As with all history, we are not just reading about dates and events, but we can also learn from the characters. We can take their virtues and avoid their vices. Here are some of the things I learned whilst reading Churchill’s books.
Sir Winston Churchill, the greatest Briton of all time, wasn’t just a politician or War-time leader. He was also a prolific writer. He wrote The History of the English-Speaking Peoples and a four-volume history of his own ancestor the Duke of Marlborough. His most famous work, however, was his six-volume account of the Second World War.
Never give in
Churchill’s most famous aphorism ‘Never Give In’ implores us to carry on to our goal in all adversity. Stay on the path to our destination, however large all small. All successful people go through trials and tribulations on their way to their goal. Their goals are varied but the one common denominator is that they never give in.
Be Productive
I was struck by reading Churchill’s second world war, by how much work he managed to squeeze in 24 hours. He wasn’t an early riser either. In the inter-war years, often he would wake around 8am read memos or dictate correspondences whilst still in bed and eating a hearty breakfast.
He would then bathe, dress and continue his work. Luncheon, as they called it then, was always with a guest or colleague. After lunch he would nap, then bathe and dress again. He famously said his afternoon naps gave him two days in one. Never a minute was wasted.
In wartime he would exasperate his ministers and military staff with endless memoranda, prodding and cajoling, asking for updates. He wasn’t a micro-manager, far from it, but he knew exactly what was going on in every government department.
Every minute was productive, speeches were rehearsed and amended whilst chauferred. Letters dictated in the bath, to blushing aides. So although he didn’t adhere to a 9-5 regime, he made sure every minute counted.
Have a single overarching, focused objective and never deviate
You can imagine that with all the different theatres of the second world war and all the different departments to make function, that you could become overawed. What would take precedence? After France had fallen, Britain had to be defended, Russia supported, America courted until Japan entered. What would the allies do? Fight back through Western Europe, the Balkans, the Baltic, North Africa, the Middle East? What about the Far East and India? What about the potential threat to Australia? Churchill was clear – defeat Hitler first.
The mind works better when concentrating on one objective. Choose one overall objective and stick to it until completion. Any other goal or objective must feed into this prime objective or be put aside. I know it’s hard to do because we are told we can do anything. Yes this is true we can achieve anything, but we can’t achieve everything all at the same time.
Live this objective
Once you have your prime objective defined, discarded all others, unless they support or maintain the priority. Then make this your life, make it part of you, your identity.
Don’t get sidetracked
In the lengthy process of achieving your prime objective, there will be lulls where nothing much seems to happen. There will be setbacks when you question your motives. It is then that you are susceptible to other attractions. The shiny objects catch our eye, new goals and objectives. Don’t’ get sidetracked, keep to the path.
Delegate and be ruthless when you have to
As I said before you can do anything but you can’t do everything. In fact, you shouldn’t even try to do everything, even tasks that are aligned with your objective. Teamwork is so important in any field of human endeavour. Churchill like many leaders delegated. His generals and staff officers were given specific objectives and general recommendations around how an operation should be undertaken. They were told how their operation would benefit the overall objective. It was then up to the General how to achieve the outcome. It is only if the Officer deviated from the objective that specific orders were given. If the General still demurred, he was removed.
Weigh up the pros and cons
With binary decisions, sometimes we know instinctively which the best choice is, especially if one of the choices is obviously more aligned with your vision and goals. Other times the choice is not clear. If you have a choice on which decision to make and the answer is not clear, then you have to weigh up the pros and cons.
The process of weighing up the pros and cons can be as simple as using a piece of paper and draw a line to divide it into two. On one side list all the pros and the other side list out the cons. A funny thing may happen during this exercise, you might get a feeling that one course of action is more advantageous. If not, then analyse the lists. Are there more pros or cons to a course of action?
Be honourable
There is a famous account of when Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were in conference towards the end of the war, negotiating what would happen once victory was achieved. Later after dinner, whilst drinks had been copiously taken and the mood was jovial, Stalin commented through his interpreter that after the war he would demand that 50,000 German officers would be executed. Churchill bristled and left the room.
Churchill had momentarily misplaced his famous sense of humour but he hadn’t lost his sense of honour.
In whatever we do we should act honourably. It comes down to doing the right thing.
Be polite
Manners cost nothing. In life and business, we often deal with difficult people. Stalin was difficult to work with. He was often drunk and provocative. In Churchills history of the Second World War he reproduces telegram exchanges between the two. Stalin’s telegrams were often as prickly as his outbursts in person. Churchill’s responses were polite whilst not being intimidated. He would assert his position whilst at the same time being polite. He would also simply ignore particularly offensive telegrams.
We can see plainly on social media where people can take a leaf out of Churchill’s book. If you are provoked, retain your poise and be polite. Or even just simply ignore it.
Take action and do your best
The best productivity is to take action and do your best. Do your best in everything you do and you can hold your head up high. You will put yourself in front of lady luck. It’s amazing to me that many of the lucky breaks I’ve had are when I took action and just did my best.
“All this shows how much luck there is in human affairs, and how little we should worry about anything but doing our Best” – Sir Winston Churchill.