What Would Churchill Do? - Business Advice from the Man Who Saved the World:: 1 [Paperback]

Stuart Finlay sent me a copy of his book, What Would Churchill Do? Business Advice from the Man Who Saved the World a couple of weeks ago, and I just carved out the time to read it. The book focuses on Churchill and how we managed things during the heat of World War II -- the period of the Greatest Tests for the Greatest Generation. In this book, Finlay takes examples of Churchill's leadership and applies their principles to daily management and leadership. He does so with great effect, and the result is a very useful book on business improvement. There are 17 chapters, each focusing on a different lesson (and the reading is easy - these bite-sized morsels are each about 6-10 pages long). Patterns for success As I sometimes point out here on the blog, I'm naturally a pattern seeker and I look for models in one area of my life that I can apply in other areas. This book feel like a perfect fit for me since, throughout the book, Finlay identifies patterns of action, strategy, and philosophy from Churchill's life and discusses how we can apply those notions in the context of our everyday lives. But it's more than just a here's a lesson - learn it and do it kind of book. I found that Finlay's portrayal of Churchill's unconventional solutions to difficult problems, and the way he was open to hearing and accepting the ideas of others was very inspiring. For example, one chapter called Stay Passionate for Things you Don't Agree With, deals with examples of something I've heard referred to as disagree and commit in which you support ideas that you don't agree with in order to support the greater good - this can sometimess be difficult due to ego, but Finlay's examples illustrate the importance of being willing to do this. I think my favorite chapters are: Dealing with the Stalin's of This World, which discusses how to successfully deal with the difficult customers (literally and figuratively) we all encounter all the time, and Entities Can't Show Loyalty, which illustrates why you can't get a team engaged without engaging the individuals on the team - groups don't embrace a cause or mission, people do. And there are more where those came from. And, speaking of more, Finlay refers to this book as Volume 1, implying that there are more coming. I hope so - I want to learn more from Churchill. --http://www.genuinecuriosity.com/genuinecuriosity/2008/09/wwcd- --http://www.genuinecuriosity.com/genuinecuriosity/2008/09/wwcd---what-wou.html

Sir Winston Churchill was one of the great leaders in world history. Very few people would argue this point. But how do his leadership skills translate to the business world? According to Stuart Finlay, Churchills leadership style is still very relevant for modern business leaders. In What Would Churchill Do? Finlay analyzes some key elements of Churchills style and applies them to modern business situations. This is an interesting premise. What Would Churchill Do? is part history book, part business book. It focuses more on the history, but that is really the best choice. In many cases, Churchill s decisions can certainly stand alone as solid leadership examples. Each chapter follows the same format: Finlay portrays an important moment from Churchills time as prime minister and then follows with an example from his own business career. Some of the business examples are better than others. Finlay freely admits that his career is not on the same level as Churchills. His degree of humility is important because any comparisons to Churchill could easily be perceived as egotistical. Finlay uses Churchills own memoirs as his primary source. As a result, many of the examples have an insider s perspective. One such example involves the diet of the British soldiers during World War II. Churchill was advised to change the military rations to a high energy diet of vegetables and nuts. This would have meant an end to the soldiers beloved tea. The committee also advised rationing tea for civilians as well. Churchill went against the advice of the committee in order to preserve morale. Finlay uses this as an example of Churchill s attention to detail. It sounds like a minor decision, but such minor decisions affected millions. Finlay also points out how Churchill treated both his allies and his commanding officers. Such details are often omitted from histories, but they reveal key elements of Churchills character. They also portray Churchill as a human being, rather than a larger-than-life historical figure. At times, Finlay exudes an undeniable feeling of national pride. Yet, that never takes away from his arguments about Churchills leadership. Finlay does not pretend to be an expert on Churchill or business. He is simply an author who has found intriguing parallels between Churchills decisions and modern business. In fact, the comparisons put many business decisions in the proper perspective. It would be hard for managers to stress over their daily decisions if they compared them to some of those made by Churchill. Finlay illustrates this with some of his own examples. He realizes that modern business leaders create much of their own stress. In some ways, this could also be seen as a book on stress management. Finlay devotes a chapter to Churchills ability to compartmentalize, and several other chapters focus on how he coped with various decisions. What Would Churchill Do? is not a typical business book. It draws on world history, rather than the usual mix of statistics and case studies. Yet, Stuart Finlay manages to blend history and business smoothly. What Would Churchill Do? is a quick, compelling read. There is nothing terribly new here, but Finlay presents the information in an interesting format. --http://breenibooks.blogspot.com/2008/11/guest-review-what-would-churchill-do-by.html

This book is so much more than just another business improvement book. Churchill wrote his memoirs of WWII, all 6000 pages of them. I discovered them by accident, started reading Volume 1. Every so often Churchill would describe a situation from the war and offer the reader some personal advice, in the 5th volume he gave another piece of advice that really chimed with a business issue I recalled. It seemed a shame that this great advice was now lost. This book captures Churchill's advice for a new audience. Each chapter describes the war situation the advice emanates from and then places it into a business context. Unlike most business books, each chapter is full of surprising war stories. Once people start reading it they don't want to put it down. Everyone takes something away that enhances the way they work. It is a great read, improves business performance and provides lots of information about the war. It is so much more than just another business improvement book.