Abraham Lincoln the ULTIMATE networked Leader?

I have been developing with Carol Blanchar a curriculum for the "Networked Leader" and as we thought about how to convey the qualities and skills for networked leaders, we realized that Abraham Lincoln offers the clearest and most compelling example of what a networked leader is able to do.

In 2009, the 200th anniversary of his birth, Lincoln's seemingly contradictory sides - the slow path wherein he reached the unbreachable convictions that good would prevail:

"Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it." Lincoln's Cooper Institute Address, February 27, 1860.

...made it possible for him to provide the solid anchor that ultimately resulted in the notion of government of the people by the people for the people.


Networks are the next extension that the Internet has made possible:

Networks of the people, by the people for the people.


This is the compass for Networked leadership.

I would love to hear YOUR nominations of role models for network leaders.