{"id":79399,"date":"2022-09-20T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T21:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=79399"},"modified":"2022-10-03T13:36:35","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T17:36:35","slug":"abraham-lincoln-honesty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/","title":{"rendered":"A Look at Abraham Lincoln’s Honesty Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why was Abraham Lincoln dabbed as “Honest Abe”? Why is honesty important in leadership?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A major part of Lincoln’s legacy was his moral code, especially when it comes to telling the truth. Lincoln didn’t just hold himself to a high honesty standard but encouraged everyone around him to do the same, which earned him the nickname “Honest Abe.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how Abraham Lincoln’s honesty policy benefited him in his life and career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Honest Abe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Phillips argues that standing by your moral values is necessary for being a leader<\/a><\/strong>. Your values will come to define the values of your organization as a whole, claims Phillips\u2014if you lie and cheat, then your employees will feel comfortable doing the same. If you\u2019re honest and fair, your employees will want to follow your example. An honest and ethical organization is a better organization, says Phillips\u2014it improves morale, makes your employees want to work harder, and helps them communicate openly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: To recognize the current values of your company, John C. Maxwell (21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership<\/em><\/a>) explains that you should pay attention to the information that people share with you.<\/a> If people feel comfortable sharing bad news or criticism with you, that means you\u2019re cultivating personal and company values that support trust, honesty, and openness. However, if you rarely or never hear critiques and bad news, then chances are your employees aren\u2019t comfortable being truthful\u2014Maxwell suggests that this often means they see you<\/em> as untrustworthy. If you recognize that your company values dishonesty, then you should first examine your own conduct and see how you can act more honestly.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both his personal and professional lives, \u201cHonest Abe\u201d (as he was known) didn\u2019t make exceptions to what he thought was right. He also tried to encourage similarly honest values among his employees. Sometimes this meant gentle guidance or persuasion, and sometimes it meant demoting or firing people who didn\u2019t share his values. Because of this, Lincoln didn\u2019t just passively preach his values\u2014he actively fought for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Some historians argue that \u201cHonest Abe\u2019s\u201d moral conduct was more of a myth than a historical reality.<\/a> They suggest that Abraham Lincoln’s honesty reputation was in part created by the people around him (especially after his death). These historians explain that while Lincoln was in many cases an ethical man and politician, people shouldn\u2019t take that to mean he never lied or never went against his moral beliefs. These things did happen\u2014for instance, early in his political career, Lincoln once wrote anonymous letters making vicious personal attacks against a political rival.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why was Abraham Lincoln dabbed as “Honest Abe”? Why is honesty important in leadership? A major part of Lincoln’s legacy was his moral code, especially when it comes to telling the truth. Lincoln didn’t just hold himself to a high honesty standard but encouraged everyone around him to do the same, which earned him the nickname “Honest Abe.” Here’s how Abraham Lincoln’s honesty policy benefited him in his life and career. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":79424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,33,275],"tags":[749],"class_list":["post-79399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-people","category-politics","tag-lincoln-on-leadership","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nA Look at Abraham Lincoln's Honesty Policy - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lincoln is known for his commitment to telling the truth. Here's how Abraham Lincoln's honesty policy benefited him in his life and career.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Look at Abraham Lincoln's Honesty Policy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lincoln is known for his commitment to telling the truth. Here's how Abraham Lincoln's honesty policy benefited him in his life and career.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-20T21:05:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-03T17:36:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/abraham-lincoln-president.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"A Look at Abraham Lincoln’s Honesty Policy\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-20T21:05:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-03T17:36:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/\"},\"wordCount\":451,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/abraham-lincoln-president.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lincoln on Leadership\"],\"articleSection\":[\"History\",\"People\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/\",\"name\":\"A Look at Abraham Lincoln's Honesty Policy - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/abraham-lincoln-president.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-20T21:05:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-03T17:36:35+00:00\",\"description\":\"Lincoln is known for his commitment to telling the truth. Here's how Abraham Lincoln's honesty policy benefited him in his life and career.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/abraham-lincoln-president.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/abraham-lincoln-president.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Look at Abraham Lincoln’s Honesty Policy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\",\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"caption\":\"Darya Sinusoid\"},\"description\":\"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Look at Abraham Lincoln's Honesty Policy - Shortform Books","description":"Lincoln is known for his commitment to telling the truth. Here's how Abraham Lincoln's honesty policy benefited him in his life and career.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Look at Abraham Lincoln's Honesty Policy","og_description":"Lincoln is known for his commitment to telling the truth. Here's how Abraham Lincoln's honesty policy benefited him in his life and career.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2022-09-20T21:05:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-10-03T17:36:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/abraham-lincoln-president.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darya Sinusoid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darya Sinusoid","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/"},"author":{"name":"Darya Sinusoid","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46"},"headline":"A Look at Abraham Lincoln’s Honesty Policy","datePublished":"2022-09-20T21:05:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-03T17:36:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/"},"wordCount":451,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/abraham-lincoln-president.jpg","keywords":["Lincoln on Leadership"],"articleSection":["History","People","Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/","name":"A Look at Abraham Lincoln's Honesty Policy - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/abraham-lincoln-president.jpg","datePublished":"2022-09-20T21:05:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-03T17:36:35+00:00","description":"Lincoln is known for his commitment to telling the truth. Here's how Abraham Lincoln's honesty policy benefited him in his life and career.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/abraham-lincoln-president.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/abraham-lincoln-president.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/abraham-lincoln-honesty\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Look at Abraham Lincoln’s Honesty Policy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46","name":"Darya Sinusoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","caption":"Darya Sinusoid"},"description":"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/abraham-lincoln-president.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79399"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80126,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79399\/revisions\/80126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}