Product Description

Success often depends on the strength of a single quality: leadership. Winston Churchill is universally recognized as one of the 20th century's great political leaders and his words ring just as true in the world of commerce. A wise, witty, and inspiring leader, Churchill ran Great Britain like a great corporation.

"Perhaps the finest book on practical leadership ever written." — Brian Tracy

Churchill on Leadership demonstrates that the principles that guided Churchill ably translate to private industry today. Author Steven F. Hayward gives strong evidence that, if you remove Churchill from his political context, he would have the resume to be among the great business leaders of any age. Churchill:
• was a financier (as chancellor of the Exechequer) and labor negotiator (as home secretary)
• managed a large transportation network (as head of the British Navy) and far-flung property holdings (as colonial secretary)
• persevered through bankruptcies and other financial disasters
• conceived and introduced innovative new products over the opposition of his colleagues, and reorganized major production operations in the midst of crisis.
With wit and insight, Hayward reveals Churchill's secrets for business success from assembling and inspiring a first-rate team to preparing a wise budget, from communicating a vision to structuring effective meetings, from acting decisively to rebounding from a failure. Laced with epochal events from the historical stage, enlivened with stimulating speculation, and leavened with wit, Churchill on Leadership is both an enjoyable read and a thought-provoking lesson on leadership.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #61393 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-04
• Released on: 2004-05-04
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Amazon.com
Scotch and cigars are making a popular comeback, so perhaps the time is ripe for the 20th century's most famous scotch-drinking and cigar-smoking leader to do the same. In the vein of the best-selling book Lincoln on Leadership, Steven F. Hayward looks at the much-studied Winston Churchill in a way nobody has before. Although Churchill on Leadership is pitched to a business audience, its lessons have a wider resonance. Churchill, of course, is best remembered as a political figure and wartime hero. Anybody who aspires to leadership can profit from this book, whether it's in the boardroom or the Oval Office.

From AudioFile
To satisfy both his loves, Hayward brings together Churchill and business. Surprisingly, it proves to be a happy marriage. Chronicling the events of Churchill's long career to sift out the mix of qualities that enabled his success as a wartime leader, Hayward discovers the very qualities needed by business leaders in today's warlike competitive climate. What are they? In short, a love of history, a love of the English language, the need to take charge and the heart for a good scrap! British reader Stuart Langton reads Churchill's quips and Hayward's narrative with clarity and precision. Both are delivered in a steady rhythm and even, thoughtful pacing. But Churchill is voiced more dramatically, as the "last lion" should be, and it is really his voice in the end that we hear through Langton and Hayward. Let the CEO take note! There's a place again for long, expansive memos. P.E.F. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Analyzing leadership is difficult; its definition is elusive. Writers usually resort to identifying someone they perceive as being an effective leader and then select various attributes the individual possesses, suggesting that others would do well to emulate them. This method has recently been applied to leaders as diverse as Attila the Hun and Mahatma Gandhi. Hayward chooses Winston Churchill, a figure who occupies the continuum somewhere between those two examples. The author is a director at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, a think tank devoted to free enterprise and individual rights, and a frequent contributor to Reason, the magazine dedicated to "free minds and free markets." In selecting Churchill, Hayward provides numerous examples of the statesman's candor and plainspokenness, decisiveness, historical imagination, and ability to balance overview with attention to detail. David Rouse

Customer Reviews

Excellent tool for understanding Churchill in a leadership focus
This book is very well crafted. I especially like the section on "Churchill The Inventor And Innovator." Hayward's well researched book synthesizes so much of what was the essence of Churchill's leadership foundation (not just his style.)My sense is this book is best for the business (or govt) leader (or soon to be leader) eager to understand some of the less obvious leadership fundamentals of WSC's leadership evolution. By pulling from diverse references over time, Hayward displays a leadership trajectory, and perspective absent in so many leadership books. Also, great insights as to how WSC was able to get opposing constituencies to work together on a variety of issues. A great investment if your career has a leadership component to it!

Leadership Succinctly Put!
Although Sir Winston's leadership skills manifested themselves in the military realm, his skills can easily be transferred to the business/ private sectors. The author used great examples and wonderful quotes to convey his message. His method of ending each chapter by focusing on the leadership skills discussed in the chapter was very helpful. I do not normally read this type of book, but I enjoyed it thoroughly and found some of the skills applicable even to me, a Management Analyst. Of course with the subject being Sir Winston, how can one go wrong.

A manager's opinion
I have been a manager for over 10 years, and have worked in different industries and different countries. And I gladly admit I still have a lot to learn concerning management. This book talks about concepts we know we should all be applying, such as learning from mistakes, responsibility and organization, attention to details as well as to a master plan, communication, etc. However understanding how Churchill put these concepts to work is fascinating. I did not know that much about Churchill in the first place, perhaps that is why I enjoyed the book so much. It is a nice change from CEOs' biographies. And yes, I am putting some of what I read to work, so it was worth my time and money !