Abraham Lincoln Listening Essay

2149 Words5 Pages

When an individual hears the name Abraham Lincoln, one might think of many descriptive adjectives that can be associated with the former president: honest, tall, compassionate, a leader, and many more. However, how many associate impeccable listener with Lincoln? There is a possibility that some might, but there is an even greater possibility that many individuals did not know he possessed this characteristic. Although many struggle with true listening, it is apparent that Lincoln excelled in listening to others, but most importantly, he knew how to listen inward – to himself. In this paper, I will discuss the various listening elements found in the movie Lincoln. First, I will discuss how Lincoln used a listening first mentality to end …show more content…

Burley-Allen (1995) said, “true listening promotes cooperation; it assumes the other person has worth, dignity, and something to offer” (p. 12). While listening to people of color, he immediately knew that they had dignity, and they certainly had something to offer society. He also knew this while listening and reflecting on his own thoughts. One could argue that Lincoln also utilized the going somewhere cycle. As stated by Burley-Allen (1995), “this examination [cycle] lets us get in touch with and hear exactly what is going on inside us that is causing us conflict and stress” (p. 85). There are four parts: situation, thought process, behavior, and feelings. (Burley-Allen, 1995). For Lincoln, the situation was abolishing slavery. Lincoln’s thought process was if he could abolish slavery, then he would be recognizing the dignity and self-evident truth that all men were created equal. As for Lincoln’s behaviors, he had to fight a mental and physical battle to convince others to agree with his belief. Lincoln, unquestionably, had numerous feelings during the waiting process: calm, irate, confidence, and relieved. Although he experienced a wide ray of emotions, Lincoln always knew what the end goal was, and he knew that he had to make it happen no matter what. In the end, Lincoln was successful at passing the thirteenth

Open Document