Finding Victory Inside Defeat

A leader's mettle is tested in crisis. These downturns and disappointments are inevitable. How the leader acts and reacts is mission critical. The good news is that we can find victory inside our "defeats." Winston Churchill's leadership during Operation Dynamo provides eleven essential principles for leaders intent on making progress in the face of peril.

Operation Dynamo

In just nine days Great Britain evacuated 338,000 troops "from the beaches of Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo, a stunning great escape that helped Britain avoid defeat in the Second World War." Here is what I learned while reading and reflecting on Churchill's account of this "brilliant episode in British military annals."

1. Humble yourself: Admit you cannot achieve victory alone.
2. Define reality: Regularly assess your situation.
3. Scrap your plan: Sometimes you must “lose to win”.
4. Check your resolve: Your team must know you are in this to win.
5. Launch your Mosquito Armada: Leverage the power of “little.”
6. Look ahead: You must prepare and improvise to win.
7. Remember the Royal Air Force: It takes the unseen forces to win.
8. Find General Spears: Lean on aids equal to the action.
9. Sing your song: Remember the power of consistent communication.
10. Acknowledge the brilliant episode: Give credit effusively.
11. Link arms: It takes "heart and soul" alignment.

In this five-part post I unpack each principle, providing historical context, leadership analysis, and biblical perspective. Along the way I will provide you with assessment questions and supply links to additional articles and tools to help.

How to make the most of this post:

• Review it: The post is thorough. Give it a quick review looking at the headings, quotes (they're good), and questions.
• Read it: If you are in downturn or want to be ready for one, take the time to read the post in its entirety.
• Sit with it: Drill down on one or two key points that are most pertinent to your situation.
• Act on it: Churchill poured over plans. He critically assessed them. Then he redrew his plans to fit the changing circumstances and took action. As the leader responsible for your organization, take the time to draw up your plan to snatch a victory from your defeat.

Finding Victory Inside Defeat

1. Humble yourself: Admit you cannot do this alone

Churchill begins his account of the deliverance of Dunkirk with these words:

There was a short service of intercession and prayer in Westminster Abbey. The English are loth to expose their feelings, but in my stall in the choir I could feel the pent-up, passionate emotion, and also the fear of the congregation, not of death or wounds or material loss, but of defeat and the final ruin of Britain.

Fascinating. Hundreds of thousands of British and French soldiers are fighting for their lives and the Prime Minister is sitting in his stall in Westminster Abbey. I don't intend to overplay this fact, but it is significant that the "man in charge" bowed before the God over all.

Humility before God is always an appropriate posture. Trace the theme throughout the Scriptures. Strength comes to those who acknowledge their weakness.

• David humbled himself and bounced back from a near coup (1 Samuel 30).
• Nehemiah humbled himself and discovered God's help to stir a nation to action (Nehemiah 1:4-11).
• Daniel humbled himself and God made him vastly superior to his contemporaries (Daniel 1:1-9, 20).

Acknowledging one's need before God may be considered "weakness," but that kind of weakness is always rewarded by God with strength.

Questions to ask:

1. What is my posture in this downturn: "I've got this!" or "Lord, you've got this, so please help me lead well?"
2. Specifically, how do you need God to help you? Ask him for that.

2. Define reality: Assess your situation

Churchill consistently took time to define his reality. He assessed the possibility of disheartening losses, troop strength, allied capabilities, commanders (his own and the enemies), timing, and the consequences of the evacuation. He was always evaluating.

• About French efforts: "This issue was not faced in its brutal realism by [French] General Gamelin. The French commander . . . was incapable of taking the necessary decisions himself."
• About the need for immediate action: "From the 17th [of May, 1940] onwards the British War Cabinet saw clearly that an immediate fighting march southward would alone save the British Army."
• About communicating the state of affairs: "I thought it right to have a meeting . . . of all Ministers of Cabinet rank other than the War Cabinet. . . . I described the course of events, and I showed them plainly where we were, and all that was in the balance."

Leaders do the hard work of carefully exploring every aspect of their reality. As former Fortune 500 CEO Max De Pree notes:

Questions to ask:

1. Have I clearly assessed our current situation? A S.W.O.T. analysis is a great tool. Click here for help.
2. Are our resources sufficient to meet our challenge? Where are we deficient?
3. What is the capability/capacity of the leaders we are counting on to help us?
   Can we do the job with the team we have? If not, where must we change?
4. What regular updates do I need to keep me apprised of our situation?
5. Am I delaying making a decision that could alter our outcome?
6. Am I holding back from delivering the hard words to my team or our constituents? See "When Conflict Happens."
7. Who needs to be informed about our present state of affairs?
8. What should I say and not say about our situation?

Resources to consider:

1. Leadership Is An Art by Max De Pree
2. "Leaders Are Masters Of First Things"

3. Scrap your plan: Sometimes you must "lose to win"

On May 19, 1940 the French High Command dismissed General Gamelin, replacing him with General Weygand. Weygand immediately drew up a plan to counterattack German forces.

The French plan was “sound in principle,” according to Churchill but, based on faulty information of troop strength and the delays, would not work. British General Gort, recognizing the futility of following this course, “took a vital decision” and abandoned the Weygand plan entirely.

The British government backed Gort's plan the following day, but it was his decisive action to "scrap the Weygand plan" that literally saved the day. Gort's willingness to "lose" was critical to the British evacuation and ultimately to the Allied victory.

No leader wants to say about their carefully constructed plan, "It's just not working," but at times that is precisely what must be done.

Questions to ask:

1. Will our current plan achieve our desired results? Why or why not?
2. Have any key team members lost confidence in our plan? Why?
3. Is it time for me to “scrap the plan”? What alternatives exist?

4. Check Your resolve: Your team must know you are in this to win.

Churchill was resolved. He was unashamedly, unapologetically, unequivocally in this war to win.

Churchill demonstrated the importance of his resolve, when, on May 26, 1940, just sixteen days after being appointed Prime Minister by King George, he faced the House of Commons. Churchill said,

The House should prepare itself for hard and heavy tidings. I have only to add that nothing which may happen in this battle can in any way relieve us of our duty to defend the world cause to which we we have vowed to defend the world cause . . . .

Meeting later with the War Cabinet, approximately 25 leaders, Churchill said, "I described the events, and I showed them plainly where we were, and all that was in the balance. Then I said quite casually:

The Cabinet's response to his determination was telling. These national leaders needed their leader -- they wanted their leader -- to act with resolve.

There occurred a demonstration which, considering the character of the gathering -- twenty-five experienced politicians and Parliament men, who represented all the different points of view, whether right or wrong, before the war -- surprised me. Quite a number seemed to jump up from the table and come running to my chair, shouting and patting me on the back. There is no doubt that had I at this juncture faltered at all in the leading of the nation, I should have been hurled out of office. . . . It fell to me in these coming days and months to express their sentiments on suitable occasions.

Churchill expressed the same unrelenting resolve and defiance in the face of adversity when meeting with the French in Paris, in meetings with Parliament, and in addresses to the nation. Interestingly, his resolve was both a reflection of the determination of the people of Great Britain and a motivating factor that fueled their determination.

Churchill's commitment was not lost on the allies either. Cordell Hull (Secretary of State under FDR from 1933–1945) wrote in his memoirs, “France was finished, but we were convinced that Britain, under Churchill’s indomitable leadership, intended to fight on.”

Of course, the question becomes, How does a leader gain and maintain that resolve? The ancient king, Hezekiah helps us here. Hezekiah's situation was bleak. He and his nation were at the breaking point, bending under severe pressure from the Assyrian king, Sennacherib. Sennacherib was the most powerful man on the planet, the leader of the world power of his day. In the face of such unrelenting pressure Hezekiah bent, but he did not break.

6 And [Hezekiah] set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, 7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. 8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. 2 Chronicles 32:6-8

Hezekiah was able to show resolve because he knew the King over the king. Yes, Hezekiah was outnumbered, but with God he was in the majority. Supernatural power trumps national power and any battle strategy.

Did Hezekiah throw caution to the wind? No. Did he disregard the need for organizational excellence? No. But he did operate with confidence. He stared down his adversary like the boy, his big brother behind him,  faced the neighborhood bully. Like Churchill, because Hezekiah was confident, the people were confident.

Questions to ask:

1. On a scale of 1 (low) - 10 (high), what is the state of my resolve? Am I "all in"? Why or why not?
2. Have I acknowledged that the Lord is the "more" I need?
3. How can leaning on God's help, help my resolve?
4. What are the key communication points to express your resolve?

5. Launch your Mosquito Armada: Leverage the power of "little."

The task of Dunkirk, like any daunting task, seemed insurmountable. How could the Admiralty possibly evacuate 400,000 men? They lacked the ships to ferry the soldiers to safety. Undeterred, Admiralty officers scoured shipyards from Teddington to Brightlingsea in search of more. Churchill writes,

At the same time lifeboats from lines in the London docks, tugs from the Thames, yachts, fishing-craft, lighters, barges, and pleasure boats--anything that could be used along the beaches--were called into service. By the night of the 27th a great tide of small vessels began to flow toward the sea.

How great was the "tide of small vessels"? The total number of water craft in this "Mosquito Armada" (Naval ships and civilian) was 933, the smallest a 14-foot open topped fishing boat.

What the big ships of the Royal Navy could not do alone, the addition of little vessels made possible. Hitler's Air Force could target the big ships, but striking multiple minute targets was too much even for them. As Churchill noted,

The principle lesson here is that leaders need not forfeit dreams for lack of resources. Take inventory, but then take charge by closing the inventory gap. Never underestimate the power of little.

Whoever dreamed a fourteen-foot opened topped fishing boat would participate in the greatest evacuation in history? It happened -- when the rescue paradigm shifted from BIG to little. A little more capital, a few more people, a little more time in prayer -- these things add up. Launch your own Mosquito Armada.

Questions to ask:

1. Will my current resources meet my current challenge? 
2. What is my "resource gap"?
3. How can thinking "little" make a big difference in this challenge?
4. What "Mosquito Armada" can I raise to accomplish this task?

Resources to consider:

1. Why You Don't Have To Be "Little Hercules"
2. "Inch By Inch Aint A Cinch"

6. Look Ahead: You must prepare and improvise to win.

Moving from governmental dependence on larger ships to a coordinated partnership with the civilian population (and hundreds of smaller vessels) was a major task. Churchill's staff was up to the challenge because they prepared and improvised. Churchill notes:

This is organizational leadership at its finest. It is also leadership that is generally unnoticed and unappreciated -- until it is left undone.

Leaders must be attuned to people, systems, and processes. These matters are mission critical as Jethro reminded Moses:

Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. Exodus 18:21-22 ESV

Jethro's wise advice to Moses was "pay attention to your organizational leadership."

In Thinking For A Change, John Maxwell notes, "Hope is not a strategy . . . . When failure isn't an option, nothing serves better than strategic thinking." This kind of thinking, says Maxwell, is the bridge that links here to there. Churchill's staff did that most important work of preparation -- they thought and then acted. Refusing to be held hostage to the "big ship" paradigm they were able to improvise in the moment to create a working alternative.

Questions to ask:

1. Are we held hostage by any "big ship" paradigms? What alternatives exist?
2. Am I clinging to an organizational structure that is a poor fit for my organizational needs? What needs to change?
3. Am I preparing leaders, clarifying their roles, and empowering them to take improvising action?
4. What is the next step to improving your leadership pipeline?

Resources to consider:

1. Thinking For A Change by John Maxwell
2. The Four Disciplines of Execution by McChesney, Covey, Huling
3. "Structure Matters" by Tommy Kiedis

7. Remember the Royal Air Force: It takes the unseen forces to win.

While the Mosquito Armada worked to evacuate soldiers, they did so under the constant bombardment by the German Air Force. Some British ships were sunk. Hundreds of British and French soldiers were killed as they were ferried along or as they waited patiently to be evacuate on the shore or in shallow waters. 

Those casualties would have been greater were it not for the Royal Air Force. Largely unseen, unheard, and definitely under-appreciated by their comrades on the ground, they attacked the superior German forces relentlessly. Churchill notes:

Hour after hour [the Royal Air Force] bit into the German fighter and bomber squadrons, taking a heavy toll, scattering them and driving them away. Day after day this went on, till the glorious victory of the Royal Air Force was gained. . . . Unhappily, the troops on the beaches saw very little of this epic conflict in the air, often miles away or above the clouds.”

The pilots work was "unhappy" in that the soldiers in the water did not know that it was the airmen in the sky who were taking heroic measures to make evacuation possible.

Churchill's account makes clear that victories are won with the help of "unseen" forces. Simon F. Cooper, President of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, speaks to the importance of the "unseen" as he writes of the Ladies and Gentlemen who serve with the Ritz-Carlton group,

While seeking to encourage . . . the people I most wanted to reach out to--and thank--were those who wash the laundry, deliver the room service, maintain the boilers, and clean the guest rooms. Without them, we would not be the award-winning hotel company we are . . . . To me, they and their families are the true unsung heroes of the hospitality industry. 

Leaders are masters of the turnaround. They snatch victories out of defeats by mobilizing and empowering the unseen workers who labor on behalf of the mission.

Questions to ask:

1. Who are the unseen forces that are crucial to snatching victory in your current retreat, defeat, or downturn?
2. What can you do personally and organizationally to acknowledge, equip, empower, employ and thank the unseen forces on your team?

8. Find General Spears: Lean on aids equal to the action.

Churchill was a man of enormous talents. He had an expansive mind and a biting wit. He was also quite prescient as James Humes notes in Churchill: Prophetic Statesman. The Prime Minister had enormous stamina matched only by his self-confidence. But he was not a one-man show. Churchill recognized what Henry Cloud has described as "the power of the other," that certain kinds of relationships are what get one to the next level.

Churchill flew to Paris on May 31, 1940 for meeting of the Supreme War Council. Clement Attlee, Lord Privy Seal, and Generals Dill and Ismay flew with him, but there was another member of the British traveling party that Churchill valued, an indispensable aid, General Spears.

I also took General Spears, who had flown over on the 30th with the latest news from Paris. This brilliant officer and Member of Parliament was a friend of mine from the First Great War.  Half French by birth . . . [and] speaking French with a perfect accent and learning five wound stripes on his sleeve, he was a personality at this moment fitted to our anxious relations. When Frenchmen and Englishmen are in trouble together and arguments break out, the Frenchmen is often voluble and vehement, and the Englishmen unresponsive or even rude. But Spears could say things to the high French personnel with an ease and force which I have never seen equaled.”

Leaders turn defeats into victories as they lean on aids, like Spears, who are equal to the task at hand. This was the way the Apostle Paul worked. Paul's mark on Christendom is so significant that it is easy to view him in light of some version of the great man theory. The fact is that Paul was the poster child "for" "with" and "through" others.

Luke's account of the early church and Paul's New Testament letters are full references to Paul's dependence on others. "Paul and Timothy," "Paul and Silas," "Paul and all the brothers" are a few of the phrases that speak to Paul's dependence on "the other." He mentions some eighty individuals by name in the letters he penned. Like Churchill, Paul understood the power of the other. He trusted aids equal to the task.

Questions to ask:

1. Who is your General Spears?
2. What makes this person so indispensable to you?
3. What other individual, like Spears, do you need to be your best?

Resources to consider:

1. The Power Of The Other by Henry Cloud.
2. "Lincoln's Leadership: Surround Yourself With Great People"

9. Sing Your Song -- Remember the power of consistent communication.

Leaders fly on the wings of words. What they say -- or do not say -- can be the difference between pulling out of a slide or crashing to defeat. Churchill repeatedly drove home the point that Great Britain would fight on -- with or without the help of Europe.

At the meeting with the French high command on May 31, Churchill concluded his reflection on their conversation with this seemingly trite, but insightful comment: "I was glad to have this (key words to Marshal Peta'in) said. I sang my usual song: we would fight on whatever happened or whoever fell out."

The Prime Minister's manner sounds almost flippant. It was anything but that. Churchill knew that he need to preach one message: "We will fight on." He needed to give that talk consistently, relentless, and persuasively. It was necessary for morale, but more importantly it was his -- and the nation's -- heartbeat.

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the group of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go onto the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight in the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we should fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.

Questions to ask:

1. What essential message do I need to communicate?
2. Have I distilled that message into a powerful and memorable line?
3. What different ways can I best "sing" (communicate) my song?

Resources to consider:

1. Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln: 21 Powerful Secrets of History's Greatest Speakers by James C. Humes
2. "The Important Work of Reminding" by Tommy Kiedis
3. "Clear Trumps Clever" by Tommy Kiedis

10. Acknowledge the brilliant episode: Give credit effusively.

Few want to labor under the threat of national defeat and personal animosity. Leaders take that risk. General Gort was such a leader. He defied the Weygand Plan and pushed his troops to the sea and evacuation.

Gort's move was gutsy -- and Churchill recognized it. He referred to Lord Gort as the British Expeditionary Force's "gallant Commander-in-Chief." The Prime Minister acknowledged the pivotal part the general played:

But Gort’s decision, in which we speedily concurred, to abandon the Weygand plan and march to the sea, was executed by him and his staff with masterly skill, and will ever be regarded as a brilliant episode in British military annals.

Every perilous effort has it's Lord Gort. In fact, many people rise to meet challenging times.  Selfless leaders gladly acknowledge the contribution give effusive credit.

Questions to ask:

1. Whose "gallant" efforts do I need to praise?
2. How will we establish and maintain a culture that recognizes and appreciates achievement?

11. Link arms: It takes "heart and soul" alignment.

Tough times breed disunity. The dark days of downturns and defeats can lead to discouragement, disgruntlement, and finger pointing. Great leaders counteract that by working to achieve "heart and soul" alignment. Churchill writes,

This report, which of course was written at the darkest moment before the Dunkirk Deliverance, was signed not only by the three Chiefs of Staff . . . [and] the three Vice-Chiefs . . . . Reading it in after years, I must admit that it was grave and grim. But the War Cabinet and the few other Ministers who saw it were all of one mind. There was no discussion. Heart and soul we were in this together.

Churchill knew that a divided Britain could never stand. "Can two walk together unless they agree?" asks the prophet Amos? The answer is obvious. But when two do travel side-by-side, when they align, when they serve together "heart and soul" the synergy results in multiplied help, encouragement, ideas, and action.

In their best-selling book, Built To Last, James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras write that alignment is “simply that all the elements of a company work together in concert within the context of the company’s core ideology and …vision.”

Team members who are aligned have a similar passion, they are theologically compatible, and they work together toward a mutually agreed-upon vision. Since they are all pulling in the same direction the organization moves forward

Questions to ask:

1. To what extent is your team aligned? What is the next step you can take to help our team to pull in the same direction?
2. Does your team perform at its best? Use the seven questions from "Is Your Team A Real Team?" as your diagnostic tool.

Resources to consider:

1. Leading Teams: Setting The Stage For Great Performances by J. Richard Hackman.
2. The Advantage and The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni
3. "Is Your Team A Real Team?" by Tommy Kiedis
4. Built To Last by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras

Never Give Up

Churchill's actions show that it is possible to find victories -- small and large -- in failures that are embarrassing, disheartening, and potential fatal. The key is to approach it humbly, act decisively, and move with wholehearted resolve. Name your problem. Take action today.

Notes

Excerpts from THE SECOND WORLD WAR, Volume II: Their Finest Hour by Winston S. Churchill. Copyright (c) 1949 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, renewed 1976 by Lady Spencer-Churchill, The Honourable Lady Sarah Audley, and the Honourable Lady Soames. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

1. "Wars are not won by evacuations . . ." p. 115.
2. "from the beaches of Dunkirk . . ." from "The Miracle of Dunkirk: 40 facts about the famous evacuation," by James Moore in The Daily Express, May 21, 2015. Available at http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/578885/Dunkirk-evacuation-World-War-Two-Germany-Britain (accessed July 19, 2016).
3. "brilliant episode . . ." p. 98.
4. "There was a short service of intercession . . ." p. 99.
5. "This issue was not faced in its brutal realism . . ." p. 75.
6. "From the 17th . . ." p. 75.
7. "I thought it was right to have a meeting . . ." p. 100.
8. “The first job of a leader . . ." from Leadership Is An Art, by Max De Pree. New York: Currency Books, Doubleday. 2004. Page 11.
9. "took a vital decision" from p. 83.
10. "But Gort's decision . . ." p. 93.
11. "Germany has most of the cards . . ." p. 89-90.
12. "The House should prepare itself . . ." p. 99.
13. "Of course, whatever happens we shall fight on" p. 100.
14. "There occurred a demonstration . . ." p. 100.
15. "The British people now realise . . ." p. 112.
16.  Cordell Hull, "France was finished . . ." p. 143.
17. "At the same time lifeboats . . ." p. 101.
18. Facts for the "total number of water craft" from "The Miracle of Dunkirk: 40 facts about the famous evacuation."
19. "The preparations fortunately begun . . ." p. 101.
20. "Hope is not a strategy . . ." from Thinking For A Change by John. C. Maxwell. New York: Warner Business Books. 2003. Pages 124, 140.
21. Churchill provides a narrative of the German bombing on page 104.
22. "Hour after hour . . ." p. 104.
23. "While seeking to encourage . . ." Quoted in The New Gold Standard, 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Joseph A. Michelli. New York: McGraw Hill, 2008. Pages ix-x.
24. Henry Cloud provides a masterly explanation of this concept in The Power Of The Other. New York: Harper Business. 2016. Page 16.
25. "I also took General Spears . . ." p. 109.
26. "I sang my usual song . . ." p. 113.
27. "We shall fight on . . ." p. 118.
28. "gallant Commander-in-Chief" p. 117.
29. "a brilliant episode . . ." p. 98.
30. "Heart and soul we were together . . ." p. 89.
31. "Simply that all the elements ..." from Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, Built To Last, p. 202.
32. "The safe homecoming ..." p. 138.