Jefferson’s Leadership Legacy (Journal of Commerce)

From the article:

Make equality self-evident in your organization. Every leader setting off on a strategic planning retreat should take along a copy of the Declaration of Independence. In a few powerful lines, Jefferson outlines a vision of the world where it is “self-evident” that “all men are created equal.” But he didn’t stop there. He went on to clarify his vision by listing examples of offenses against equality. Among the “intolerable offenses” was King George III’s refusal to end the slave trade.

“He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation hither.”

Don’t worry if you don’t remember reading the passage above in the Declaration, they were deleted by his fellow Congressmen before the final draft. For the next 50 years of his life – whenever Jefferson was asked for a copy of the Declaration of Independence, he would provide his original draft with the deletions made by Congress noted.

Email me if you would like a copy of this reprint. I have a few hundred copies available.