Churchill And His Achievements

							Churchill And His Achievements

Introduction
He is a man, whose name has been already engraved deeply in the history,
with his passion, his tenacity, his splendid speech skill and affection
on cigars, and most significantly, with his trademark V sign symbolizing
victory; a man who was the prime minister and also a noble prize winner;
a man being made the only the second Honorably Citizen of United States;
a man ranked as the most great British celebrity.
Yes, he is Winston Churchill; a person has witnessed the dramatic change
of the Great Empire from a vast, global, powerful empire to a declining
British Commonwealth of independent nations; a leader arousing the
confidence of the whole nation to fight with the Nazi regime and won the
ultimate triumph; a name earning numerous admirations. What made
Churchill so outstanding? The answer lies in his belief: the unwavering
belief of win, the strong desire for victory mingled with the
determination of defending the honor of the nation. Time is of no account
with great beliefs and they are imperishable. Anyone can dislike
Churchill but can not alter his belief, because it is not exploitable.
Churchill was born for victory.
Overwhelmingly strong passion and admiration for Churchill govern me to
write this paper, mainly for analyzing Churchill in terms of leadership.
The structure of this paper is the following: The brief introduction of
Churchill and his achievements, the analysis of the leadership traits of
Churchill, the analysis of the leadership behavior of Churchill, and the
application of Churchill’s leadership in the hospitality industry.
1.1Brief introduction of Churchill and his achievements:
Early life: a lonely childhood
On November 30th 1874, Churchill was born in the Blenheim Palace, his
home also a brilliantly splendid place. Churchill inherited his name from
his honorable ancestor John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough as well
as an exceptional army general. Churchill’ father is Lord Randolph
Churchill, a member in parliament, and his mother Jennie Jerome, a
graceful lady and meanwhile the daughter of an American millionaire. Yet
Churchill’s closest companion was not his mother, nor his father, but his
nanny named Anne Everest, called “Woom” by Churchill and giving him
meticulous care. Because his father, busy of dealing the politic affairs,
and his mother, busy of leading a glamorous life, shared too little time
with him and sent him to a boarding school. Even in the holidays,
Churchill rarely stayed with his parents for they always were traveling
abroad then. Most of the time, he spent his vacation with Anne, in the
Blenheim Palace. The usual way for Churchill to communicate with his
mother was keeping correspondence. Nevertheless, the distance alienation
can not resist his admiration to his parents, especially his mother. Like
he said“She shone for me like the evening star. I loved her dearly-but at
a distance.” Independent and rebellious by nature, Churchill generally
did poorly in school. So his father, seeing his interest in military,
decided to further his career in the army. Whatever it was bound to or
merely a coincidence, Churchill stepped into the warfield, beginning his
glorious life. Lonely as Churchill was in childhood, it is the solitude
that nurtures his tremendous forbearance.
Service in army and his beginning political career
In 1893, Churchill entered in the Sandhurst and at the age of 21, he
formally launched on a military career as an officer in the Fourth
Hussars in a cavalry regime. Meanwhile, he also charged for the role of
journalist responding for writing some articles for a London newspaper.
In 1899, he was dispatched to Durban, a port in the British colony of
Natal, on the east coast of southern Africa. During the trip he
encountered the ambush of the Boers and the train was derailed. Churchill
helped the wounded, clamed down the terrified civilian train engineer and
assisted him to remove some of the derailed cars from the track,
demonstrating tremendous valor and leadership gift. Back home, Churchill
ran in the general election of 1900, finally winning a seat by a narrow
margin and following his father, becoming a politician, at the age of 26.
However, it was bound to be unusual for Churchill’s politician’s career
compared with his father. In 1904, he changed his flag into the Liberal
Party, originally his opposition, irritating some of his old friends and
the Conservative colleagues. In 1908, Churchill became one of the
youngest senior cabinet ministers in British history. In 1911, Churchill
was appointed first lord of the admiralty, in charge of Britain navy. In
1918, Lloyd George named Churchill secretary of state for war and air.
Consecutively promoted to the critical positions, Churchill successively
took substantial and incredible actions: For the sake of the compassion
of the criminals, he introduced a number of reforms to the prison system,
which naturally gained objections from his opponents. Lust for battle,
Churchill once fully supported the Dardanelles strategy in cabinet
meetings. However, the disastrous failure of this campaign made him the
“public attack target”. What is more, his decisive impulse on the sign of
the Anglo-Irish Treaty pulled him to the teeth of the storm. Before
Churchill actual stepped into the center of the stage of the history, he
manifested his incredible political talent as well as his obstinate and
unruly characteristic. Yet it is his characteristic that inflicts his
temporary exile from the parliament. In October, 1922, he lost his
position in the new election as he noted: “In the twinkling of an eye, I
found myself without an office, without a seat, without a party, and
without an appendix.”
Between the two World Wars: the wilderness years
The Churchill’s life is similar to a rollercoaster, with thrilling ups
and many downs. After his lost in the election, he retrieved back to the
Conservatives and gained a position of Chancellor of the Exchequer, the
post Lord Randolph had once held, by the appointment of the new
Conservative prime minister, Stanley Baldwin. But before long, due to the
bifurcation in a crucial problem with the parliament, Churchill was
secluded from the core members of the party and in the later election
failed to earn a cabinet position. From then on, he went into the
“Wildness years”. Although he was peripheral to the inner circle of the
decision-makers, Churchill could not put down his consideration of the
fate of the Britain. At that time, Hitler and his Nazi regime were
gaining influences domestically, causing Churchill’s attention. He made
all his efforts to warn the government to arm itself, becoming one of a
very few voices to sound the alarm. Yet most British were apathetic about
the issue and some of them even abhorred him, stating that what
Churchill’s doing was out of the tune of time. Despite the block,
Churchill continued making endeavor to summon the public awareness of the
looming danger and need for military preparations through speeches in the
House. Other parliament members, however, gave a deaf ear to it. They
simply thought all the people, including Hitler, did not want to
experience the war again. Not until the Czechoslovakia was trampled by
the Germany troop, did the Prime Minister of Britain and his people
realize the severity of this problem. Nevertheless, apparently it was too
late.
Role as the wartime prime minister: his finest hour
After this incident, Prime Minister Chamberlain named Churchill to his
former post, first lord of the admiralty, and to a place in the war
cabinet. However, due to the lost of the preemptive opportunity, the
failure of the initial major campaign in the war for Britain was
inevitable. As the frustration spread nationally, British people finally
realized it was time to make a difference. On May 10th, 1940, Chamberlain
resigned and Churchill became the Prime Minister due to the claim of the
people. Immediately after the evacuation at Dunkirk, Churchill delivered
a speech at the House of Commons. He vowed “We shall go on to the end. We
shall fight in France, we shall fight in the seas and oceans…… we shall
fight in the field and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we
shall never surrender.” A week later, British declared the war to
Germany. Although British especially London was afflicted by the
excessive bomb of German air force, Churchill turned the tide via his
exceedingly incredible analysis ability of the messages and of course,
the bolded British pilots. The British Emperor Air Force stroke the
German air force in the most critical point of the battle, becoming the
turning point of the British Battle. After then, on account of the
judgment that the President D. Roosevelt won’t sit out the war, Churchill
vigorously persuaded him to involve in the war, keeping informing him of
the developments. Besides, Churchill’s stunt, his passionate speech, made
a vital role in building relationship with Roosevelt. U.S war
correspondent Edward R. Murrow observed that one of Churchill’s greatest
achievements was that he “mobilized the English language and sent it into
the battle.”(Celia & Jonathan, 2003) Eventually, the two leaders signed
the Atlantic Charter, committing both countries to democratic ideals and
issuing a warning to Japan to halt expansion. Exceedingly exceptional
oratory skill also helped Churchill to find another alley---Russia. His
renowned speech on Hitler's invasion of the U.S.S.R., via the radio, gave
hope to enormous Russian citizens, aggravated Hitler and moved Stalin.
Soon after the Tehran meeting, the Allied swept the Germans potently. On
May 1st 1945, Hitler committed suicide, knowing his cause was defeated. A
week later, the German surrendered. That afternoon, Churchill addressed a
huge crowd of cheering Londoners: “This is your victory…Everyone, man or
woman, has done their best.”
The postwar years
Holding a winging heart and assured faith for victory, Churchill called
the general election after war. But this time reality strongly hit him
and his speculation of the election turned out to be false. He lost the
election, grieving last long. He left and murmured: “Ingratitude towards
great man is the mark of a strong people.” After then, Churchill remained
the leader of the Conservative Party. In 1946, he initially projected the
warn of “an iron curtain”, suggesting that democracies including the
United States, Britain, and members of the British Commonwealth should
cooperate and stand together so that no one would attack them. In the1950
general election, the Labor government barely held onto power and finally
lost the advantage in the following year. In 1951, the Conservatives
returned to power and Churchill, a month before his seventy-seven
birthday, regained the prime minister. However, being an old age and
appearing to be ageing rapidly, Churchill resigned in 1954, bearing the
pressure from the members of the parliament and his wife. As a matter of
fact, Churchill did not find happiness in his final years for the sake of
the recurrence of the depression that had plagued him throughout his
life. In January 24th, 1965, the seventieth anniversary of his father’s
death, Churchill died, with his wife, children, and grandchildren nearby.
While his coffin lay in Westminster Hall, two hundred thousand people
filed by. Finally, a special train took the coffin to Churchill’s resting
place in Bladon churchyard, near Blenheim, next to his father, his
mother, and his brother.
Leadership traits of Churchill
Decisiveness
May be granted by the loneness of the childhood, Churchill is extremely
independent, which brings up his amazing decisiveness in his decision
making. Especially when he went through the water and fire, underwent the
difficulties and misunderstanding and saw the dramatic change of the
world, experience made the decisiveness part of his blood and in some
sense; he always made the decision spontaneously and extemporaneously. A
good case to illustrate this point is Churchill’s abandonment of the
Coventry city in the Second World War. On November 14th, 1941, Churchill
secretly received an emergency message from the British decipher experts.
According to this message, the German air force was going to bomb the
Coventry city, the biggest armament manufacturing center of Britain
located in the middle England, tonight, naming this action “the sonata of
moonlight”. Instinct told Churchill this message was authentic. However,
in order to get the initiative strategically, Churchill decided to
sacrifice the Coventry city to save the whole Britain especially London,
painfully but on purposely concealing the message. Disaster fell down on
the Coventry city, yet in a long run, Churchill effectively held the
initiative and it turned out to be the turning point of the British
Battle. Great impromptu decision-making needs flexibility, judgment,
courage and most importantly, the willingness to take the risks, and it
made great leaders. Churchill indisputably belongs to this kind of
leaders, for he dared to pay the price of the decisions he made, and
anticipated that the price will be paid off.
Action
For the great leaders, merely making decisions is inadequate.
Productivity will not come into being unless the decisions are
transformed into actions. Churchill, in some sense, has the instinct and
extraordinary ability to put orders into action, in a seemingly impelling
way. A typical example for demonstrating this point is Churchill’s
setting of the “War Room” and request of a “small book”. When Churchill
became the Prime Minister, instead of summoning the Parliament to hold
meetings, he transformed the period library in Admiralty House into a War
Room, specifically charging the war affairs. This room was manned by him
nearly 24 hours a day and full of curtained authorized maps. The staff
was required not only constantly updating the positions of the vessels on
the map, but reports were continually generated on attacks. He slept on
the floor directly above the War Room and was known to start his day with
a visit a little after seven in his colorful dressing gown. When a crisis
struck, Churchill and his staff could get a visual snapshot and promptly
take action. Using one sentence to summarize, it is “Churchill’s method
was about creating an environment that emphasizes actions and
results.”(Celia & Jonathan, 2003) Beside the setting of the War Room,
within one month of becoming First Lord, Churchill require the creation
of a Statistical Branch, the purpose of which was grouping all Admiralty
statistics and presenting them in a increasingly simplified and graphic
form. Namely, this form was called a “small book” by Churchill, and via
the book, Churchill can systematically gather information and tackle with
them effectively. Just exactly like Celia said “Great leaders area hungry
for strategic information about their organizations or businesses. They
aren’t satisfied with the way things were done before.”(Celia, 2003) Both
the War Room and the “small book” gave Churchill a nearly real-time view
of operations and weekly-updating important statistics. Based on them,
Churchill can take actions precisely, instantly and efficiently.
Long vision
There is a kind of great leaders always seeing the panorama of the
things; seemingly their eyesight reaches beyond the sky and beneath the
earth. Churchill, harboring a long vision, is a representative of them.
Actually his decisiveness and actions all serve his long vision. And
similarly, this ability of him derives from his talent as the above
mentioned twos. His long vision firstly and obviously embodies in his
eager implement of the new military armament. Early in the broke out of
World War ?, Churchill had been an enthusiastic supporter of the
development of tanks which were considered as “ugly strange iron box” by
other parliament members. However, the tide turned against Germans in the
later campaign was mainly attributed to the new tanks. Tanks are armored
vehicles and nearly versatile in all kinds of terrain. Particularly in
World War ?, tanks have become the backbone of the military power of
Britain, testifying the Churchill’s foresight. Beside tanks, in World War
?,when he found in British navy not a single ship was equipped with
radar, he immediately minuted the appropriate admiral that the technology
should be installed in all naval ships, adding, “those engaged in U-boat
fighting is of high priority.”
Actually Churchill’s vision in military is prelude of his ability.
Politically, his long vision is even more stunting. In 1930’s, when
nearly all the politicians and parliament leaders underestimated the
impact of Nazi and compromised the sin made by the Hitler, Churchill, on
the contrary, predicted the Hitler’s ambition of conquest the European
and did whatever he can to tear up Hitler’s seemingly “peace and kind”
face. Delivering speech in the parliament, writing articles, addressing
speech in public and radio, Churchill used all his ways to point out the
malevolent purpose of Hitler’s regime, calmly and objectively foretelling
the possibility of the breakout of the war. His warning, being
indifferent by most people, became reality in 1938. What was not worse,
Churchill has done a lot; at least, he became war time Prime Minister. In
some sense, his vision saved him as well as the whole nation.
Perseverance.
No one can imagine how supreme challenge Churchill faced when he made
decisions, take actions or exert his vision on the followers. One thing
back up him honestly, supporting him to pass the dark valley of his life
and vanquish numerous difficulties. That is fortitude, also his token.
Like his own words “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never,
never---in nothing, great or small, large or petty---never give in except
to convictions of honor and good sense.” Churchill’s perseverance
initially lies on his unwavering request and expression of the victory.
As a matter of fact, when Churchill newly took over the parliament, the
situation of British was desperate: Of the hundreds of thousands of
British and French troops trapped at Dunkirk, he himself believed that
fewer than 30,000 might have a chance to escape. However hard and brutal
the fact was, Churchill confronted with it and repeated one sentence “You
ask what is our aim, I can answer in one word: victory, victory at all
cost, victory in spite of all terror, victory.” That faith brought up the
miraculous Dunkirk evacuation.
Strong perseverance not only exists in the insistence, sometimes, also
shines in the change and abandonment. Churchill, using his own words,
belonged to the most stubborn anti-communist and will last long forever.
Yet when he was informed of Hitler’s invasion of the Russia, he
immediately told his Private Secretary, John Colville, to advise the BBC
he would broadcast at nine that night. In this world-famous speech on
Hitler's invasion of the U.S.S.R., Churchill appealed the British people
as well as the Americans to giving a hand for the Russian people, despite
of the difference in the political standpoint and forget about the
animosity. “No one has been a more consistent opponent of Communism than
I have for the last twenty - five years. I will unsay no word that I have
spoken about it. But all this fades away before the spectacle which is
now unfolding. The past, with its crimes, its follies, and its tragedies,
flashes away.” These powerful and sincere sentences with overwhelmingly
strong emotions moved Russian people into tears, witnessing Churchill’s
stunting perseverance of change if needed.
Oratory
Of all the talents bestowed upon Churchill, there is one shining
brightest, like the gift of divine: his incredibly mastering in speech.
How many times Churchill used his soaring speech, so passionate,
heartshaking, and eloquent, as a “weapon” to fight with the enemy and
protect the honor of the nation. On his Prime Minister inaugural speech,
Churchill humbly but firmly addressed that “I would say to the House, as
I said to those who have joined this government: 'I have nothing to offer
but blood, toil, tears and sweat.'”, sufficiently demonstrating his
serenity and determination. Confronting with the Nazis’ invasion of
Russia, Churchill boldly shouted out “if Hitler imagines that his attack
on Soviet Russia will cause the slightest divergence of aims or
slackening of effort in the great democracies who are resolved upon his
doom, he is woefully mistaken. On the contrary, we shall be fortified and
encouraged in our efforts to rescue mankind from his tyranny. We shall be
strengthened and not weakened in determination and in resources.” In
Cambridge, he finished his last speech in one sentence: “Never give up.”,
perfectly annotating his faith of life. His speeches were full of power,
wisdom, linguistic beauty and articulation, inspiring and patenting.
Actually his oratory art derived from his reflection and diligent study.
Eventually his speeches perpetually engraved into the history, becoming
the wealth of human beings. Churchill’s speeches impenetrate his whole
life, motivating his partners and followers, and leading the British
people to the victory.
Churchill’s leadership behaviors
Directive leadership behavior:
Undoubtedly, Churchill belongs to the typical directive leaders, in some
sense, even going far beyond that. Somewhat, Churchill is an egotistic
person and always behaves indifferent with other’s opinion, actually he
never learned to listen to other people’s opinions. He appreciated the
quick and direct responses from the followers, valuing the efficiency
most. No matter taking a hard line to appease the strike chaos of the
miners when he was the leader of Liberal Party, sparing no efforts to
advance the social reform when he was the president of the board of
trade, or fighting hard for the Dardanelles strategy in cabinet meetings
when he was the first lord of the admiralty, Churchill knew accurately
what the tasks were and assigned responsibility to the followers. Upon he
reached the Prime Minister, his directive style as well approached the
summit. Being exceptionally vigorous in making strategies and issuing
orders, Churchill made his target very explicit: Victory. Setting up the
War Room, decoding the enemy’s message, forcing pilots of the British air
force compulsively to take off three times a day for the sake of the
inferior strength in quantity and standing his ground to support the
Russia, Churchill drastically executed his plan focusing on his goal and
set specific expectations of the followers. In the execution process, he
gave priority to effectiveness and direct communications. Once a course
of action was agreed upon, Churchill saw no reason to delay. “He finished
everything before he went to bed,” recalled Colonel Ian Jacob. (Celia,
2003) It was his directive behaviors that made him the quintessential man
of action, and successful in the World War ?.
Charismatic leadership behavior:
Strictly speaking, Churchill did not completely fit the traditional
definition of a Charismatic leader. However, some of his essence and
abilities still made him a Charismatic leader. Inside his frosty
appearance, it was a sensitive and amorous heart. Churchill was stubborn
in nature, but it did not mean he was apathetic of others’ feelings or
behaved indifferent: London was suffered from consecutive 57 days bomb
from the German air force during the British Battle. Almost weekly,
Churchill himself went to the streets for inspection, seeing the
citizens’ living conditions. When he saw a number of British flags
sticking into the ruins, he could not help weeping, which moved even some
senior men into tears; he was exceedingly dynamic and full of self-
confidence: From 1938 to 1943, Busying running about the war affairs, he
had traveled 111,000 miles by sea and air. No matter how difficulty the
situation was, his beaming smile and bulldog glare, his defiance and, of
course, his never giving up attitude with physical and mental energy all
symbolized his self-confidence, motivating his people to advance for
victory; he is a genius of making speeches: His passionate and
inspirational speeches not only inspired the British people, but millions
of Russians and Americans to fight with Nazis. So many pieces of his
speeches, going along with his famous “V” sign, integrated into his own
image and left in people’s memory permanently; he demonstrated long
vision: the precise prediction of Hitler’s peril, the strife of the big
powers after the war and the expansion of the “iron curtain”. Despite his
bad and sometime uncontrollable temper, Churchill has the “magic”, no
matter in what way, to summon the emotion of the followers and encourage
their mettle, revealing irresistible charisma.
4.0 Churchill’s leadership in hospitality industry:
Theoretically Churchill’s leadership style and behavior can perfectly
apply to the hospitality industry for he emphasized on the efficiency and
task-oriented. Therefore, the hotel GMs can benefit a lot from learning
from Churchill.
If Churchill worked in the leading position in a hotel, the first thing
he will do is conducting a reform thoroughly, mainly on the implement of
the new technology. Just like he was eager on the propaganda of the
implement of the new seaplane and tanks in World War ?, radars in the
World War ?,Churchill will advocate the usage of the latest PMS and POS
system in hotel, whatever cost will pay. For Churchill can foresee the
function of these new systems in the future, being bold to take the risks
and cost.
Churchill’s splendid oratory skills also make a difference in the hotel.
As long as he was able to inspire the whole nation to go for the victory,
motivating the hotel staff is a piece of cake for him. It is a common
sense that working in hotel always means heavy schedule, high pressure
and numerous difficulties especially for the line department members.
Undisputedly, this scenario can easily wear down the workers’ passion and
gradually inflict them physically and mentally. Consequently, Churchill’s
inspirational speeches will play a pun role both as a motivation and a
remedy, encouraging the staff as well as alleviating their dismay and
pain. What is more, Churchill’s eloquence also works in the dealing with
the relationship with public, no matter the investors or the community.
Based on his outstanding communication skills, it is superbly easy for
him to persuade the investors to give financial support for the hotel
like he presented five budgets with five long and entertaining speeches
to the parliament. Of course, if the hotel participates a local community
charity event, undoubtedly Churchill’s speech is bound to be the climax.
Also, for the sake of the labor-intensive trait of the hospitality
industry, Churchill’s directive leading style can be very effective.
Particularly for the big hotel chains, the big number of staff and the
complicated hierarchy require the simple and directive leading model: the
GM of the big brand is expected to concentrate on the main goal and the
important issues, regardless of the trifles. When it comes to the
emergency of the hotel, such as merge, acquisition or big accident, the
value of Churchill’s resolute leading approach even become inestimable.
However, there is a limitation of Churchill’s leading style applying in
hospitality industry: his elusory adamancy. As I mentioned above,
lifelong, Churchill failed to learn how to genuinely listen to others.
This is certainly a substantial limitation in the operation of a hotel,
because different with the political affairs, the development of a hotel
in some degree is the development of its staff. Only by listening to
other’s idea and opinions, can a hotel GM make comprehensive and
constructive decision for the hotel as well as the staff. And it also
relates to the individual development of the staff. As a consequence, the
lack of the listening skills will prevent him from making considerate
decision about the followers if Churchill takes charge of a hotel.
5.0 Conclusion:
All in all, Churchill’s life is splendid, as a man, a father, a leader,
and a celebrity. From his up and down, full of hardship but gritty and
successful life, Churchill’s unique charm of personality, idiosyncrasy
and iron will manifest thoroughly, annotating the definition of a great
leader. With or without Churchill, the fate of the Britain would be
different: he accelerated the pace of the World War ?, protecting even
carrying forward the honor of the nation. In some sense, he affected the
history of the world. Margaret Thatcher once commented Churchill: “He
was, in that overused but inevitable phrase, ‘larger than life.’ A
leader. A man among man.”
The stunting beautiful Blenheim Palace was still there, but its host
Churchill has gone, only leaving a statue. His soul, spirit and
magnificent accomplishments left there as the statue, forever. Nowadays,
when the numerous admirers of Churchill go to the palace, they can still
strongly feel his power, hear his vigorous and firm voice and touch his
tenacity. As if he was still alive and driving people to achieve one
after another victory.