sugar Swerve)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups oats
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Mix and bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes.

​Ronald Reagan didn’t just love jelly beans—he made them famous. So naturally, he had his own special jelly bean cookie, where sweet little jelly beans were folded right into sugar cookie dough. Reagan would serve these cookies to guests, sometimes cracking jokes about how the jelly beans made the cookies “extra presidential.”

​It’s no secret our highly polarized political environment presents a major challenge for today’s leaders; so how do we lead effectively when members of our teams often disagree politically? Let’s see what we can learn from the leadership of Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. 

Lesson 1: Diverse Voices Strengthen Your Team. With World War II looming, Roosevelt made the bold move of installing Republican Henry Stimson—an ideological opponent of much of Roosevelt’s Democratic administration—as Secretary of War. Roosevelt recognized that for the U.S. war effort to succeed, our nation needed to be as united as possible, and that meant bringing respected and experienced leaders from both parties into his administration. By recruiting Stimson, an outspoken critic of the New Deal, but a committed champion of military preparedness, Roosevelt signaled that our nation’s security is more important than party politics. Together they oversaw one of the most significant military expansions in history, which included our nation’s first peacetime draft under the Selective Service Act. With Congress deeply divided along party lines, however, their strategic teamwork was essential to getting the Act passed. 

Roosevelt used his public speaking abilities to shift the national conversation surrounding the war. Highlighting the dangers posed by Nazi Germany, he skillfully presented the peacetime draft as a defensive measure that would protect Americans against this growing threat. He emphasized the necessity to strengthen the U.S. military in case of involvement in global conflict, and argued that military preparedness was an American patriotic duty.    Stimson used his influence and reputation to engage with reticent lawmakers, arguing that a robust military would serve as a powerful deterrent against foreign aggressors. His deep knowledge of military affairs and prior experience as Secretary of War under President Taft gave his voice authority in matters of military defense, and helped convince Republicans of the non-partisan nature of military preparedness. 

Key Takeaway: While Roosevelt’s speeches had a remarkable impact on our nation’s Democratic lawmakers and public, many Republican lawmakers would have been much more reticent to pass the Act without Stimson’s efforts, and the obvious trust he placed in Roosevelt to prioritize our nation’s interests over party politics. Today’s leaders can earn the trust of their teams by identifying and appointing individuals with expertise, even if they don’t see eye-to-eye on every issue. Respectful differences of opinion can be discussed and honored, but commonality of purpose must remain the important point

​Lesson 2: Maintain Respect While Navigating Disagreement. Roosevelt and Stimson disagreed on several of Roosevelt’s major domestic policy initiatives. Yet both leaders understood that such divergent views did not need to create a barrier to their cooperation on matters of national importance. An historic example of this dynamic is their collaboration on the 1941 Lend-Lease Act, which allowed the United States to send military aid to Britain and other Allies without directly entering the war.

The policy faced significant resistance from many in Congress, who feared sending aid would drag the United States into war with Germany. Working together, Roosevelt and Stimson framed the issue as one of national defense, rather than foreign intervention. Roosevelt employed public relations techniques, such as his famous “garden hose” analogy, which depicted Lend-Lease as lending a garden hose to a neighbor whose house was on fire—meant to simplify the idea that helping Britain fight Nazi Germany was in our nation’s best interests. 

Stimson, meanwhile, sought to assure lawmakers and business leaders the policy was necessary to protect the United States’ interests across several fronts. He highlighted the role unresolved war debt after World War I played in the Great Depression, and argued focusing on immediate military aid (rather than loans) could prevent history’s repeating itself. His persuasive testimony before Congress not only convinced many that failure to pass Lend-Lease would allow the war to spread to American shores, but that it was necessary to prevent another depression. Ultimately, their joint efforts secured cross-party support, and the Lend-Lease Act was passed, allowing the United States to supply crucial resources to the Allied Forces. 

Key Takeaway: Roosevelt’s unwavering and public trust in Stimson’s military expertise, despite their policy disagreements, was instrumental in gaining bipartisan support. By publicly backing Stimson, Roosevelt signaled to both Democrats and Republicans they were united in prioritizing our nation's best interests. Today’s leaders can follow this example by fostering mutual respect and trust, even across ideological differences. When we, as leaders, show respect for the knowledge and experience of those we disagree with, we demonstrate how to work together toward common goals, even amidst differing ideas. 

Roosevelt and Stimson’s remarkable World War II partnership truly underlines the power we, as leaders, have in setting a tone for cooperation and respect. Roosevelt's willingness to bring a political rival into his administration, and their ability to focus on shared goals without compromising their beliefs are examples of how leaders can navigate deep divides without sacrificing principles—on either side. In today's polarized political and social climate, it is so important to remember our behavior sets the bar for how differences of opinion are managed. By keeping the big picture in mind, and fostering mutual respect, we can point our teams and organizations in the direction of successful results even when our team members hold diametrically opposing beliefs.

Let us equip you with effective leadership strategies from the world’s most successful leaders. You bring the team members, and we’ll create an immersive program, linking real-life examples with your individual workplace issues. ​

Today’s leaders are challenged to navigate complex power dynamics, work to build meaningful connections, while maintaining professionalism under constant pressure. How can we learn these skills? Dr. Alexander Augusta, a ceiling-breaker who overcame extraordinary odds to become the first Black physician commissioned in the Union Army during the Civil War, offers three powerful lessons. 

A Brief History: Born in 1825 to free parents of color, Alexander Thomas Augusta grew up in an America deeply entrenched in racial inequality and prejudice. Determined from a young age to pursue a career in medicine—a field virtually inaccessible to African Americans at the time—Augusta began secretly studying under a sympathetic professor from the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school. When it became clear no American college would grant admission to a Black man, Augusta relocated to Canada, where he earned his medical degree from Trinity College in Toronto in 1856. After graduation, Augusta established a successful medial practice, where he treated patients without regard to race or ability to pay, and was so well respected in his field, he was appointed as head of the Toronto City Hospital. His success in Canada, however, never diminished his desire to help his fellow Black Americans. Within a week of Lincoln’s signing the Emancipation Proclamation, which allowed for the recruitment of Blacks to the Union Army, Augusta wrote directly to the president, offering his medical services to Black regiments and Freedman. 

Lesson #1: Cultivate Strategic Alliances – Appointed to the rank of Major as a surgeon in the Union Army, Augusta reported to his first duty station, Camp Stanton, in Maryland, outranking the team of white surgeons already serving in the hospital. Despite facing racial hostility from many of his colleagues, Augusta maintained a dignified and respectful demeanor, focusing on his duties as a surgeon and treating his subordinates fairly as an officer. He quickly developed a reputation for excellence and dependability, which opened opportunities for him to create relationships with his superior officers and Surgeon General William Hammond. When a group of lower ranked surgeons, outraged by having to report to a Black officer, wrote letters of complaint to the White House demanding Augusta be removed from his position, he had staunch defenders in the network he created for himself. Rather than demotion, Hammond recommended he be transferred to Camp Barker, in Washington DC, where he was promoted to head the newly created hospital for Black soldiers and Freedman. Once Augusta took command, becoming the first African American in the United States to lead a medical facility, he was granted the authority to hire his own staff, giving medically trained Black professionals—almost always passed over in favor of white servicemen—an opportunity to serve their country alongside him.
Key Takeaway: By carefully cultivating relationships with influential figures, whether within an organization or across an industry, leaders can ensure their voice—and, by extension, the voices of those they lead—are heard and respected. 

Lesson #2: Work Within Existing Power Structures to Create Change – When Augusta was first commissioned to the Union Army, he was given a salary of $169 per month, which equaled the pay of other surgeons with the rank of Major. When the paymaster discovered Augusta was Black, however, he slashed his pay to $7 per month, which was the standard pay for all Black soldiers, regardless of rank. Augusta understood that simply challenging the practice as unfair wasn’t enough to create lasting change, so when he took his complaint to Senator Henry Wilson, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, he strategically framed his argument to resonate with those in power. Augusta didn't focus on the personal injustice; he, instead, emphasized how the disparity in pay between White and Black soldiers undermined national honor and the very principles the Union was fighting for. By connecting the issue to the broader goals of the war effort, he made it clear that addressing this inequality was in the best interest of the nation as a whole. Rather than confronting the system solely from the outside, he used his respected positions within the military and medical communities to engage with leaders within their existing power structure, and in a way that aligned with their values. Augusta’s approach worked, and his efforts contributed to the passage of legislation in 1864 that mandated equal pay for Black soldiers—a significant victory for the Union cause and a powerful testament to Augusta's strategic approach. 
Key Takeaway: By understanding and engaging with the power dynamics in our organizations and industries, we can reduce the friction necessary to drive meaningful and sustainable change. 

​Lesson #3: Maintain Professionalism Under Pressure – On a rainy day in February 1864, Augusta—in full military uniform—was denied entry to a streetcar by the conductor, who demanded he ride outside due to his race. When Augusta refused, explaining he was on his way to testify in court and needed to protect his uniform from the elements, he was forcibly pushed into the muddy street before the car departed. Rather than responding with anger, Augusta penned a remarkably composed letter to the D.C. Judge Advocate, detailing his mistreatment, yet refraining from making personal attacks against the conductor. Augusta’s letter was not only delivered to the appropriate military authorities, but also found its way into the hands of the press. Newspapers throughout Washington D.C. and New York printed Augusta’s words, sparking public outrage that a Union Officer, regardless of race, would be treated with such disrespect. The letter eventually came to the attention of Senator Charles Sumner, a prominent civil rights advocate, who was so impressed by Augusta’s measured, professional tone, he used Augusta’s letter in a Senate session to successfully push for the desegregation of Washington’s public transportation system.  
Key Takeaway: When leaders remain calm and measured under pressure, they build trust with those they lead, garner respect from their network, and ensure their words are taken seriously. 

Dr. Alexander Augusta’s life and career offer rich lessons for today’s leaders. His success was not just a product of his personal talents and determination, but also of his ability to strategically navigate the social and political landscape of his time. By cultivating alliances, maintaining professionalism under pressure, and strategically engaging with existing power structures, Augusta was able to advocate effectively for the rights of Black Americans. When we, as leaders, face our own set of challenges—from navigating complex organizational dynamics to advocating for social justice—Augusta’s leadership principles remain as relevant as ever. 
How will you apply these principles in your leadership journey?

Let us equip you with effective leadership strategies from the world’s most successful leaders. You bring the team members, and we’ll create an immersive program, linking real-life examples with your individual workplace issues. 

​New research shows there is a direct correlation between diversity and innovation. But how effective are you at leveraging the diverse strengths of those you lead, and where can you find an example of this principle in action?
 
During World War II, the United States faced significant challenges securing military communications from enemy interception. As the technology for secure lines had yet to be invented, all communication went over open, public airwaves. Enemy codebreakers regularly intercepted and deciphered sensitive military communication, and the Japanese had begun using English-speaking soldiers to send false orders to American troops using our military’s own coded language.
 
In 1942, after several devastating cryptographic failures, a retired U.S. Marine who had grown up as a missionary on a Navajo reservation, suggested using the Navajo language to develop a new miliary communication code. Since the Navajo language had no existing alphabet, and had never been written down or translated into any other language, its potential to serve as the basis for an unbreakable code was unmatched.
 
The Marine Corps quickly recruited 29 Navajo men, fluent in both the Navajo and English languages, to create this new code. Stationed at Camp Elliott in San Diego, California, the “Code Talkers” began by creating an alphabet based on the Navajo language, assigning Navajo words to represent letters in the English alphabet. (For example, the Navajo word for ant, “wol-la-chee,” represented the letter A, and the word for bear, “shush,” represented the letter B.) This created a phonetic alphabet that could be used to spell out words much faster than traditional cryptographic methods, which involved manual or mechanical encryption and decryption.
 
In addition to creating a phonetic alphabet, the Code Talkers also created a special glossary of Navajo words to represent common military terms. (For instance, the Navajo word for mud, “has-clish-nih,” was used for platoon, and the word for humming bird, “da-he-tih-hi,” was used for a fighter plane.) Once the Code Talkers perfected the initial code, they put it through rigorous testing until the error rate was zero, even during extreme battle simulations. The Marine Corps immediately expanded the Code Talking program, recruiting hundreds of Navajo men to train under the original team, who became known as the “First Twenty-Nine.”  The new recruits, along with the First Twenty-Nine, were then deployed to units across the Pacific Theater, where they served as radio operators. On the battlefield, this elite team would receive messages in English, encode them using the Navajo code, then transmit them over the radio. The recipient, another Navajo Code Talker, would then decode the message, and relay it in English to the appropriate military personnel.
 
One of the key advantages of the Navajo code was its speed. While traditional cryptographic methods could take hours to encode and decode messages, the Navajo code developed by the First Twenty-Nine reduced this process to minutes. This was crucial during combat situations, where timely communication could make the difference between life and death.
 
During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Navajo Code Talkers transmitted more than 800 messages without a single encoding or decoding error. Their ability to quickly and accurately transmit vital information allowed for real-time coordination of troop movements and artillery support – a feat that had never been achieved by any other method of coded communication. Major Howard Connor, the 5th Marine Division’s Signal Officer, stated, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.”
 
Today’s leaders can learn much from this story. The Navajo Code Talkers took immense pride in their unique cultural heritage, and used it as a strength to help their country. While the United States struggled to create a secure code using traditional cryptographic methods, the Navajo Code Talkers brought a fresh perspective to this critical challenge. By drawing on their unique linguistic and cultural knowledge, they developed an unbreakable code that ensured secure communication in the heat of battle, and ultimately, saved millions of American lives. Their legacy serves as a timeless reminder of how diverse perspectives can lead to groundbreaking solutions, if only we’re willing to listen.
 
Let us equip you with effective leadership strategies from the world’s most successful leaders. You bring the team members, and we’ll create an immersive program, linking real-life examples with your individual workplace issues.

While we recognize the importance of teamwork with our staff, we often forget how profoundly powerful teamwork can be with other leaders. Let’s look at this collaborative process through a historic example.

The setting. Our nation remembers the Montgomery Bus Boycott as one of the most significant civil rights protests in U.S. history. Sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks, a 43-year-old Black woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a White man, Black Montgomery residents boycotted the city’s buses for 381 days! The protest, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ultimately led to a Supreme Court ruling which declared racial segregation on public buses unconstitutional. What did it take to bring about such a massive project, and how many organizations were involved in this collective triumph?

The real history. In 1943, twelve years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat, she had been elected secretary for the Montgomery branch of the NAACP. She very quickly gained the notice of E.D. Nixon, a prominent and well respected NAACP activist. Together, Parks and Nixon worked tirelessly to pursue legal justice for victims of racial violence.

In 1944, a Black woman named Viola White refused to give up her bus seat to a White passenger and was beaten and arrested. The next year, two members of the Women’s Army Corps refused to move and were beaten by the driver. Parks and Nixon documented these and similar incidents and began searching for way to stop these injustices.

In 1946, a Black English professor from Alabama State College formed an activist group called the Women’s Political Council (WPC), whose main objective was to promote Black voter registration through citizenship education. In 1949, Jo Ann Robinson was elected president and shifted the Council’s primary focus to challenging laws that enforced segregated seating on buses. In 1954, after five years of unsuccessful attempts to improve the treatment of Black bus passengers, Robinson and the WPC began laying the groundwork for a city-wide boycott.

While the WPC planned a boycott, Nixon and Parks decided to challenge segregation a different way. Bolstered by the 1954 Supreme Court decision to desegregate schools, they believed the highest court would also vote to desegregate buses, if only they could get a case before them. So they waited for a plaintiff they believed could endure the lengthy and dangerous process of getting a case to the Supreme Court. In March 1955, a 15-year-old named Claudette Colvin was arrested for refusing to give up her seat. Nixon, however, doubted a high school student could endure the months of harassment, media attention, and death threats that would accompany such a high profile case. Nine months later, when Parks found herself in the unique position of becoming the plaintiff she and Nixon had been waiting for, she didn’t hesitate.

Leadership Paths Converge. Word of Parks’s arrest spread quickly through the Black community. As Parks and Nixon left the jailhouse to prepare for court, Jo Ann Robinson set the WPC’s boycott plan into motion. Gathering in secret, the WPC ladies worked through the night to print 50,000 flyers for a bus boycott to be held in four days’ time—on Monday, the first day of Parks’s trial. The distribution routes for the flyers had been put in place months before, and the only things left to do were deliver the information and organize the participants.

At 3 a.m. on Friday, while her team worked around her, Robinson called Nixon to inform him of the upcoming boycott and ask for any help he could offer. Nixon suggested the boycott would have greater success if pastors on Sunday urged their congregations to participate. At 6 a.m., Nixon called a young pastor named Martin Luther King, Jr., and asked him to help mobilize the church leaders into action. By Friday afternoon, the majority of Black Montgomery citizens had received a WPC flyer, and by Friday evening, Dr. King had secured promises from nearly 50 pastors to urge their congregations to join the boycott. By Sunday morning, support for the boycott was nearly unanimous among Montgomery’s Black citizens.

Deepening the Team. As expected, Monday morning brought a guilty verdict for Parks. Her attorneys, Fred Gray and Charles Langford, immediately filed a petition challenging segregation law as unconstitutional. Believing they could financially pressure the city to  reconsider Parks’s case, Nixon, King and other local leaders formed an organization called the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to support a bus boycott that could last until segregation laws were changed. 

The City of Montgomery immediately moved to limit access to alternative modes of transportation for boycott participants, making it illegal for Black cab drivers to reduce their fares. The MIA then reached out to civic leaders in surrounding states, recruiting them to help organize a massive ride-share cooperative, coordinating more than 20,000 rides per day. Tensions rose as the boycott continued, and when a local White supremacist group bombed Dr. King’s house, civic leaders from across the nation offered help.  

A group of civil rights leaders in New York sent one of the most experienced and successful nonviolent activists, Bayard Rustin, to Montgomery to mentor King in nonviolent strategy. When a grand jury called for the arrest of 115 boycott leaders, Rustin counseled them to dress in their finest clothes and present themselves peacefully at the jailhouse. They followed his advice, and the optics of the arrest garnered national interest, as well as financial support to keep the boycott going indefinitely.

As King and his network of committed leaders worked to continue the boycott, Parks, Nixon, Gray and Langford continued their work to challenge the constitutionality of segregation. When local courts blocked Parks’s case from progressing, Gray and Langford, filed a petition on behalf of five Montgomery women—including Claudette Colvin—who had been arrested for refusing to give up their seats to White passengers. This approach worked, and on December 20, 1956, the Supreme Court issued an order, commanding Montgomery to desegregate its buses.

There is much we can learn from this example. Working in silos, none of the leaders would have had the impact or reach necessary to accomplish their goal. But reaching beyond their limited circles, asking other leaders for help and expertise, this group of remarkable people achieved a tremendous victory for human rights. We can accomplish truly great things, if only we’re willing to work together. 
 
Let us equip you with effective leadership strategies from the world’s most successful leaders. You bring the team members, and we’ll create an immersive learning program, linking real-life examples with your individual workplace issues.

In this holiday season, let's journey back to 1914 for a compelling tale of leadership—not from officers in command, but from the very trenches where soldiers dared to defy convention.

In the winter of 1914, amidst the brutal backdrop of World War I, an extraordinary event unfolded along the Western Front. On Christmas Eve, soldiers from opposing trenches laid down their weapons and embraced a spontaneous truce. The No Man’s Land between them transformed into a space of shared humanity, and soldiers exchanged greetings, gifts, and even engaged in impromptu football matches.

A Journey to the Past.  By December 1914, soldiers from both the Allied forces (primarily British and French) and the Central Powers (mostly German) found themselves entrenched in brutal conditions along the Western Front. The war had begun just a few months earlier, and soldiers, initially optimistic it would be a short conflict, were confronted with the harsh realities of trench warfare: freezing temperatures, trench foot, and constant threat of enemy attacks.

By Christmas Eve, it was evident the war would not be over soon. Thousands of soldiers faced the prospect of spending the holiday separated from their families and in cold, muddy trenches. Morale—on both sides—reached a new low. As Christmas Eve settled in, however, something extraordinary began to happen. Along various points of the Western Front, soldiers on both sides began to sing Christmas carols to each other. The melodies floated through the clear night, crossing the No Man’s Land that separated opposing trenches.

The spontaneous outbreak of caroling marked the beginning of an unofficial truce. German soldiers, having been supplied with small Christmas trees from military supply chains and home care packages, decorated them with candles and placed them along the frontline. Gunshots became sporadic, until both sides ceased firing entirely, and a sense of peace enveloped the scarred battlefield.

As the night progressed, soldiers from both sides cautiously emerged from their trenches and ventured toward one another into No Man’s Land. What transpired was a remarkable exchange of greetings, gifts and stories of home. Soldiers shared food, cigarettes, and even swapped uniform buttons as tokens of camaraderie. More importantly, they promised to uphold a Christmas ceasefire.

On Christmas Day, soldiers from both sides celebrated together. They sang carols, lit candles, conducted joint religious services and even helped one another bury their fallen comrades. Then impromptu football matches sprang up in the muddy fields of No Man’s Land. Soldiers used whatever they could find as makeshift footballs, and the matches became a symbol of the temporary unity that emerged during the truce.

Lessons for Today’s Leaders. While the truce did not alter the strategic course of WWI, it left an indelible mark on the collective memory of the war. Its significance lies in the human connection it briefly fostered and the enduring reminder of what brave and unconventional leadership can accomplish—even in times of disagreement.

1. Compassion and Understanding. Soldiers on both sides of the Western front chose to see the humanity in their counterparts, rather than viewing them solely as adversaries. As leaders, we can set the stage for understanding, collaboration and lasting cooperation when we cultivate and model empathy within our teams.
2. Courage to Challenge Norms. The Christmas Truce required a collective courage to challenge the norms of war. Leadership often requires the bravery to question established practices and seek innovative solutions that align with shared values and goals.
3. Building Bridges. The truce demonstrated that common ground can be discovered, even amid profound differences. As leaders, we can actively seek commonalities to build bridges and strengthen relationships within our teams.
4. Situational Awareness. Contrary to military expectations, some officers tacitly supported the truce, recognizing the importance of maintaining morale among their troops. As leaders, we must recognize our teams need different leadership approaches at different times.
5. Maintaining Morale Through Shared Purpose. The shared celebration of Christmas provided a temporary respite from the hardships of war, highlighting the importance of maintaining morale through shared purpose. We can, as leaders, draw inspiration from this, understanding that maintaining morale through shared goals and celebrations can uplift teams during challenging times.

As we reflect on the lessons from the Christmas Truce of 1914, let’s recommit ourselves to leading with empathy, embracing the courage to challenge norms, fostering unity across differences, and nurturing morale through shared purpose.

Wishing you a holiday season filled with reflection, connection, and the spirit of transformative leadership.

TEACHING TODAY’S LEADERS:
WHY THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS STILL RESONATES
 
For more than 30 years, business and government managers have come to our leadership classes to study Lincoln as a role model for challenging times. They come to Gettysburg hoping to learn how to cope with continuous change, difficult employees, communications confusion, and dwindling commitment by staff.

​Rather than lecture to them, we provide a resource book of Lincoln’s speeches and letters and then challenge them to understand what drove him through difficult times. I should point out that most of our workshop participants are not history buffs, but they attend because this 3-day course in Gettysburg might be fun.

In small group discussion, they examine Lincoln’s words, looking for common themes as a clue to Lincoln’s values. It does not take long for them to recognize Lincoln’s profound admiration for the Founding Fathers and what they created. For instance, in this 1838 speech, a 28-year-old Lincoln addressed the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois about what the Founding Fathers meant.

​Here is a young Lincoln asking his listeners to step up to their responsibility to perpetuate that democratic creation of the Founding Fathers.
 
Our students follow Lincoln’s career through his words—from the 1854 Kansas Nebraska Act, which brought him back to politics, through the Lincoln-Douglas debates, to his election to the presidency.

Here they see clearly his vision of our nation’s place in history (what he called “the last best hope of earth” in 1862). This democracy is, he declared, and it must remain, a model for the rest of the world. It is our responsibility to maintain it.
How does Lincoln’s vision translate into action? After all, our students came to gain tools for today’s workplace. They follow Lincoln’s managerial challenges in selecting his Cabinet and building an army. They see his razor-sharp focus on the bigger issues that must be addressed. He must have people who agree with his mission to save the Union and our democracy.

​Our lesson? Help people see that the smaller issues fade in the light of a higher purpose. Give people a sense of mission, of the importance of their part in preserving something so important, and you can capture their commitment. We tie these concepts from Lincoln’s experiences to the students’ own workplace issues.
We walk the battlefield, and then come back to class to discuss how battlefield actions are also driven by one’s values and mission. It is each leader’s job to focus people and help them stay committed. Like Lincoln, these “middle managers” on the battlefield had the same task of inspiring people to step up to their roles in saving the organization.
Returning to Lincoln after our battlefield discussion, we review how Lincoln continuously articulated his mission and vision—through letters, speeches, meetings with the public, with Congress, with the military. Lincoln always reminded the listeners of the purpose of the war. Thus, when he arrived in Gettysburg in November 1863, he already had a theme, a driving purpose for his words, and he took one more opportunity to share his vision with the world. His message was not new, his words would echo the values he lived by and used to drive his administration through a terrible war.

Our classes frequently end with a reading of the Gettysburg Address. After studying Lincoln’s values, his challenges, and his determination to help others see his vision for the nation, our students find the Gettysburg Address incredibly moving. It is his vision once again, but in a concise, clear language that touches us all. The theme is not new, as students now realize. It is a passionate plea to yet another audience to take responsibility to keep our democracy safe.

​Lincoln’s words are as relevant today as they were in 1863, and they will be carried into the workplace with a new depth of understanding of the man who first uttered them.

In the fall of 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father... to heal the wounds of the nation."
 
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats are one of history’s most successful examples of using language to win public trust. In the depths of the Great Depression, FDR calmly addressed the public, which was shocked by bank failures across the country.  For his all-important first “chat,” FDR called on one of his closest advisors, Harry Hopkins, for a way to explain the crisis (and its solutions) to a desperate and terrified public.

Hopkins is best known as the designer of many New Deal programs. Under his leadership, relief programs such as the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided income, independence, and restored dignity to millions of American families suffering during the Great Depression. What is less known about Hopkins, however, is that he played a crucial role in crafting the simple language used throughout Roosevelt’s public addresses, or that he was Roosevelt’s primary collaborative partner for the pivotal Fireside Chat that helped end the 1933 Banking Crisis.

Let’s examine FDR’s first presidential Fireside Chat for leadership tools we can apply today. Our role model, Harry Hopkins, shows us how to use clarity and transparency to explain a complex and emotional subject, and the trust such an approach can garner.
 
THE CHALLENGE
The Great Depression, which began with the stock market crash of 1929, significantly weakened the American economy. As businesses failed, Americans began to fear banks would lose what little money they had left, and people rushed to withdraw their funds—which is known as a bank run. These mass withdrawals, combined with unregulated and risky actions that left banks vulnerable to financial shocks, created a cascade of failing banks, and the banking industry collapsed. In an attempt to restore stability, Roosevelt declared a nationwide “bank holiday” on March 6, 1933, temporarily closing all banks to prevent further bank runs. During the bank holiday, Roosevelt’s administration crafted the Emergency Banking Act, which provided a framework for reopening financially sound banks, and reorganizing or permanently closing those that could not be saved. The question was, would the destitute American people trust what little money they had in a banking system that had so recently failed?
 
REBUILDING TRUST: The First Fireside Chat
With healthy banks scheduled to reopen on March 13, a lot was riding on Roosevelt’s March 12 radio address. Hopkins understood that success hinged on accessibility, and he provided Roosevelt with a detailed outline, distilling complex financial information into plain and familiar language.

Working closely from Hopkins’s notes, Roosevelt demystified how banking worked.

As leaders, how do we measure the success of our work, the development of our teams, or the achievement of our goals?

While history best remembers Julius Rosenwald as co-owner and president of Sears, Roebuck and Company, he is widely recognized as a visionary leader whose commitment to social change transformed the landscape of African American education in the early 20th century. Working closely with Booker T. Washington of Tuskegee Institute, Rosenwald established more than 5,000 Rosenwald Schools across the country, offering equal education, dignity, and opportunities for Black students. Channeling what he learned while growing Sears, Roebuck and Company from a small, mail-order catalogue into a retail giant, Rosenwald led his school initiative using a three-step leadership approach we can learn much from, today.