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Ideas and Inspiration Through History
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Historical Case Studies
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US Air Flight 1549:
Crisis, Pressure, and Leadership
 Chesley Sullenberger gained world-wide fame in early 2009 with the masterful emergency landing of his passenger aircraft on the Hudson River in downtown New York City. The experience of Sullenberger, however, runs amazingly deep in this dramatic 8-minute event. Learn how a leader gains personal control in a crisis, organizes thought and action in a few minutes’ time, and deals with separate groups of followers in a pressure situation. |
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A Day Full of Meetings:
Personal Purpose, Leadership, and
the Last Day of Martin Luther King, Jr’s Life
 Martin Luther King Jr. went about his day on April 3, 1968.
He didn’t know it was the last full day of his life. He did what many of us
do—he spent the day in meetings. For him, there were four meetings during his
last full day on earth. Dr. King’s experience will show you how to find the
purpose, vision, and vitality of leadership in the midst of personal struggles
and on the cusp of a life-ending event. We never know when death will visit us. |
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Ronald Reagan and the Challenger Speech of 1986:
Tragedy,
Leadership and You
 One of the most powerful moments in any leader’s life is
when he or she is called upon to help followers deal with tragedy. Ronald
Reagan confronted exactly this moment when the space shuttle Challenger
exploded in late January of 1986. By exploring Reagan’s experience in depth, you
will gain a better understanding of your role as a leader in tragedy,
especially in framing the meaning and moment for your followers. |
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First Time Leader:
Benjamin Harrison in the Civil War
 Before he was the 23rd president of the United
States, Benjamin Harrison was a twenty-something young man on the move. He had
really never been a leader up to this point in his life and yet the eruption of
the Civil War changed all of that. Harrison’s experience as the commanding
officer of the 70th Indiana regiment is a powerful foundation for
learning what to do and what not to do, what to expect and what not to expect,
as a first time leader. |
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The Next Stage of Life:
Benjamin Harrison, Community
Leadership, and the Latter Stages of Life
 After he was 23rd president of the United
States, Benjamin Harrison returned to his adopted hometown, Indianapolis,
Indiana. There he began a separate stage of his leadership experience, one that
was remarkable for all that he accomplished in what would in hindsight be the
final stages of life. His post-presidency leadership was a stirring story that
showed how a leader grows, evolves, and changes regardless of age and position. |
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Teams and Projects:
The Lewis and Clark Expedition of
1803-1806
 William Clark and Meriweather Lewis received the assignment
of taking a group of people west from Missouri, exploring as far toward the
“great ocean” as they could navigate. It was a team on a project. The
experience of this breathtaking event will illustrate the realities of team
leadership and project management, but in a totally new and surprising way.
You’ll learn about vision, problem solving, unity, decision-making, risk, and
bouncing back from failure and defeats. |
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John Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962:
On the
Knife Edge of Crisis, the Known, and the Unknown
 President Kennedy was compelled to respond to a global
emergency—the threat of the Soviet Union’s missiles in Cuba and the immediate
prospect of nuclear war. Kennedy as the leader had to deal with this issue in
the midst of a shifting world order, a rapidly evolving field of national and
international security, and internal dissension, conflict, and tension. He had
to work with different sets of teams at different yet simultaneous points of
crisis. |
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The Folding Metal Chair:
Eleanor Roosevelt and the
Challenge of Making Decisions
 First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was a leader in her own right
but with practically no formal training or preparation for the role. Despite
these barriers, she confronted a situation where she had to make a difficult
decision in the open public. The decision involved race, bigotry, politics, and
social customs, an explosive mix in the late 1930s. In the blink of an eye,
Eleanor Roosevelt used a folding metal chair to make a powerful statement. |
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Abraham Lincoln, Rounding, and the Movement of
Communication in Leadership
 Two dramatic occasions illustrate Abraham Lincoln’s use of
rounding, the term used for leadership and management by walking around. This
pair of experiences show rounding in two starkly different situations, each
equally vital, each equally beneficial. In the late summer of 1862 Lincoln
visited the headquarters and camp of the Army of the Potomac after hearing
rumors of the army’s hostility toward him. In the late winter of 1865 Lincoln
visited Petersburg, Virginia, just hours after Confederate forces had evacuated
the city and Union forces had reclaimed it for the United States. These are
rich, compelling, and unforgettable explorations of rounding in leadership. |
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The Presentation You Have To Get Right:
George Washington
and Communicating to a Hostile Group
 In March 1783 Washington faced the challenge of speaking
directly to a group of fifty American military officers. They were outraged at
how political leaders had treated them. They were ready to march on Congress
and essentially launch a military coup of the new American government.
Washington had to overcome his discomfort with public communication and make
the most important speech of his life. See what he did, and learn what his
actions can do for you today. |
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Never Too Old To Change:
George Washington and the
Nightmare That Changed His Life and His Death
 We often hear about the difficulty of change. Many times,
that difficulty centers on people who think they are too experienced, too
seasoned, and frankly have been around just too long to bother with the need
and idea of change. The events of a late August night during 1799 in the home
of George Washington will point to a new way for you to lead change on both
personal and organizational levels. |
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Generational Differences:
Getting Better Results With The
Power Of History
 All the time we hear about the importance of understanding
generational differences in the workplace. You ignore them at your peril.
That’s true. However, there is an additional way to learn how to identify and
actually gain from generational differences. History, creatively approached and
creatively explored, will offer you fresh insights and actions into the
workings of generations in your organization. You can learn about four ways
that generations affect your workplace and four techniques for harnessing
generations for greater effectiveness. |
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Making Sense, Making Plans, and Making Decisions:
The
Historical Revolution Model and Major Change in Your Organization, Industry,
and Life
 Some of history’s most fascinating stories and periods
pertain to revolution. Our own nation, the United States, is itself the product
of revolution. A revolution has a particular nature to it, and as such, can be
studied, analyzed, and recaptured for the purpose of improving leaders and
leadership in the midst of major change. The people and events of the American
Revolution are a gold mine of leadership insights and strategies for you to
adapt to your environment of revolutionary change. |
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Two Crises, Two Leaders, One Place:
Robert Kennedy and Benjamin
Harrison in a City of Danger
 Both Kennedy and Harrison confronted the problem of what to
do when public violence threatens. Standing in different centuries, Kennedy
(1968) and Harrison (1877) share a unique success—helping to calm a crowd that
could at any moment erupt into chaos and violence. These two leaders
demonstrate timeless characteristics and techniques for communicating in the
face of crisis, danger, and emergency. |
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Abraham Lincoln and the One-Armed Man:
Leadership and
Bonded Communication
 The Gettysburg Address is one of the most famous speeches
in American history. But unknown to almost everyone is the connection between
two people on that important day. Abraham Lincoln and a one-armed man share a
bond, the bond of special communication in leadership. Learn how a leader can
use specific techniques for developing, sharing, and strengthening the bond he
or she has with their followers. |
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