Lead Like Churchill: Project Confidence Under Pressure

A note to young leaders.

When pressure rises, your team watches you more closely than ever. They look to your face, your words and your conduct for clues about their future.

Lead like Churchill.

Less than two months into his prime ministership, Churchill was carrying the hopes of a continent. France had fallen. Britain had evacuated at Dunkirk. A German invasion looked imminent.

How did Churchill respond?

On 4 July 1940, he issued a memorandum to Britain’s senior government officials:

“On what may be the eve of an attempted invasion or battle for our native land, the Prime Minister desires to impress upon all persons holding responsible positions in the Government, in the Fighting Services, or in the Civil Departments, their duty to maintain a spirit of alert and confident energy.

He directed that: “The Prime Minister expects all His Majesty’s servants in high places to set an example of steadiness and resolution. … They should not hesitate to report, or if necessary remove, any officers who are found to be consciously exercising a disturbing or depressing influence, and whose talk is calculated to spread alarm and despondency.”

Two things stand out here.

First, Churchill didn’t just ask his leaders to be confident – he demanded they project confidence. Morale is contagious, and it flows downward.

Second, you can’t win with a team that feels defeated. Get rid of any pessimists in your team. They are a dead-weight on an uphill climb.

Your circumstances are almost certainly less dire than 1940 Britain.

If Churchill could hold the line then, you can do so now.