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The movie “Lincoln” is a powerful portrayal of a US President. While the world class acting is entertaining, it is the subtle leadership messages that makes the movie an invaluable tool for teaching and learning.

The business case for abolishing slavery is simple: we are born to be free, period. This is not up for discussion. The reality of slavery having deep roots had to be addressed. The strategic step of passing an amendment to the constitution was only the first step, but it was on the critical path. Watch the movie to understand how to get things done in the real world with courage and creativity.

You may not face problems as monumental as abolishing slavery in your workplace. But it behooves you to see business problems in proper perspective. Big problems will take time to solve. Identify the levers you need to pull before you throw yourself into the journey. Understand how to move the chess pieces in your workplace and set yourself up for success. Patiently educate your stakeholders out of their biases.

Sometimes, only history will tell whether you are right or not. But history has shown time and again, those who fight for their convictions and for principles that are self-evident, will always come out ahead, even if they pay for it with their lives. Your work experience will fortunately be not that dramatic, but the lessons are still valid.

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If you are like most people, you will experience a multitude of emotions in the workplace. Some emotions will help your performance for the better and other emotions will hinder your performance.

The first thing to know is, don’t suppress emotions. If you do, you will build a “pressure cooker” inside you and this almost always has bad consequences.

Instead of suppressing, observe your emotions. In the beginning it will not be easy because you have wired yourself to act, not to observe. As you continue to observe, your anger will be replaced with curiosity and you’ll want to understand the root cause for your emotions. It may take a lot of practice, but you’ll find that understanding your motives is far more valuable and rewarding as compared to reacting.

You co-workers can see that you are suppressing emotions and they will lose trust in you. The reason is simple: they do not know how you will respond or do next. Another point to note is that you cannot “take back” your words and actions. Knowing this alone should provide the motivation for thoughtful action and speech.

You may not always understand why you are wired a certain way. That’s okay, parents are not given a manual when their children are born. We have to figure it out for ourselves. Write your own reference manual and use it to guide your action.

You will need a lot of discipline to not react. However, don’t go to the other extreme and withdraw or passively comply. Ask your co-workers for time to think, let them know you are troubled and are not sure why. Seek help in seeing the situation that bothered you from multiple points of view. To gain the upper hand in the workplace, and to be effective, clearly articulate what is bothering you from the point of view of your customer. Don’t waste any time complaining about your lack/loss of power, lack/loss of budget, or obstacles in your path.

This guidance is adapted from the teachings of the Buddha, who also provided meditation techniques to strengthen your practice.