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Below I put together some of Churchill's traits and also his own quotes that will be of some help to corporate managers who want to sharpen their leadership qualities to become effective business captains.
01. Communication and language skill: Churchill's natural forte is his command over his mother tongue. In modern history no British politician had better rhetorical powers than Churchill had. No one can deny the potency of his lines like "we shall fight them on the beaches", "blood, sweat and tears" and "their finest hour"? or his funny lines with a punch , '' A good speech should be like a woman's skirt: long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest''. So, if you want to climb the corporate ladder, develop a good writing and communication skill that will give you extra strength and leverage over others.
02. Loyalty and devotion:
Churchill's loyalty to the Crown and the country can not be questioned. So were his war duties and his professional career as a politician; his loyalty and devotion to duty took precedence over others.
For the corporate managers, your foremost requisite is loyalty to your duty and your words and deeds should be focused in that direction.
3. Work and responsibility:
Churchill has contended, ''The price of greatness is responsibility''.
To him how good you perform your duty is more important than how fast you succeed. So, you must love your profession and the job given to you. Have the right aptitude and set your priorities before getting down to your task be conversant with the task you are going to perform and the details about it.
04. Recording daily activities :Churchill's reputation rests not only on his well-documented life but also on his own voluminous, self-penned, memoirs. Part of his success was due to self-criticism. Self-monitoring is a way to judge his efficiency.
If you are in the management cadre with responsibility, maintaining a brief record of your daily activities in your company vis-a-vis with your subordinates is well and good. You can recollect the past events and avoid pitfalls in the future.
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05. Ability to foretell:
As a statesman and leader Churchill had a keen eye for strategic opportunity; not all his plans were successful. But he understood well Britain's name in the global stage as a Maritime power.
He was one of the few politicians who had found in Hitler a devil and after reading Hitler's Mein Kampf he was shocked by his nefarious intentions. Long before the rise of Hitler, he warned the other European countries about the impending danger posed by Hitler.
A corporate manager should look ahead and stay focused on the company's future plan, depending on the market situation.
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06. Don't be afraid of failures:
Mind you, all great people of history succeed and fail. But the impact of great peoples' successes outweigh those of their failures, Churchill failed in many as follows -
Churchill's misadventure in Gallipoli campaign (in 1915) , and failure to land the troops on the shores of the Dardanelles strait was a fiasco, causing his political career. His 1925 budget and returning to gold standard prolonged the industrial slump; Disastrous invasion of Norway in the Spring of 1940 and Churchill's wrong strategy with respect to Eastern Europe (the Yalta conference in 1945) brought down his name. Through out the stressful period, Churchill was calm and composed amid the most trying circumstances and never lost sight of his focus. After each failure, Churchill became more energetic than ever before.
''Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm''.
07. Be persistent:
Churchill has felt ''continuous effort is the key to unlock our potential; not either intelligence or strength''. So, when you running a company or holding a responsible position in an enterprise, keep working hard in the right direction and put in enough effort to move the organization forward.
08. Don't be afraid of enemies:
They are the ones who keep you busy and make you understand what you lack and how to make it up.
In the corporate sector you've enemies in plenty, ready to see you head over heels. Stand up to them firmly and prove your points that are not detrimental to your company's growth.
Churchill said, ''You have enemies? Good, that means you have stood up for something, sometime in your life''.
09. Negotiations:
Churchill is of the opinion that if you are sympathetic with the negotiators, you give them room to take advantage of your weakness / sympathy. He asked Viceroy Lord Irwin not to hold a dialogue with Gandhi during India' s Salt Satyagraha (1930-1931)
As for management of companies, 'When making
negotiations with other companies, be firm and talk
less. Do not throw concessions unless there is a necessity'.
10. Holding a firm grip: Churchill wanted Britain to hang on to the British colonies, in particular, to India which vastly contributed for war expenses from the Indian Treasury during WWI and WWII. Revenue from India was so vast, it improved the British economy considerably, but after the war it was in deep trouble. For the British India was a hen laying golden egg. Churchill never wanted to lose India, Britain's El Dorado. When companies acquire new businesses and, if they turn out to be profitable, stick with such acquisitions and don't let them slip past you.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8234000/8234106.html