The Art of Leading Through Chaos

Churchill didn’t make foolhardy promises that could never be kept. Good leaders never do. Instead, he spoke candidly of the dark realities the country faced.

Author

Trevor Kapp
March 30, 2020

On the afternoon of June 18, 1940, the House of Commons was eerily quiet. France had fallen, the Royal Navy had been massacred at Dunkirk and a Nazi blitz across the Channel seemed all but inevitable.

Winston Churchill had been prime minister for just five weeks when he stepped to the podium to address a dejected Parliament that Tuesday afternoon. He stood at first with his hands near the lapels of his black jacket, then pulled out his type-written remarks that had several hastily-written notes scrawled in the margins. In his baritone voice, Churchill began a stirring 36-minute speech that would change the course of world history and become a paragon of leadership under duress for decades to come.

“The Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life…“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”

A roar of cheers ensued. As The New York Times would later put it, “Men felt that even if they did not see how the war could be won, they were sure it would not be lost.” 

On the micro-level, the speech gave the British people a trace of optimism and restored a sense of camaraderie. It accomplished what the best speeches do: 

  1. It assuaged

  2. It united

  3. It motivated

On the macro, Churchill’s message communicated that he was a leader with integrity. He was a leader who was accountable. He was a leader who could truly empathize with the prospect of bombs raining from the skies. But above all else, he was a leader who was practical under pressure. 

Churchill used the word “We” 90 times and “Our” 65 times throughout the speech — conveying that despite the pervasive fears Englanders felt at the moment, he was one of them, and he was as prepared as a leader could be to navigate the treacherous terrain that lay ahead.  

He didn’t make foolhardy promises that could never be kept. Good leaders never do. Instead, he spoke candidly of the dark realities the country faced. But he assured them that no matter what was to come, their fate was his fate.  

Integrity, accountability, empathy, communication, practicality under pressure. As we weave those we love through the present landmines of uncertainty and unrest, we might do well to pause and reflect on Churchill’s words. We may consider his realistic optimism, his dogged determination, and his masterful elocution. And we might even discover that the pillars of leadership he introduced us to 80 years ago are more relevant than ever today.

P.S. If you are in search of a book recommendation, our team at The Daily Coach highly recommends Moonshots: Creating a World of Abundance by Naveen Jain. Learn how curiosity, imagination, and exponential innovation are creating life without limits. This book reveals the secrets of the "super entrepreneur" mindset—the catalyst for creating an exciting and abundant future. Jain then walks readers through the application of these powerful concepts in three moonshot initiatives that he is leading today.

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