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Private Notes
Meet your instructor: Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and bestselling author Doris Kearns Goodwin. She talks about why she’s excited to teach this class, how she came to love history, and her path to becoming a presidential historian.
Looking at the early lives of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and LBJ, Doris discusses whether leaders are born or made and why great leaders have ambition for something bigger than themselves.
Doris delves into the character traits that make up emotional intelligence, including humility, empathy, and resilience. She also shares Lincoln’s secret trick for dealing with anger and frustration.
Doris discusses the building blocks for leading a team well, including honest communication, sharing credit, building trust, allowing for failure, and paying attention to the needs of individual team members.
Don’t shy away from putting rivals on your team, advises Doris. She explains how to complement your weaknesses with strengths from team members, allow for differences of opinion, and create a culture of respect and honesty.
Using examples from the lives of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and LBJ, Doris illustrates why recharging is essential for leadership, especially for solving complex problems and making high-stakes decisions with a clear mind.
Doris shares how some of the greatest presidents have made consequential decisions and how we can use their approach in our own lives. She also talks about how to heal divisions and build consensus.
Doris discusses the role she believes leaders should take in a crisis and how they should console their constituencies, sharing a case study on Teddy Roosevelt’s management of the 1902 Coal Crisis.
Doris talks about how leaders must tailor the way they communicate to the most popular mediums of the time. She also discusses how she believes presidents and citizens should interact with the press.
Doris shares the journey of her late husband, presidential speechwriter and adviser Richard Goodwin, who devoted his life to civil service. She also shares Richard’s draft of LBJ’s most famous speech on civil rights.
Doris explains her approach to studying and writing about history, including how she collaborated with Steven Spielberg on the film Lincoln.
Doris examines what made George Washington, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King Jr. such effective leaders.
Emphasizing the impact of great leadership on the United States, Doris encourages us all to be active and engaged citizens. She also describes which qualities matter and which don’t when it comes to voting for candidates.
Doris reinforces the importance of sharing stories as a way to seek connection and build legacies, and she offers a parting message of inspiration and hope.
For anyone who dreams of running for president someday, Doris provides words of wisdom and encouragement.
