The Power to Uphold Justice: Learning Implementation Skills from Lincoln

Hello.
I am Shinpei Adachi, CEO of Springboard Inc.

The other day, I watched Steven Spielberg's film, 'Lincoln'.

To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive before watching it.

'Lincoln'
'Abolition of slavery'
'Civil War'
'13th Amendment to the Constitution'

It felt a bit too heavy.
It seemed like a bit too much to take in on a Sunday night.

It felt like walking into a restaurant expecting curry udon, only to be served a full-course meal.

However, the impression I was left with after watching it was a little different.

This is not a biography of a great man.
It is a film about the practical work of a leader.

To put it another way, it was a film that depicted
how to make what is right a reality.

🎬 Justice cannot be achieved just by talking about it

The film 'Lincoln' does not depict the entirety of Lincoln's life.

At its center is the end of the Civil War.
It is a political drama about passing the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in the House of Representatives to permanently abolish slavery.

Lincoln's goal is clear.

End slavery.

Hearing just this, we tend to think:

'Since it is the right thing to do, shouldn't it pass naturally?'

But reality is not that simple.

There are people who oppose it.
There are cautious people.
There are people who share the same ideals but have different ways of fighting.
There are people who want to end the war quickly.
There are lawmakers who worry about the reaction of their own constituencies.

In other words, before justice, there is reality.

And what is amazing about this film is that it does not portray Lincoln as merely a clean and innocent hero.

He speaks of ideals.
But at the same time, he also does the groundwork.
He persuades.
He counts the votes.
He reads the interests of others.
He times things perfectly.

History is not moved by beautiful words alone.

In this, I felt the true reality of work.

🧑‍💼 Why is it that the most correct proposals are the ones that don't get approved?

When working, you encounter similar situations.

From my side, I have made a proposal that I have thought through quite carefully.

📊 I have the data.
🧩 I have the logic.
📝 The materials are prepared.
🎯 The objective is not wrong.
💬 I have explained it reasonably well.

And yet, for some reason, it doesn't pass.

"That sounds good. We'll consider it."

They say that, and then it quietly disappears.

That"We'll consider it" is a small black hole in the business world.Various proposals get sucked into it.

I, too, was once entrusted with my first presentation for a local government.

I put my heart into creating the materials.
I thought I had prepared quite well.

However, about five minutes into the presentation, half of the people listening had fallen asleep.

I can't easily forget that.

I was desperate.
But they were in dreamland.

Now, I understand a little better.

I was trying to provide a "correct explanation."
But,I hadn't created a reason for the other party to want to take action.

When watching the Lincoln movie, you are confronted with that.

People are not moved just by saying the right thing.
It is the leader's job to set the conditions under which people can take action.

🏛 The Person Who Turns Ideals into "Systems"

What is amazing about Lincoln is that he did not let the abolition of slavery end as a "sentiment" or a "temporary policy."

Constitutional AmendmentHe turned it into that form.

This is very important.

People's feelings change.
Public opinion also wavers.
Administrations change.
The atmosphere also changes.

That is precisely whywhat is truly important must be incorporated into a mechanism.

It is the same in a company.

“Let's value taking on challenges.”

I think there are many companies that say that.

But if the evaluation of those who fail goes down, no one will take on challenges.

“Let's nurture young talent.”

Even if they say that, if managers who spend time on development are not evaluated for it, development will be put on the back burner.

“Let's increase psychological safety.”

Even if they say that, if someone who speaks their true feelings in a meeting is blamed later, no one will speak their true feelings.

Ideals are important.
But,ideals alone are weak.

Ideals,

🏢 Incorporate into evaluation systems
📅 Incorporate into meeting procedures
🧑‍🏫 Incorporate into development mechanisms
💰 Incorporate into budget allocation
📝 Incorporate into decision-making criteria

Only by doing this much will reality finally begin to change.

Lincoln engraved the ideal of freedom into the system of the Constitution.

If we translate this to a modern leader, it means
incorporating important values into the mechanisms of the workplace
.

⚖️ Between Righteousness and the Gritty Reality

What is impressive when watching the movie is that Lincoln is very human.

He is not someone who only talks about lofty ideals.
At the same time, he is not someone who just goes with the flow of reality.

Holding onto ideals while walking through the mud of reality.

I think this is the difficulty of being a leader.

Front-line leaders and managers are placed in this position every day.

🕊 I want to value my subordinates
📈 But I also have to produce results

🤝 I want to value the team's sense of consensus
⏳ But I cannot afford to delay decision-making

🌱 I want to entrust things to young staff
🔥 But I am the one who bears the responsibility when things fail

If it were just ideals, you could speak beautifully.
If it were just reality, you could just compromise.

What is difficult is to move reality without abandoning your ideals.

Lincoln was exactly in that space.

🎨 Picasso also gave form to his anger

This is a bit of a tangent, but Lincoln's figure reminded me of Picasso's "Guernica."

"Guernica" is a work painted in the wake of the bombing during the Spanish Civil War.

Anger at war.
Sadness.
Fear.
Screams.

Picasso turned these into a painting.

It is not merely an expression of anger.
They turned it into a device of memorythat would remain for posterity.

Lincoln is similar.

Anger toward slavery.
A sense of discomfort with a system that tramples on human dignity.
He did not let that end as mere anger.

He turned it into law.
He turned it into a system.
He gave it a form that would remain in history.

I feel there is a commonality here between leaders and artists.

A leader is alsosomeone who gives form to the invisible.

"What does our team value?"
"What is the purpose of this work?"
"What should we protect right now?"

They take those invisible things, put them into words, turn them into systems, and transform them into actions.

When that is achieved, the team begins to change little by little.

⚾ The power of "meaning-making" seen in Manager Kuriyama

Looking at recent sports, the 2023 WBC Japan national team can also be viewed as a Lincoln-esque story.

Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish, Munetaka Murakami, Roki Sasaki.

If the goal is just to gather talented players, the manager's job is only half done.

What is truly difficult isbinding those players into a single story.

"Why do we fight as this team?"
"For what purpose do I fulfill my role?"
"Beyond individual achievements, what will we leave behind?"

I feel that Manager Hideki Kuriyama was a leader who was exceptionally skilled at thatmeaning-making.

Lincoln was the same.

Lawmakers, cabinet members, radicals, and moderates—not everyone held the same views.

However, he drew each of them into a grand story called
"an America without slavery."

A leader might not be someone who gives orders, but someone who edits meaning.

🧭 Translating this to a frontline leader

So, what can we do in our own work?

We rarely have to make major decisions like a president.

However, in our daily workplace, there are small Lincoln-esque moments.

🗣 Your proposal is correct, but the other party won't take action
🧱 Things aren't moving forward due to departmental silos
😟 Subordinates can't speak their true feelings, making problems invisible
📋 Rules exist, but the purpose behind them has been lost
🔥 There is something you want to change, but you don't know who to involve

In such cases, I don't think you need to jump straight into major reforms.

To start, simply beginning with the following questions is enough.

🎯 What is the non-negotiable goal?

This is something you must never lose sight of.
Is it sales, customer value, the growth of your subordinates, or trust?
If this is vague, you will be swayed by the means.

👂 What is the other person afraid of?

The person opposing you isn't necessarily a villain.
They might be afraid of failure.
They might be worried about their performance review.
They might have had a bad experience in the past.

🧩 How can we create the conditions for action?

Is there a lack of information?
Is approval from a superior needed?
Is a small success story needed?
Is a partner to work with needed?

🏛 How can we embed this into the system?

Don't let it end with a single rallying cry.
Make it a meeting format.
Include it in evaluation criteria.
Make it a checklist.
Include it in questions for development interviews.

When you think about it this way, leadership becomes a bit more realistic.

It doesn't require charisma.
It doesn't require grand speeches either.

What is needed is to
create a path for the right thing to prevail
.

☕ Logic alone lacks warmth

I often think about this while doing my training work.

If all you need to do is convey what is right, distributing documents is enough.
You could just have them watch a video.
You could just have them read a book.

However, that alone rarely changes people.

For people to change, you need not just sound logic, but warmth.

“Maybe this applies to me.”
“Maybe I’ll try doing this a little tomorrow.”
“If this person has failed too, maybe I’ll be okay.”

You need moments where people can think like that.

Lincoln didn’t just brandish sound logic either.

He looked at the other party’s circumstances.
He looked at their emotions.
He looked at their fears.
And upon that, he upheld his ideals.

This is what is amazing.

An idealist and a realist.
A poet and a politician.
A man of conviction and a man of planning.

I believe it was because he possessed both that he changed history.

🌱 Conclusion

We tend to want to say “the right thing.”

That is not a bad thing.
In fact, having a sense of righteousness is important.

But what is truly tested in the field is what comes after that.

Is that righteousness in a form that allows the other person to act?
Is that ideal in a form that remains within the system?
Has the path for that proposal to be accepted been designed?

That is what Lincoln teaches us.

Do not just be a person who says the right thing,
but become a person who creates the conditions for the right thing to be realized.

This is not just a story about presidents.

In meetings.
In interviews.
In sales.
In training.
At home.

In our daily lives, there are also small “moments to uphold justice.”

In your workplace, what kind of things that are right but haven't been implemented yet exist right now?

If you'd like, please share in the comments.
It might provide a hint for others struggling with the same issues.

📎 This article is also recommended.

For change, it is also important not to try to move everyone all at once. Reading this alongside Lincoln's story might help sharpen your understanding of how to get others on board.

👉 The world changes with 'just 17%.' A magic number every lonely leader should know.

📕 This is my book. I have compiled the mindset and actions needed to achieve results in the field for those in their first year of leadership.

🎓 I also have business skill courses available on Udemy.