Here’s this week’s 200 word idea from Give and Take by Adam Grant..
Sampson’s inability to say no. After Sampson failed in his first senate election, he competed in his second with a rival from his party who was doing equally well. So, Sampson gave up his seat and asked all his followers to vote for his rival as they had similar goals. His fellow member won – Sampson cared much more about the people than his own victory.
Sampson won many friends with his focus on giving and finally won the senate seat on his third attempt. When Sampson took office, he went against tradition to hire rivals who were all either much smarter or much better known than him. He believed he owed it to the people to have the best to govern them. One of his rivals, who had previously called him an ape, ended up describing Samson as the greatest ruler of men.
Sampson showed that it is possible to succeed as a “giver” in politics. His task was made more challenging when we take into consideration that reputation and relationships were much harder to build in the 1800s when social media didn’t exist.
And if you’ve never heard of Sampson, not to worry. Sampson was the pen name of Abraham Lincoln.
Source and thanks to: www.EBSketchin.com
‘Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.’ | Abraham Lincoln
A Learning a Day 