Churchill Leadership Trait: Communication

Winston Churchill was a master communicator. It perhaps goes without saying that the leadership trait of communication is an essential aspect of almost every task. Leadership is about working productively through and with others and this cannot be achieved without the ability to communicate.Communication skills, perhaps because they are so obvious are often overlooked and taken for granted. Not by Churchill.

Work at it

Churchill worked hard at crafting his key note speeches to the nation or House of Commons.

Though not a natural orator he was a perfectionist and would craft and rehearse and rework long into the night. Rarely was Churchill lost for words - he produced an enourmous output of memos, directives and reports (including 1,300 telegrams to Roosevelt the President of the USA).On becoming Prime Minister he decided that every order, proposal, suggestion or instruction would be in writing - likewise every response. He communicated to his senior staff and all his private office: "Let it be clearly understood, that all directions emenating from me are made in writing, or should be immediately afterwards confirmed in writing, and that I do not accept any responsibility for matters relating to national defence, on which I am alleged to have given directions, unless they are given in writing." This had two key effects, firstly it minimised the muddles that Churchill had been witness to during the first World War when orders on being challenged could not be backed up by evidence of their having been made and secondly it acted as a steadying influence on Winston's impulsive nature - forcing him to think before suggesting a course of action.

Language

Churchill was a man of his class and time. And he was criticised at the time of sounding a little out of date. He was an upper class Edwardian gentleman and his language reflected that. Perhaps he could sound a little pompous at times. But what he did do in his speeches was to unfold his argument carefully; yes with (wonderful) sweeping turns of phrase, though he never patronized or talked down to his audience and he delivered clear and convincing messages that appealed to both the heart and the head of the listener. He had a marvellous ability to simplify and streamline complex issues and effectively give spin-free fluent "executive summaries" to the nation or the House.

Communication Systems

Immediately on becoming Prime Minister, Churchill radically reorganized the communication systems between the politicians and the heads of the 3 military services. This reorganization took some months to perfect, but at its hub were the frequent (often daily) meetings between Churchill and the 3 Chiefs of Staff. As part of this Churchill created the Ministry of Defence with him, naturally, at its head. This avoided some of the problems of the first world war when communication between the army and the navy was frequently an issue. Also reporting into the ministry of defence were key planning and intelligence staff. Other boards were set up as the need for them arose - each with a high degree of Churchillian input: Production Council, Raw Materials Board, Battle of the Atlantic Committee, Import Executive et al. All of this gave Churchill enourmous access to all the key information and people needed to run a country in wartime.

Personal Organization

The workload of any peacetime Prime minister is prodigious - that of a wartime leader must be 10 fold greater. Therefore it was necessary for Churchill to have an effective private office to support him. At the core of this team were his Private Secretaries, who worked at his side on a rota basis 7 days a week. This team got to know winston better than all but his closest friends and family and became able to interpret the merest grunt or nod! They had to be able to retrieve any relevant document (or person) as they were needed and they managed his diary and appointments - wherever Churchill was in the World. This all helped make the sheer quantity of communication a wartime leader needs to have a possibility.

Visible Communicator

Churchill was a great orator and a master of the written word (as his Nobel prize for literature attests) as well as this Winston Churchill was a highly visible leader. He was forever going to visit factories, gun batteries, bomb damaged streets etc. These provided wondeful boosts to the morale of those he visited but also wonderful photo opportunities for the next days newspapers and newsreels. His trademarks: Bowker hat, spotted bowties, cigar and V-sign all made him vastly memorable. winston loved face to face meetings: it was he who coined the idea of "summits". He travelled extensively to meet others and to communicate with (and persude) them: the USA, Canade, Malta, Casablanca, Normandy, Moscow, Tehran, Yalta, Rhineland, African desert et al. It was said that those he met and communicated with left Churchill believing they could do or achieve anything! How's that for great inspirational leadership and communication?!

Return to Winston Churchill Leadership Home page. Return to the Leadership Traits page.