Essay: Sir Winston Churchill – an effective leader

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 in Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England. His long career held many facets as a British statesman, orator, author, and prime minister. In December of 1894 he graduated from the Royal Military College of Sandhurst with honors. During the early days of Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, people like Joseph P. Kennedy, United States Ambassador to England, believed that Hitler could be reasoned with diplomatically. As Britain was on the verge of collapse and invasion, Winston Churchill rallied the British people and led his country to victory. It took immense courage and to unite and lead the nation that he felt held a strong place in the world. It was a constant purpose of his to promote unity during times of both peace and war.
During his early days, Churchill saw battle action in Cuba, India, Egypt, Sudan, and the front lines of World War I. He was elected to the British parliament at the age of twenty-five and began his career as a statesman in the House of Commons. His time at the forefront of war led to his later held positions as the First Lord of the Admiralty, Minister of Munitions, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and eventually Prime Minister. Churchill is often considered to be the greatest statesman of the twentieth century. So much of his scholarship, leadership, and character was derived from his personal hobbies of reading, painting, authoring, journaling, and war corresponding. To be an effective leader, Churchill had to have many enduring qualities. He had an ability to inspire people, a keen strategic foresight, unending passion, and a rock-steady personality.
One of the more influential attributes of Winston Churchill’s leadership was his unique capability of inspiring people. The Northouse text explains that the inspirational motivation factor is ‘descriptive of leaders who communicate high expectations to followers, inspiring them through motivation to become committed to and a part of the shared vision.’ Churchill’s ability to influence and inspire people was rooted in his character. When one exhibits constant enthusiasm, determination, and optimism in public, this inevitably rubs off on surrounding patrons. Under Neville Chamberlain’s leadership as prime minister, many public servants did not have a full grasp of the war at hand. According to one of Churchill’s private secretaries, when Winston became prime minister, ‘a sense of urgency was created’ and ‘respectable civil servants were actually to be seen running along the corridors (Best).’ As he awoke British bureaucrats to the realities of war, delays became unacceptable, workhours became long, weekends disappeared, and efficiency quadrupled!
In the days of World War II as those who thought Hitler could be reasoned with began to quietly accept that Britain would eventually fall to the Nazi empire, Churchill remained steadfast with an attitude of victory. He refused to burden himself with the common defeatist attitude and he refused to even consider trying to reason with Adolf Hitler. Though he eventually was able to rally the parliament, this took efforts from the British people as well. His powers of inspiration were not just limited to the parliament. His inspirational power was taken straight to the homes of British citizens via radio, newspapers, and television. He embodied enthusiastic encouragement and praise with an attitude of optimism and fortitude. Churchill also utilized ‘symbols and emotional appeals to focus group members’ efforts to achieve more than they would in their own self-interest (Northouse).’ This is marvelously displayed in his famous words, ” we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.’ Perseverance and determination aided Churchill’s effective inspiration and was buoyed by his strategic foresight.
An effective leader must have an ability to assess the situation at hand and act accordingly, but they must also be able to understand and accommodate that which is expected to occur. The efficient and effective statesman that he was, Winston Churchill had a keen ability to strategically forecast what was expected. This foresight allowed him to lead Britain in courageous fights against the Nazis and Japanese. Churchill’s strategic foresight can be seen as early as September 30, 1938 when the Munich Agreement was concluded by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy that permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain and other peace hawks exclaimed that the agreement of appeasement of Hitler had brought peace upon western Europe, but Churchill knew that nothing vital was at stake. Churchill realized that Hitler was coveting land and the three million people that lived in Czechoslovakia ‘ it was all a power grab.
Winston Churchill argued that this Nazi power grab gave terrible terms to the Czechs and that peace would be uneasy and unstable and eventually fail while the threat of Nazism, Adolf Hitler, and the Third Reich still loomed. Churchill was proven correct by the onset of World War II. Despite his exclamations against the Munich Agreement, he also knew that the Allied Powers would be able to defeat Hitler as well as Japan. As early as 1931, Churchill recognized the coming threat of Communist Russia and warned of the ‘Iron Curtain’ descending upon Eastern Europe. Northouse describes foresight as, ‘an ability to predict what is coming based on what is occurring in the present and what has happened in the past.’ This foresight requires strategy that is derived from knowledge. This knowledge is seen as Churchill learned from the Nazi regime and explained that the future would hold a struggle between English-speaking nations and communism. He was proven once again to have keen foresight as he lived to see the start of the Cold War.
During his time in the Royal Navy, Winston Churchill realized the value of the naval fleet, and he leaned on an expectation of coming threats. He truly believed that the British state was important to preserve in the world and he tried best to proclaim his understanding of what was to come. He held an expectation that Germany was unstable and would be ruthless in the future. As the First Lord of the Admiralty in October of 1911, Churchill described his thoughts on the British navy with these words:
Adequate preparation for war is the only guarantee for the preservation of the wealth, natural resources, and territory of the State, and it can only be based upon an understanding, firstly, of the probable dangers that may arise; secondly, of the best general method of meeting them as taught by the principles to be deduced from the events of history; and, thirdly, of the most efficient application of the war material of the era.
His leadership as First Lord of the Admiralty allowed him to begin preparing the Royal Navy’s fleet for an expected war. As he was also a scholar, he studied Germany and their progression in naval strength. Churchill’s preparations and foresight allowed for the British navy to be successful as early as World War I. Even though he knew that the future was unpredictable, he utilized thought and history to be passionately prepared for what was to come.
Leading from the front requires the chief to have an impassioned gusto about them. In order to lead effectively, all positive traits must be spearheaded to the front of one’s personality. Winston Churchill’s passion possessed him to expand democratic freedom and work hard to preserve it. His own words often describe him best, such as when he stated that he was convinced that every man would tear him down from his position of power if he even contemplated surrender. He went on to express that the long story of Britain should only end ‘when each one of us lies choking in his own blood on the ground.’ From the very beginning of Churchill’s military career, he induced his passion for Britain. He served on the frontlines of World War I in France and eventually became the commander of the Sixth Royal Scots Fusiliers of the Ninth Division. His steady and defiant courage set an excellent example for all of his soldiers. Many of his soldiers considered his departure a personal loss.
Sir Winston Churchill’s passion and peaked interest helped demand the increase in efficiency that was seen during his terms. The structural organization of his wartime government took several months to fine tune, but it immediately began its effects. His new government contained councils, executives, committees, and boards. All of the heads of these groups were a part of his Chief of Staff Committee that produced high level thinkers at his disposal. Not all of Churchill’s passions were directed toward organization of military ranks and wartime governments. His passion for science and innovation led to the invention of the modern-day tank. Churchill probed that a heavy tractor of sorts should be developed that had tough tires and machine guns with armored protection for the men behind them. ‘Passionate people are interested in what they are doing, are inspired and intrinsically motivated, and care about the work they are doing (Northouse).’ It was this passion so deeply imbedded in Churchill’s personality that inspired Brits to rally behind their cause and their nation.
The final enduring aspect of Winston Churchill’s infamous leadership was his rock-steady personality. His unrelenting determination and bountiful charm and wit allured people to him. During the most stressful times of his leadership, he maintained a roaring grin even if he was in a direly bad mood. He was noted as saying, ‘Don’t mind me, it’s not you ‘ it’s the war’ after an angry outburst. Imagination, courage, and tenacity all played a part in cultivating his magnanimous personality. Few often hold all of these qualities, particularly not as extreme as he did. Nevertheless, he did, and his personality allowed him to encourage people to do an excellent job with their task at hand and they often responded with affection. Northouse explains that leadership is a ‘combination of special traits or characteristics that some individuals possess.’ These special traits and characteristics led to a close bond with United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and constant morale boosting expeditions to the forefront of battle. Throughout it all, Churchill managed to maintain a cool presence and instill in Britain a confidence that ultimately led to victory.
A truly remarkable determination for success was exacerbated through Winston Churchill as he led Britain on two separate occasions as First Lord of the Admiralty, and on two separate occasions as prime minister. Churchill served in times of both peace and war, never letting the true destiny of Britain become interfered with. There are numerous qualities that one could attribute to an excellent leader, and there are just as many tests that could be applied to the quality of said leader. However, the ultimate test of the quality of a leader is how their team manages without them. Considering that Great Britain still exists to this day, and the Nazi empire was defeated, one would conclude that Sir Winston Churchill epitomizes an effective leader. Many great leaders have come and gone over the years, and time continually passes through great successes and trials. Few legacies withstand the test of time, but the ability to inspire people, keen strategic foresight, unending passion, and rock-steady personality that were embodied in Churchill allow for his legacy to live on as the roar of a lion does. Churchill utilized the effect of his voice and the English language to help defeat one of the most evil empires ever in existence. He was truly a talented visionary who would not take defeat as an answer and he was most of all, an effective leader. One of the sharpest realizations about Churchill is that despite all of his successes, he remained humble. His humility helped shape him into this effective leader and kept him focused on victory. Churchill believed in victory at whatever the cost, ‘victory, however long and hard the road may be.’