ICMA’s Gettysburg Leadership Institute was one of the best training experiences I have ever been involved in. The Institute brought together several aspects of leadership pertinent to our everyday involvement in local government. Throughout the week, we saw examples of how micromanagement and poorly-communicated directions led to one failure after another. We also saw examples of creativity and personal integrity that led to small victories throughout the course of the battle. Luckily, in local government the outcomes aren’t typically as grave as they are on the battlefield, but the lessons can be easily translated into our own personal leadership development. Through understanding the big picture of a battle and extrapolating small lessons from the facilitators at the institute, any mid-senior level manager will take something away from this experience.

Going into this experience I related Gettysburg in my mind to images of Abraham Lincoln, the abolishment of slavery, and a triumphant Union Army moving on to victory in the Civil War. Needless to say my education on the nuances of the battle had been limited up until this point. I didn't have a clear understanding of just how low the morale of the Union Army was leading up to this battle, or how the Confederate Army had gone undefeated prior to Gettysburg. I also learned how small, almost ambiguous, actions prior to and during the battle led to the greatest shift in momentum during a war in our nation’s history.

What transpired in this small Pennsylvania town over three days in July of 1863 will be forever in the annals of history. What is often missing from history, or at least lost on its audience, is the depth of the personal struggle that took place for many at Gettysburg. Here were many men fighting against each other that, only months earlier, were colleagues. Several commanders at the top had all graduated from West Point, and even some from the same class. These men were friends, they were pupils, and all were Americans. Even in the extended circumstances burdening these soldiers, they showed up and did their jobs to the best of their ability.  As managers and leaders, we can learn valuable lessons through hearing the stories about these soldiers and about the environment each Army fostered among its men.

During our experience at the Institute we discussed the indivduals who participated in the battle, and walked the fields where their stories took place. We learned about the vision of General John Buford on the first day of

Licensed Battlefield Guide Sue Boardman lines particpants up in battle formation.

the battle and how he, with an outnumbered force, was able to secure the best ground for the approaching Union Army. How General Robert E. Lee sent contradicting commands to the front on the first day - commands the late General “Stonewall” Jackson would have been able to execute, but that his replacements struggled to decipher, and ultimately failed to carry out. How General Lee's top-down approach put his top commander, General James “Pete” Longstreet, in such a difficult position that Longstreet ultimately witnessed the decimation of his divisions after several unsuccessful attempts to take Big Round Top.  This is only a handful of the topics covered throughout the Institute, but each illustrates the importance of creativity, solid communication, and consensus-building, both on the battlefield and in our own experiences in local government.

Outside of the battle itself, there is also an amazing story surrounding the Town of Gettysburg. With a poulation of two thousand, the town turned into a field hospital for several months, treating the thousands of wounded left behind after the battle. This caused many in the community to be faced with several issues we deal with in our roles in local government.  The town's economy was devastated, there was not enough infrastructure to support the amount of people suddenly living in the town, and they had to work to fix a contaminated water system (Gettysburg had a piped municipal water in 1863!).

The community members banded together, in the months following the battle, and all helped clean up the town. We learned how in the aftermath of the battle, the local leaders went out in the field to bury the dead and persuaded the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, to commensurate the cemetery they established for the Union troops. The Gettysburg Address encompassed everything the local leaders and those still waging the war felt at the time. The speech reminded everyone that this battle was about the pending future of a free nation, where democracy reigned supreme. Perhaps it is in Lincoln’s words we can all learn how difficult a struggle the Civil War had become and how important the battle at Gettysburg was, not only for those in the battle but those in the community and truly every American:  

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these died shall not have died in vain-- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

It is within this address that the spirit of the Gettysburg Institute is captured. The discussions were both big and small and the lessons learned were many. From the generals on the field, to the community leaders, to finally reciting the words of Abraham Lincoln, there were so many examples of leadership to learn from. This experience is something I will take with me throughout my career and I would recommend it to anyone interested in developing their capacity to lead in local government.