I recently returned from a leadership retreat to Washington DC, where I had the opportunity to tour Mount Vernon, the historic home of George and Martha Washington. In anticipation of this trip I read (actually listened to) Ron Chernow’s lengthy biography about our first president 
(I should note that the audio book is 42 hours long!). I was deeply inspired by the stories and truly enjoyed learning more about the life of one of the best leaders in the history of our country.

It was cool to find out that he began his career as a surveyor and while he didn’t have the formal education that many of the other founding fathers had, he made up for it in his drive to educate himself through books, experiments, and seeking advice from others with a wide range of perspectives. He kept meticulous records of everything, even making two-three copies of all letters he wrote because he thought future generations might be interested in them. He enjoyed dancing, agriculture, hunting, and loved ice cream. What truly stood out to me though was his ability to lead others. He took the principles of courage, perseverance and integrity to extreme heights and he was so revered in his time that he is the only president to be unanimously elected to office by the Electoral College and he accomplished this feat not once but twice!

If courage is the ability to do something that you know is dangerous or difficult, Washington has no shortage of examples in his life of demonstrating this. Not only did he speak out against the tyranny of British control (which put a target on his back), he lead the army in the revolutionary war, many times on the actual battle field. In a letter to his brother, John Washington, he wrote; “The right wing, where I stood, was exposed to and received all the enemy’s fire… I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me, there is something charming in the sound.”

Combine courage with perseverance, which is the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even when it is difficult, and it’s no wonder Washington was able to find success throughout his life. He lost many relatives early in his life forcing him to become a provider. He suffered through miserable winters along side his men during the revolutionary war, overcame numerous illnesses and withstood tremendous attempts to undermine his reputation and position in his second presidency. In a letter to his mother in 1787 he said; “Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person’s own mind than on the externals in the world.”

While the famous apple tree story that many Americans are familiar with is thought to be fabricated, George Washington was always known to be a man of true integrity. He held this distinction in high regard, writing to Alexander Hamilton in 1788; “Still I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain (what I consider the most enviable of all titles) the character of an honest man.” He insisted on doing the right thing, even in the face of adversity. When his troops were starving during the revolutionary war, General Washington refused to steal food and supplies from locals despite congress encouraging him to do so.

As I walked the grounds of Mount Vernon overlooking the Potomac River, it was clear why Washington loved and cherished the location. There was a sense of awe being in the home of the father of our country and visiting the tomb where he and his wife, Martha, lay. There are many leadership lessons to be learned from him, and this week I reminded my team that coming into what will be a record-breaking September, it will be courage, perseverance and integrity that will allow us to proudly look back on this time for many years to come.