WARTIME

Winston Churchill’s life and times have shown that, regardless of how the world perceived him, his wartime leadership and fury are a narrative to be understood. A man of Churchill’s power and skills would have had an impact on society and events in any century and time. By any criteria, Churchill was a man of uncommon variety. He was a great journalist, a rare orator with remarkable power, and a soldier of distinction and valour.

The attack by Hitler came like a hammer blow to the stability of the European region. The peace-treating leaders had to resign and the war was inevitable.

Amidst this as Prime Minister, he announced the hard road ahead — “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” — and committed himself and the nation to all-out war until victory was achieved.

Churchill had the pain of the entire world on his shoulders. The parliament recognised the depth of this man’s commitment to defeating Hitler. And succeed he did.

Wartime is a phase in anybody’s life when the person has to undergo toil. Children are taught usually by telling them that there exist numbers and one can perform operations on them. But when asked in front of the ice-cream seller to get the change helps them understand how counting works. This is how things go from 0 to 1 and the toil in learning anything helps gain insight as well as builds a strong foundation in the field.

Zoom out and Observe

Eagles have the highest competitive advantage because they operate on higher ground. Having a bird’s eye view can help set the direction towards approaching the challenges.

In Wartimes there is a small window to make accurate decisions. Thus the first step to approaching the situation has been described well in army manuals. It is crucial to zoom out of the situation and observe how the situation can pan out in the future. The ability to perform second-order thinking is a tool observed among the majority of visionary leaders.

Another point to be kept in mind is that wartime is not a period to thrive but those who survive it only make it through. It is better to churn the energies in the same direction than to embark on new experimentations. Tried and tested solutions from the past help to get the path and tools to pave through the problems. Those who don’t pay attention to the past are bound to repeat it.

3D’s

DECIDE

The bird's eye view helps gain an understanding of reality and creates the space to debate, discuss and deliberate on the paths.

Now is the moment for the team’s leader to think of the group as a platoon of jungle hikers; each member has strengths and limitations of their own. The pack’s leader must be the most nimble individual in the outer circle. The ultimate decision is in the hands of the leaders, but the issues to examine must be spelt out and the most meritocratic choice must be taken into account.

DELEGATE

The second step is to delegate the task. One major mistake is that the leaders take the tasks on their shoulders leaving disproportionate stress on their heads and ultimately hurting the decision-making process. There is a difference between an effective leader and a 100X individual contributor assigned the leadership role and the latter often has a tough time.

Remember — It takes a team to win.

DELIVERY

Gaining the skill of encouraging others to give their best results increases the ability to complete tasks with the help of others. With this momentum, one can concentrate on the secondary benefit of strategic collaboration: using each task that is outsourced as a chance to help others grow as well as deliver in tough times effectively.

Curiosity

I have no special talents, I'm just passionately curious ~ Albert Einstein

Looking back at the life of Churchill, one of the qualities that helped him was his childlike curiosity. Even in the transition from war to peace, a phase in which other leaders have often stumbled, he revealed, at an advanced age, a capacity to learn and to adjust that was in many respects superior to that of his younger colleagues.

Respond and Recover

As mentioned at the start of this chapter it is important to recognise that despite all strategies and efforts ball may not go in the direction we intend it to go towards.

Humanity has created games for itself, so there is always an outcome. Either you succeed or you acquire new knowledge. The latter is significant. It aids in gaining an understanding of different approaches to problems. Additionally, as every scenario is unique and reliant on the surrounding circumstances, the best course of action is to gather all of your resources — whether they be tools, contacts, or ideas — after the cycle.

The most important thing to do is to Pop out, Pivot and Power.

• Pop Out — Come back to ground → Stick to Fundamentals → Regain your foothold
• Pivot — Change Course → Fast mistakes allow fast change of course
• Power → Reconnect With your connections

Difficult times indeed give rise to great leaders