Learning from Winston Churchill

Creative Excellence in Management: Insights from Indian EthosLearning from Winston ChurchillTheme Paper

Mohamed Afzal Hussain J 0194/498/23/2013

Chart of Achievements1The Child3Churchill at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy4War Correspondent Boer War 18994Early Military Activities5Chuchills Flaws5The War Leader6The Last Stint7

This paper talks about the life & achievements of Winston Churchill, & the various changes he experienced to become a great statesmen & how we can all learn from his experiences to emulate him

Chart of AchievementsEXECUTIVE OFFICEMAJOR INITIATIVES*RESULT*BOOKS PUBLISHED

(Note: Ministers must be Members of Parliament - MPs)None(1900-1905)(Member of Parliament)Elected 1900 as a Conservative; in 1904 switched to Liberal PartySuccessSuccessThe Story of the Malakand Field Force(1898)The River War(1899);Savrola(1899)London to Ladysmith via Pretoria(1900)

Colonial Under-Secretary1905-1908Transvaal constitutionSuccessLord Randolph Churchill(1906)For Free Trade(1906)

President, Board of Trade1908-1910(out of Parliament 24 Apr 1908 - May 09)Labor dispute mediationArbitration courtsLabor ExchangesMinimum wageSuccessMixedSuccessSuccessMy African Journey(1908)Liberalism and the Social Problem(1909)

Home Secretary1910-1911Strike interventionHome rule for IrelandPrison reformInsurance ActLabor and Shop ActsMixedInconclusiveMixedSuccessSuccessThe People's Rights(1910)

First Lord of the Admiralty1911-1915Naval staff reorganizationFleet power conversion (coal to oil)Naval Air CorpsShip development projectTank development projectDardanellesSuccessSuccess

SuccessSuccessSuccessFailure

None(1915-1916)(Member of Parliament)Battalion commander, FranceSuccess

Minister of Munitions1917-1919Streamlining of ministryOutput increasesSuccessSuccess

Secretary of State for Air & War1919-1921Russian interventionDemobilizationFailureSuccess

Colonial Secretary1921-1922Home Rule for IrelandMiddle East reorganizationMixedSuccess

Out of Parliament16 Nov 1922 - 29 Oct 19241924 Returns to Conservative PartyThe World Crisis(vol. 1 & 2/5) (1923)

Chancellor of the Exchequer1924-1929Gold standard restorationIncome tax reductionSweeping tax reformCoal strike mediationGeneral Strike 1926FailureSuccessFailureFailureMixedThe World Crisis( vol. 3 & 4/5) (1927-29)

None(1929-1939)(Member of Parliament)"Wilderness Years"Opposed India BillCampaign for rearmamentDefended Edward VIIIFailureFailureMixedThe World Crisis( vol. 5/5) (1931)My Early Life: A Roving commission(1930)India(1931)Arms and the Covenant/While England Slept(1938)

First Lord of the Admiralty1939-1940Norwegian offensiveAttacking German FleetNational BroadcastsFailureSuccessSuccessStep by Step1936-1939 (1939)

Prime Minister andMinister of Defence1940-1945Mobilized English LanguageWW2 - vs. Germany/ItalyWW2 - vs. JapanOpposed Soviet hegemonySuccessSuccessSuccessFailureInto Battle/Blood Sweat and Tears(1941)The Unrelenting Struggle(1942)The End of the Beginning(1943)Onward to Victory(1944)

Prime Minister1945Caretaker GovernmentThe Dawn of Liberation(1945)

NoneLeader of the Opposition(1945-1951Tory domestic policyWarned of Soviet threatSupported Labour's Foreign PolicySuccessSuccessMixedThe Second World War6 vol. (1948-53)Sinews of Peace(1948)Europe Unite(1950)

Prime Minister1951-1955Cold War mediationFailureIn the Balance(1951);Stemming the Tide(1953)

None1955-1964(Member of Parliament)Intercedes with Eisenhower over SuezFailureHistory of the English-Speaking Peoples4 vol. (1956-58); TheUnwritten Alliance(1961)

The ChildOn April 17, 1888, Winston entered Harrow School, a boys school near London. Winston found his years at Harrow challenging. He was not thought of as a good student. Winston wrote, I was on the whole considerably discouraged by my school days. However, Winstons ability to memorize lines was clearly apparent while at Harrow. Winston entered a competition and won a school prize for reciting from memory 1,200 lines from Macaulays, long poem Lays of Ancient Rome.Lesson One should identify ones own talents and try to hone them, in the midst of a system that attempts to provide a holistic learning experience but ignores individual requirementsOther Learnings at HarrowHe reflected on the life and achievements of his ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough, who was one of the greatest generals who ever lived. He learned all of his war tactics, which were used to defeat Englands arch enemy France (at least in that age). These would be useful to him in his military career. What we should learn from this is that success in the present often can be traced back to a precedent, which if used and manipulated well can reap dividends.

Churchill at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy

When Winston Churchill entered the Royal Military College (now Academy) Sandhurst, few could foresee that he would become one of Great Britains greatest war leaders. Winston Churchill had failed the Sandhurst entrance examination twice before passing on his third try. At Sandhurst, Churchill had a new start. He was no longer handicapped by past neglect of Latin, French or Mathematics. He had to now learn fresh things and everyone started equal. Tactics, Fortification, Topography [mapmaking], Military Law and Military Fortification, formed the whole curriculum. In addition were Drill, Gymnastics and Riding. Churchill found his work at Sandhurst exciting. He drew contoured maps of the hills in the area, designed paper plans for the advanced guards and rear guards, and even thought up simple tactical schemes. He learned how to blow up masonry bridges and make substitute bridges out of wood. He graduated from Sandhurst with honors, eighth in his class of one hundred and fifty.It was while at Sandhurst that the young Winston Churchill decided to make his debut in the political arena. He planned to make his first public speech at a meeting organised to combat the purity campaign of the prowling prudes, a group of women who were determined to outlaw alcohol from the music halls. In My Early Life he recalled the occasion: As I never attempted to speak in public it was a serious undertaking. I wrote and rewrote my speech three or four times over and committed it in all its perfection to my memory." In the event, only the organizer of the meeting turned up. But he didnt let that put him downLearningWhen you have found what you are born to do, immerse yourself in it. Make it your life mission and forget the elements of the past that do not matter. One is bound to fail in the first try but that need not count.War Correspondent Boer War 1899

In 1899, Winston Churchill headed to South Africa as a newspaper correspondent for the Morning Post to cover the Boer War between British and Dutch settlers. Unfortunately, he was present at an ambush of an armored train and captured by enemy Boer soldiers. On November 18, 1899, Churchill along with the other prisoners arrived in Pretoria at the prison called the State Model Schools. On the night of December 12th, when the prison guards turned their backs on Churchill, he took the opportunity to climb over the prison wall. Wearing a brown flannel suit with 75 (the equivalent of $375) and four slabs of chocolate in his pocket, Churchill walked on leisurely through the night in hopes of finding the Delagoa Bay Railway. So began his great escape and journey to freedom. Churchill jumped onto a train and hid among soft sacks covered in coal dust. Leaving the train before daybreak, Churchill continued on his escape. With luck, Winston Churchill happened upon the home of Mr. John Howard, manager of the Transvaal Collieries. Upon knocking on his door, Mr. Howards response to Winston Churchill plea for help was Thank God you have come here! It is the only house for twenty miles where you would not have been handed over. But we are all British here, and we will see you through. Mr. Howard first hid Churchill in a coal mine then transported him to safety by having Churchill squeeze into a hole at the end of a train car loaded with bales of wool. Upon reaching Durban, South Africa, Winston Churchill found himself a hero.Our LearningDo not hesitate to seek help from strangers when you are in trouble. They may be better positioned than you think. Also, the only time a man can be brave is when is afraid, like when is in the enemys prisonEarly Military ActivitiesWhile he was still a cadet at Sandhurst he managed to get himself out to Cuba in 1895, when they had a rebellion, as the newspaper correspondent for the Daily Graphic. In 1897 he joined the 4th Hussars in India in a very nice station at Bangalore where nothing much was going on. Action was taking place on the North-West Frontier, so he volunteered to go up and join the Malakand Field Force which was operating up the Khyber Pass, against rebellious tribes. At the end he wrote his own report and in it this young subaltern did not hesitate to criticise the administration, the Organisation and even the operational command. One can imagine how popular that made him with all the generals!Always controversial, Churchill championed the disastrous World War 1 - Dardanelles/Gallipoli campaign in Turkey in 1915, whose failure forced him to resign from the government and join the army in France. The defeat in Turkey was due to poor coordination of the war effort coupled with effective planning by the Turkish and German forces. But he returned in 1917 as Minister of Munitions, then became Secretary for War and Air and Colonial Secretary. He failed to suppress the Russian Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1919. In the latter post he drew the boundaries of the modern Middle East and helped enacting the treaty which made Ireland nominally independent.Our LearningsFailure can be inevitable when taking risky campaigns. One can let past pedigree to cloud our judgment. So one must approach his decisions without letting his ego get to him. But one should also bounce back from defeat by proving to his peers that he is worthy of a comeback. Also, the earlier you start trying for success the more you will succeed.Chuchills FlawsHe knew nothing of the life of ordinary people. He never rode a bus and only once on the London underground. Taking this as their text, some commentators on Churchill have suggested that he was indifferent to the lot of ordinary people, even those who worked for him. A.J.P. Taylor wrote that he was an "atrocious" employer. A reviewer of William Manchester's book, The Lion Caged, deduced that he treated his research assistants and secretaries badly and underpaid them. When this was brought to his notice, Churchill immediately called for a meeting with all his subordinates, heard them out and resolved their grievances the next dayOur LearningsA leader must always have his pulse on the mood of the people around him. For he derives his power from his followers alone. So the leader must also sometimes accede to the demands and welfare of his people after he has demanded their loyalty. Power resides only where men believe it resides. A shadow on the wall, yet shadows can kill. And often a very small man can cast a very large shadow.The War Leader

Winston Churchill is forever remembered for his contributions as Prime Minister (PM) during World War II. On May 10, 1940, with the Germans attacking western Europe, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned and King George VI asked Churchill to become Prime Minister and form a government. Churchill formed a coalition with the Labour, Liberal and Conservative parties. He later wrote, "I felt as if I were walking with Destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial." Churchill's inspirational speeches and his V for Victory sign when Britain had few resources to fight with, roused the nation and convinced his colleagues to fight on even after Hitler's armies had conquered France and dominated most of Western Europe. Developing the Grand Alliance with Russia and America and traveling tens of thousands of miles to meet with allies and coordinate military strategy, he became a symbol for victory among the oppressed and conquered peoples. But the biggest gamble of his career, which won WW2 was the D-Day Landing:The Normandy invasion aimed to establish the Allied armies in German-occupied Europe. Operation Overlord, as it was called, was the largest amphibious operation in history. The initial landing was on 6 June 1944 and after hard fighting, the Allied breakout occurred in late July. Allied land forces that saw combat in Normandy on 6 June came from Canada, the Free French Forces, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the weeks following the invasion, Polish forces also participated, as well as contingents from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and the Netherlands. Most of the above countries also provided air and naval support, as did the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and the Royal Norwegian Navy. The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks, naval bombardments, early morning amphibious landings on five beaches codenamed Juno, Gold, Omaha, Utah, and Sword and during the evening the remaining elements of the parachute divisions landed. The "D-Day" forces deployed from bases along the south coast of England, the most important of these being Portsmouth.He redrew the European map when Germany collapsed in defeat in early 1945. When the WW2 ended, lmost immediately, he saw the threat that had arisen in Hitler's place, and warned the West of the Soviet "Iron Curtain" in his famous speech in Fulton, Missouri, in 1946.In 1945, with the war in Europe over but the war with Japan still being fought, the Labour party defeated the Conservatives in an election. Churchill was no longer Prime Minister. However, he was easily reelected to his seat and became Leader of the Opposition. Watching allied vehicles crossing the Rhine. 25 March 1945

Our LearningThe D-Day gamble was taken after carefully evaluating chances of success and failure and planning for all such eventualities. So when taking risks, one must thoroughly analyze pros and cons and leave little to chance. Choose your friends and enemies wisely. Also, know that todays enemies can become tomorrows friends and the allies of today can become the nemesis of tomorrow. The Last Stint

After World War II, Churchill lobbied for peace. In 1951, the Conservatives triumphed again and Churchill returned as Prime Minister. Worried over the possibility of nuclear war, he urged a meeting at the summit with the new leaders of Russia while maintaining peace through strength. Ironically, the first postwar summit conference was held a few months after he retired as Prime Minister in April 1955. He would remain an MP for nine more years.Our LearningFinish what you started. If you have started a fight, make peace with the opponents and win them over instead of making permanent enemies. Keep trying to win over potential enemies before they become powerful enough to strike and win and dont have to accept your peace offerings

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