The Civil Dozen -- Part Three

Chamberlain said: “When did you eat last?”

There was no immediate answer from the mutineers. Finally one man said: “They been tryin’ to break us by not feedin’ us. We ain’t broke yet.”

Chamberlain nodded and said: “They just told us you were coming a little while ago. I’ve told the cook to butcher a steer. Hope you like it raw. There is not much time to cook. We’ve got a ways to go today and you’ll be coming with us, so you better eat hearty.  The food has been set up for you back in the trees.”

No one moved. Not a single person moved. Chamberlain turned away. He thought: “What would he do if they would choose not to move?”

Finally, a scarred man stood and called out to Chamberlain. “Colonel, we got grievances. The men elected me to talk for ‘em.” “Right.” Chamberlain nodded. “You come on with me and talk. The rest of you fellas go eat.”

Chamberlain turned away and was pleased to hear the men were up and moving toward the food in the trees. He smiled at the spokesperson, extended a hand, and asked: “What’s your name?” The man stopped, looked at him for a long cold second. The hand seemed to come up against gravity, against his will. This was automatic courtesy and Chamberlain was relying on it. “Bucklin. Joseph Bucklin.” Chamberlain invited Bucklin to have coffee and then listened silently to the man’s story.

They were interrupted by the arrival of a courier. “Colonel Chamberlain, the Twentieth Maine is to move out and is instructed to take the first position in line.” Chamberlain instructed his aide to strike the tents and he turned to Bucklin. “We’re moving out. You better hurry up and go eat. Tell your men I’ll be over in a minute. I’ll think on what you said.”

His regiment was up and moving. Chamberlain shook his head. “God, I can’t shoot them. If I do that, I’ll never be able to go back to Maine when the war’s over.”

He walked slowly toward the prisoners thinking, at least, it’ll be a short speech. He stood in the shade, waited while they closed around him silently.

“I’ve been talking with Bucklin. He’s told me your problem.” Some of the men grumbled. “I don’t know what I can do about it. I’ll do what I can. I’ll look into it as soon as possible. But there’s nothing I can do today. We’re moving out in a few minutes and we’ll be marching all day. We may even be in a big fight before nightfall. But as soon as I can, I’ll do what I can.”

They were silent, watching him. He did not know what it was, but when he spoke most men stopped to listen.

“I’ve been ordered to take you men with me. I’ve been told that if you don’t come I can shoot you. Well, you know I won’t do that. Not Maine men. Here’s the situation. I’ve been ordered to take you along, and that’s what I’m going to do. Under guard if necessary. But you can have your rifles if you want them. The whole Reb army is up the road waiting for us and this is no time for an argument. I tell you this: we sure can use you. We’re down below half strength and we need you, no doubt of that. But whether you fight or not is up to you. Either way, you are coming along.”

Chamberlain bowed his head, not looking at eyes, and continued. “This Regiment was formed last fall, back in Maine. There were a thousand of us then. There is not three hundred of us now. Some of us volunteered to fight for the Union. Some came because we were ashamed not to. Many of us came because it was the right thing to do. All of us have seen men die. Most of us never saw a black man back home. This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you’ll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we’re different. We’re an army going out to set other men free. This is free ground. All the way from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow. No man is born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by what your father was. Here you can be something. Here’s a place to build a home.”

He had nothing else to say. No one moved. “I didn’t mean to preach. But I thought you should know who we are. Go ahead and talk for a while. If you want your rifles for this fight you’ll have them back and nothing else will be said. If you won’t join us you’ll come along under guard. When this over I’ll do what I can to see that you get fair treatment. Now we have to move out.”

Chamberlain moved to the head of the column. The troops were moving slowly, patiently, preparing themselves for a long march.

His aide came riding up with a big smile. “How many are going to join us?”

Chamberlain asked. The aide said: “Would you believe it? All but six!”

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Part Three Lessons

There is one additional lesson that we can take from the resolution to the mutiny of the old Second Maine and apply them to ourselves:

7.      Master the skill of persuasive speech.

Leadership is selling. And selling is talking. Ask yourself this: Do I have the communication skills to rise to the top? Do I have the star power to keep my company growing?  Do I have the ability to persuade others?

If today is a world of change, it is also the age of the personality cult. Hollywood knows this. The political world knows this. The corporate world is learning this! Success today is more easily determined by those who possess the ability to deliver “a gravity-defying performance of style over substance” (NY Times; February 2001; re: Tony Blair).

So how do you master the skill of persuasive speech? You study the charismatic techniques of the greatest communicators and change makers in history (e.g., “Speak Like Churchill; Stand Like Lincoln” by James C. Humes). You adopt techniques such as – a power pause, a power opener, a power quote, a power parable, a power gesture, a power question, a power word, a power closer, etc. – to supply yourself with the presence, poise, and power to persuade others.

 

 

The Civil Dozen -- Part Two (b)

He was born Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain – on September 8, 1828 – in a cottage near the family homestead in Brewer, Maine. Brewer was a farming and shipbuilding community. Chamberlain’s parents named him after the heroic Commodore James Lawrence who had immortalized the words: "Don't give up the ship!" The eldest of five children, young Lawrence was raised as a Puritan and Huguenot (French Protestant) in a household which prized good manners, cheerfulness, morality, education, and industry.

During his adolescence, scholastic studies and farm work kept the shy, serious, and dutiful youth busy. This combination of scholastic studies and farm work taught him many lessons. One of the most important was earned while plowing the rough fields. His strict and taciturn father taught him that sheer willpower followed by positive action could accomplish seemingly impossible tasks.

His father, a former lieutenant colonel in the military, wished for his son to enter the army. But his mother, a religious woman, wanted him to study for the ministry. After much consideration on the matter, Lawrence agreed to enter the ministry if he could become a missionary in a foreign land, a popular career choice of the time.

In 1848, Lawrence entered Bowdoin College at Brunswick, where he began using Joshua as his first name. During these initial years away from home, the introverted 19-year-old felt lonely and spoke little because he was embarrassed by his propensity for stammering. Joshua – remembering the lesson from his father about sheer willpower followed by positive action overcoming seemingly impossible tasks – learned to overcome his stammering by "singing out" phrases on a "wave of breath." By his third year at Bowdoin, he had won awards in both composition and oratory.

As a student, Joshua earned a reputation for standing behind his principles. He refused to cut corners. He refused to cheat. He refused to even marry the girl he loved until he had a means for providing for her. This sense of honor never deserted him, even when under fire. When not pursuing his studies, Joshua enjoyed singing and playing musical instruments. Without any training, he learned to play both the bass viol and the organ by himself. In fact, he played the organ so well, he became the college chapel organist. 

In 1852, after he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin, he completed a three-year master’s degree at Bangor Theological Seminary. Finally, in 1855, he married Francis (Fanny) Caroline Adams – the girl he had loved for over six years.
Joshua was elected professor of rhetoric and oratory at Bowdoin in the Spring of 1856. By 1861, he was elected to the chair of modern languages. Joshua was well-qualified for this position, having mastered nine languages – Greek, Latin, French, German, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Syriac – in preparation for a career in overseas ministry.

All of that changed with the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Joshua felt a strong desire to serve his country. Despite the displeasure of the Bowdoin staff – Joshua’s strong sense of honor resulted in him becoming  a Lieutenant Colonel of the 20th Regiment of Maine Volunteers in August, 1862.

The scholar-turned-soldier knew that there was much to learn. Joshua immediately took advantage of his position as second-in-command and studied every military work he could place his hands on. He stayed up late at night studying and memorizing these works. Joshua pressed his commander, West Point graduate Colonel Adelbert Ames, to teach him everything Ames knew about military strategy.  In a matter of months, the scholar-turned-soldier was as capable as all but the best of the military officers in the Union army.

 

Part Two Lessons

There are several leadership lessons that we can take from the early story of Joshua Chamberlain. These soft skills are both needed and relevant in the 21^st century.

 

4.    Being a self-starter is a core leadership trait.

A self-starter is a person who is sufficiently motivated or ambitious to start a new career or business or to pursue education and skill acquisition without the help of others.

Chamberlain was a prototypical self-starter. For example, Chamberlain learned to play both the bass viol and organ. He did this by himself and with no formal instruction or training.

5.     Mastering multiple skills – in preparation for the future – is what often distinguishes oneself from the crowd.

To effectively influence people, you have to stand for something. You have to be something. You want to be the brown egg in a carton of white eggs! Gone are the days of being content to simply be a box of Cheerios on the cereal aisle and expect a sizeable number of people to randomly pick us out of a crowd. [Sinclair, Branded: Sharing Jesus with a Consumer Culture, p. 64] Gone are the days where your value as an employee was linked to your loyalty and seniority. Companies use branding to develop strong, enduring relationship with customers. Likewise, you must do the same as you prepare for the future.

 

If you don’t build a differentiated reputation, if you don’t master multiple skills, you risk being commoditized. You become just one of many un-differentiated accountants, HR managers, programmers, salespersons, technical leads, or account managers. Consider what we think about something being a commodity. If something is a commodity, we are willing to buy it from the lowest cost provider. Commodities are neither valued nor treasured. Commodities are viewed as both expendable and replaceable. Don’t be a commodity. Choose to stand out from the crowd.

 

Chamberlain – throughout his life – acquired new skills. He obtained two different degrees, learned how to excel at playing musical instruments, and mastered nine languages. He taught. He became a soldier. He became a leader of men. He distinguished himself from the crowd.

 

6.    Being a perpetual, humble student is the mark of a great leader.

 

Humility is not taught in management courses or in many leadership courses, for that matter. Organizations want their leaders to be visionary, authoritative, confident, capable, and motivational.  Yet, humility is the primary requirement for leadership. Or stated in a different manner, humility is the foundation of leadership. Why is humility essential to leadership, it is because humility:

 

o   Acknowledges our sinfulness

The Psalmist writes: “Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.” (Psalm 19:12-13). This acknowledgement of man’s sinfulness has been a foundational principle of all successful governments. For example, this acknowledgement led our founding fathers to build into the very fabric of our governmental structure, a separation of powers. Each branch of government – executive, legislative, and judicial – is bridled by a series of checks and balances.

Why? As Lord Achton stated in 1887: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

 

o   Comprehends our creatureliness.

The second reason that we need humility in leadership is because it comprehends our creatureliness. The word “humility” itself comes from the Latin word humus, which means "dirt" or "earth." True humility should never let us lose sight of our human mortality with all of its limitations (Armour, 2007).

 

o   Authenticates our humanness.

The third reason that we need humility in leadership is because it authenticates our humanness. Or as John Baldoni states in his article entitled “Humility”: “Humility is a strand between leader and follower that underscores one common element – our humanity.”

Chamberlain was a perpetual, humble student. He quickly and willingly submitted himself to others. This submission allowed him to grow intellectually and spiritually. His trait of humility paved the way for leadership greatness later.