Over this holiday weekend, I got to see the movie about Abraham Lincoln. You can check out the trailer above. At the end of the movie, I learned that much of this movie came from the book "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln." I'll have to take a read of that book again.
Something that I really enjoyed about the movie was the careful political balance Lincoln had to do not only to keep the votes of his supporters for the Thirteenth Amendment, but also to gain the votes of those who were against him. Of course, people will point out the buying of votes. But, what I think made Lincoln great was his power of articulation and precise communication of his point of view.
A lot of people drew analogies between this movie and the recent/current Fiscal Cliff crisis. I admit that I'm a little bit of a political junkie, but lessons from this movie go beyond politics. I learned that I need to be more clear in my communication with peers and with patients. And, the art of storytelling, which the Lincoln character did so well in this move, has been lost in America today. It's a skill that I need to learn. I guess that is what this blog is for - to try to perfect that important skill...