Customer Reviews

Churchill on Leadership: Executive Success in the Face of Adversity

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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 !

I read this book without having known anything about Chruchill, as a lesson on leadership under stress. I learned a lot, but I also became very interested in the man. He is fasinating and very brave. I'm very gald I read this book.

The main idea is to study how Churchill made his leadership decicions, and what the reason for that decision was. It's an informative study of the man, and even funny at times. It's always entertaining, but somewhat short of a great story (so 4 stars).

By all means read this book. It's a great way to begin to learn about Churchill, aside from the 3 or 6 volume works available at the bookstore. It's also a good study on decision making based on principles and honest living, strength, and forward thinking. There are good lessons here as well a good reading. I recommend it highly.

Steven Hayward uses a new perspective to illuminate the achievements of Winston Churchill. Even though we all know of Churchill as a great leader, he has become such a titanic figure that in some respects his human dimension has been lost. Hayward recaptures this, particularly the drive, the self-confidence and the persistence in the face of adversity. Also, because he is British, we tend to see him in a cigar and brandy snifter environment. Hayward shows that he was a thoroughly modern man, once of whose accomplishments was as an outstanding hands on leader and administrator, with, among other things, the ability to make decisions of great weight with only partial information - the conversion of the British fleet to oil before World War I being only one of them. I was thrilled once again at Churchill's eloquence, courage, foresight and determination. I agree with one of the other reviews that the blurbs at the end of each chapter are a bit trivial, but that is, itself, a trivial criticism. This is an outstanding book, easy to read, and one that will stay with you as a "biography" of Churchill more than a management manual.

I'm going to say something that might sound odd: this is not a leadership book. It deals pretty well with the everyday tasks and details of Churchill's style, but strangely not his "executive success in the face of adversity." And Hayward's assertion that Churchill's style is like that of an executive seems a little red-faced: Hayward spends a lot of time defending against Churchill's critics that Churchill was disorganized and a bad judge of character. In all likelihood, he is forcing Churchill into a category that he does not belong: indeed, Churchill may have been disorganized, but he was a darn good prime minister. My opinion is that Churchill deserves more than this. In place of this book, I would recommend Lincoln On Leadership.

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!

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.

As we all know too well, in the flow of flotsam from academe, there is seldom material that is both readable and edifying. Often neither quality is present. This book, Churchill on Leadership, scores high in both categories. Hayward's obvious in depth knowledge of Churchill and his times enabled him to organize the vast storehouse of material available into a useful and unique way of teaching the leadership principles Churchill personified. God knows the lack of leadership today evidences the extreme need for what Hayward has wrought.

Steven Hayward places Churchill's experience and approach to executive problem solving into historical context. This is a must read book for students of leadership & management as well as fans of Sir Winston. A relatively short book about such a significant topic, but well worth the time

Churchill's leadership and perseverance carry this book. The lessons mentioned at the end of each chapter seem trivial - as if summing up Churchills achievements can be encapsulated in a few managerial maxims. What Mr Hayward has achieved is to display a man very much like us (women included). I learned his eloquence was not a gift but the result of hard work (I too can work on my short-comings); he had many failures, some fatal for a politician, but continued to soldier on (I too can persevere); he stuck with his own sense of self-worth when every one else proclaimed him as finished (I too can maintain confidence against adversity). The maxims, Mr Hayward, are not needed. But thank you for bringing such a powerful figure down to earth, where we can all learn from his extraordinary life.

I am a Churchill buff, and REALLY wanted to like this book. I did enjoy many of the anecdotes and situations discussed. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that the book offered much useful advice to those who want to lead. The author offers brief bullet points at the end of each chapter that summarize key lessons, but most of them are fairly self-evident, and they are not well-developed. This type of book seems to be popular lately. People looking for historical lessons based on real figures would do better to read "Lincoln on Leadership" or the old Attila the Hun books by Wess Roberts