Rally Your Troops Like Churchill

How you can borrow from the British politician's speaking skills to lift the spirits of managers, employees, and customers worried about today's economy

by Carmine Gallo

"The news from France is very bad." That's how British Prime Minister Winston Churchill began a radio broadcast on June 17, 1940, in the darkest hours of World War II. Churchill acknowledged the harsh facts, but also saw reasons for hope. In fact, he ended that broadcast with a line he would often repeat—"We are sure that in the end all will be well." Churchill's inspirational leadership and extraordinary communication skills rallied the British as they fought for survival.

Today we need business leaders who inspire their employees, clients, and customers, infusing them with the confidence that in the end, all will be well. Your employees are looking to you for inspiration. Each morning they read frightening headlines: recession, record high oil and gold prices, mounting job losses, a housing crisis, and the collapse of Bear Stearns (BusinessWeek.com, 3/16/08). According to a recent Wells Fargo (WFC)/Gallup survey of 600 small business owners, optimism is eroding. In March, the monthly confidence index fell to its second lowest level since its inception in 2003. It's a good time to ask yourself, what message am I relaying to my employees?

I asked a Churchill historian, J. Rufus Fears, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, to imagine Churchill as a business leader today. Here are some lessons that came out of our conversation:

Communicate a concise, long-term vision. In his first major speech as Prime Minister on May 13, 1940, Churchill posed a rhetorical question, "You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: victory." Fears, at the University of Oklahoma, explains: "Churchill had the gift of being able to build a consensus around a compelling vision. You can have the greatest vision, but if you can't boil it down to one line, it will fail."

Inspiring language is simple and clear. In war, the short-term goal might be to defend a position or to take a strategically important harbor, but the long-term goal—victory—remains clear. Your employees need to know what they're fighting for, how short-term projects will help them reach that end, and why their sacrifice will ultimately be worth it.

Speak the language of hope when others see despair. Churchill knew how to use the power of words to galvanize an audience. "Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory," Churchill said. When Churchill became Prime Minister, an English defeat by the Germans seemed inevitable. Most people in the government at the time expected Churchill to negotiate a truce.

According to Fears, 80% of the population called for a settlement with Nazi Germany. But after one famous speech on June 4, 1940, the morale of the British people completely turned around, with 80% now in favor of defending themselves against Nazi Germany. "We shall not flag or fail," Churchill said in that speech. "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."

In her book We Shall Not Fail: The Inspiring Leadership of Winston Churchill, Celia Sandys makes this observation: "Churchill was blessed with an affirmative quality modern leaders admire. He exuded hope and confidence…. Churchill proved that with the right leadership, men and women can be inspired to greatness in difficult times." Members of Churchill's wartime Cabinet said his words and attitude made people feel braver in his presence. Use your words to make people feel ready to tackle the challenges of a bad economy.

Don't hide the facts. Churchill didn't believe in hiding behind fuzzy, ambiguous language. He demanded the truth and shared it with his audience. In fact, most of the speeches that included his most optimistic phrases also included detailed discussion of grim facts.