Harry Truman once said, “A leader has two important characteristics. First, he is going somewhere. Second, he is able to persuade other people to go with him.” Research indicates that there are only nine principal techniques of persuasion. They each have their plus and minus points. Each technique may be used in conjunction with some other technique but may not be used with others. Yet, they all have their uses. However, most individuals habitually use only a limited range of persuasion techniques. 

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, often ranked as the greatest American president and also regarded as one of the greatest statesmen the world has ever seen, is a rare leader who used all the nine influence techniques. His fame largely rests on the fact that he removed the stain of slavery from the American history via the passage of the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

The sequence of events leading up to the passage of the 13th amendment, have been dramatized in Steven Spielberg’s 2012 movie – Lincoln. It is one of the finest movies ever made on leadership, decision-making and strategy. An Oscar-winning title performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, an all-star cast, a great director, excellent cinematography, and a stellar script bring to life the gut-wrenching choices that different people had to make. The film was based on the book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The book had a transformative impact on President Barack Obama, who went so far as to say that this was one book that he could not live without, and who emulated Lincoln’s choices in forming his own cabinet. 

This unique program will use the Lincoln movie as a case study for leadership and influence techniques. Comprising fifty separate scenes - each employing one or more of the nine techniques of influence, the movie provides a backdrop with which to analyze the effectiveness of each of these techniques.