About Churchill and His Leadership During WWII
Winston Churchill was born in 1874 in Oxfordshire, England. Churchill is most commonly referred to as the “Indefatigable prime minister of Britain during World War II.” Prior to politics, Churchill fought for the English Army in India and Sudan and served as a journalist in South Africa. It has been speculated by some, though is not written about too much, that Churchill saw one of the first modern machine guns used by the British Army. From those who wrote about Churchill, he did not like bloodshed, but some say he was quite enthralled by the effectiveness in war of this weapon. Again, this is not heavily documented. Churchill was quite outspoken, and during the early years of his political career, he made quite a few enemies. Though, there were three things that Churchill was quite good at and they included giving stirring speeches, telling it like it was (Churchill was known for not beating around the bush) and his passionate hatred for Hitler. Churchill’s hatred for Hitler woke him up every morning and drove him to become what would be the most integral man in WWII. With a stronger army, better weapons and more troops, Hitler was willing to make a pact with Churchill. From reading about him, it seems that Churchill would have rather died a slow death.
“If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.”
Winston Churchill
Around the time Churchill took office as the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Hitler was planning what was referred to as “Operation Sealion. ” After an occupation of France and the British Army being pushed off the continent after losing a battle at Dunkirk, Hitler strategically had Britain on its knees. Led by Churchill, the British were not going to go quietly and some think that it scared Hitler. Hitler knew that battling through the English Channel, so he attempted to attack by air. The English began forming civilian armies and began putting up mass amounts of barb wire and any other sharp objects they could find to deter Nazi troops. Knowing that a land invasion was going to be tough, Hitler and the Luftwaffe (German A.F.) began what was called Operation Eagle which later became known as the “Battle of Britain.” This was an attempt to take out the R.A.F. (Royal Air Force). Churchill is well known for the fact that he kept moral up during a period of nightly bombings and mass destruction in England. In the end, the Luftwaffe could not defeat the Royal Air Force and this was the turning point in WWII.
Churchill’s tenure as Prime Minister ended only months after the War as an opposing political party took hold.
Not the Personality of Your Everyday Hero
His personality was not one of charm. He was often depressed and would have mood-swings. Seemingly, from reading about him, he may have been somewhat manic-depressive. Though, there were no medicines for that and this is a speculated reason why Churchill was known as a drinker. Though, Churchill was brave and determined.
How This Pertains to Business?
Every leader has their own style; compare Churchill to Jack Kennedy. Though, what they do have in common is that they get things done. Unless they shut the internet down, your company is going to have to do, essentially, battle with your competitors. How you go about beating them is your choice. Churchill was like a boxer who, no matter how many times he was punched, would not go down. I hate to hear applicants say things like, “well, do they have a marketing team?” Instead, Churchill would have been the CEO who would have pushed himself to not fall to the competition and would have learned it by himself. I also don’t like to hear when sales applicants say, “well, their competition is too fierce in the industry.” If the competition is fierce, beat them. If the competition has more marketing, learn marketing yourself. If the competition has 10,000 employees and you have 100, be willing to go to battle as if you had 100,000. At some point or another, in your professional life, going up against a competitor is going to be scary and somewhat intimidating. Though, let them punch you a thousand times, be persistent and your 100 employees should be just fine.