The Inspiring Leadership of Winston Churchill

We Shall Not Fail: The Inspiring Leadership of Winston Churchill
by Celia Sandys, Jonathan Littman

Winston Churchill has long been one of the world's preeminent leadership role models, his voice still reverberating more than forty years after his death. This was illustrated when New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, described after 9/11 as "Winston Churchill in a Yankees cap," wrote to Celia Sandys: "Your grandfather was a great source of inspiration and strength to me following the tragic events." In We Shall Not Fail, Sandys (with coauthor Jonathan Littman) distills the traits that made Churchill so effective throughout his career, including his use of language, his courage under fire, and his willingness to defy convention and stand up to bullies.

Drawing on vivid personal stories, as well as her grandfather's letters and speeches, Sandys reveals the lessons we must all learn if we are to lead in today's tough times.

"When did you realize that your grandfather was a great man?"

This is a question I am often asked and one that I find impossible to answer.

I only knew one of my grandfathers and quite naturally assumed that he was like any other grandfather. I never gave it much thought, but if I had to describe a grandfather he would have been a loving and much-loved man, dressed in a siren suit, puffing a huge cigar, with everyone-secretaries, colleagues, friends, and family-running around trying to make his life as comfortable and easy as possible.

He was a man who seemed to have endless knowledge and interests, who recited poetry, made people laugh; and loved animals, walking around his garden at Chartwell, and above all, painting.

One day a present arrived with the message: "Please look after him for me, Your Loving Grandpapa."

In feverish excitement I unwrapped a strangely shaped parcel and found inside a lifesize toy bulldog with a head that moved from side to side when it was pulled along on the wheels set into its paws. My mother explained that someone had sent this to grandpapa and he thought that I might like it. I did but wanted to know why anyone would send him a toy dog. Armed with the explanation that during the war he had been described as a bulldog I set off for school determined to find out what sort of dogs my friends had for grandfathers!

Little by little it dawned on me that there was something very special about my mother's father with whom we spent a lot of time while we were growing up.

Part of this was a gradual realization that other people regarded and treated him as though he were some kind of god. They talked to him and about him in a very special way. As I grew up, he grew old and it was about this time that I began to understand how much he had done for his country and the world.

A year before the terrible events of September 11, I had decided to write this book. I had the good fortune to meet Jonathan Littman, and we decided to form an Anglo-American alliance.

We believe that the legacy of Winston Churchill as an inspiring example of leadership is as relevant today as it was sixty years ago. This was borne out in the aftermath of September 11 when the speeches of both President Bush and Prime Minister Blair took inspiration from his famous wartime speeches. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said: "Winston Churchill is my great hero. I modeled myself on him. He helped me a lot before, during, and after [the attacks]." There were notices in New York shop windows repeating his advice to the boys of Harrow, his old school, after it had been bombed in 1940: "Never, never give in."

For two weeks following the terrorist attacks The Churchill Center was kept busy attributing Churchill quotations for everyone from the White House staff to the New York Times.

Winston Churchill was like every one of us, a unique person. He was above all a very human man who lived life to the full and enjoyed everything he did. A man who believed in truth, courage, and loyalty.

He was not afraid to show his emotions. Anyone who is old enough to remember will recall exactly where they were on the day President Kennedy died. I was with my grandfather in his London house. I had never seen him watch television before, but on that day it was firmly placed on the dining room table and we watched as the tragic story unfolded before our eyes. Tears poured down his face as the news came that the young president was dead, and once more when we watched his beautiful widow, still dressed in her blood-stained clothes, witnessing the swearing in of the new president.

I soon realized that I must treasure these moments when I had to myself the man the whole world thought they owned.

I am lucky to have known and loved Winston Churchill. I hope that in this book you, too, will discover the qualities which made him great.

Any present or future leader can learn and find inspiration from his example.

Celia Sandys

Copyright © 2004 Celia Sandys. All rights reserved. This excerpt, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced without permission.

About the Author

Celia Sandys is the granddaughter of Winston Churchill. She is the author of The Young Churchill, Churchill: Wanted Dead or Alive, and Chasing Churchill. She is founder and chairman of Churchill Leadership.

Jonathan Littman is the author of several books, including The Fugitive Game.