Well Managed

When Times are Tough, it’s Time to be King Henry (part 2)

Here is part one of this series.

In the previous post we looked at a great example of a manager dealing with a tough situation: Henry V leading his ragtag English soldiers in a battle for their lives against a vastly superior French army. (By the way, if you want to prepare to be a successful CEO, read Agincourt, Henry V and the Battle that Made England by Juliet Barker and take notes on how Henry led not just his army but his nation.)

Let’s take a closer look at some of the leadership lessons we can gain from the famous scene in Shakespeare’s Henry V, the St. Crispin’s day speech, delivered by Henry to his troops on the morning of the battle of Agincourt.

• Don’t pretend everything’s fine. When Henry says “If we are marked to die, we are enough to do our country loss” he is acknowledging the grim reality they were facing, namely that they may all be killed in the next few hours. But he does it with a defiant lightheartedness, thereby earning points for honesty while serving as a role model for courage and good humor in the face of adversity.
• Don’t wish for things to be easier. Henry doesn’t waste time wishing that he had more men or that the French had fewer. Wishing your problems away is useless and makes you look and feel weak. So Henry does the opposite, expressing the wish they were facing even steeper odds so their victory would be even more glorious. The harder the challenge, the greater the sense of achievement.
• Everyone pulls together in the face of a tough situation. When Henry says “for he that shed his blood with me shall be my brother” he’s expressing a concept remarkable at the time, when royalty were considered to be fundamentally different than, and superior to, commoners. But solidarity in the face of adversity is crucial to success. This is the time for the troops to know their leader is standing with them rather than maintaining distance.
• It’s okay to turn stories into legends. In one of my favorite lines, Henry predicts that each soldier “will remember, with advantages, the feats he did that day.” He lets them know its fine to exaggerate a bit when recounting their great achievement, as the facts of the day are transformed into folklore for future generations.
• Focus on what you can do rather than dwelling on the problem. Did you notice that Henry doesn’t try to tell his men that the French are lousy soldiers, or cowards, or evil? In fact, he doesn’t refer to them at all, which is remarkable if you think about it. Rather, he focuses his soldiers on themselves and on a vision of their victory, giving them a new and more positive way to see their situation. This is good leadership, because the only things they have control over are their own thoughts, emotions, and actions.
  
• Achievements will be remembered. Henry names some of the leading noblemen and predicts they will be remembered: “Then shall our names, familiar in his mouth as household words – Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester – be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.” This lets them know that their individual efforts will be recognized and valued. It’s heartening for people to know they can earn individual renown by their achievements in difficult circumstances. At the same time, it’s a sobering reminder that those who fall short will likely be noticed and remembered as well.
• Be a role model of strength and courage. That his men overhear his courageous and defiant words  to the French envoy is as important as what he says directly to them. The best leadership is to behave as you want your followers to behave and let them see you doing it. In other words “Do as I say and as you see me do.”

In the next post in this series we’ll look at some practical ways we can use these same ideas when we have to lead our employees through tough times in our organizations.

Here is part three of this series.

When Times are Tough, It's Time to be King Henry (part 1)

As managers, we’ve all faced tough times. Some are tougher than others. When I first joined a company where I previously worked, we were facing tough times that included things like bomb threats and receiving correspondence sprinkled with blood. In fact, early in my time at that company I prevented a large group of protesters who had gathered in our parking lot from invading and occupying our headquarters building (which they had done on a previous occasion). Fortunately, we were able to turn things around and put experiences like that behind us.

That's perhaps an extreme example, but even "normal" tough times like budget cuts, competitive pressure, or the loss of key personnel create special challenges for managers.

They also provide a great opportunity. Times of great adversity shape the character of an organization for better or for worse. If you allow it, they can shatter trust and divide your employees. However, if you seize the opportunity you can use them as your greatest chance to forge deep bonds of trust and loyalty.

Let’s consider an example of a manager facing a really tough situation. The manager was King Henry V. The tough situation was that his little army was starving, clothed in rags, exhausted, dying of dysentery, and desperately trying to escape from northern France. Unfortunately their path to the coast was blocked by a huge, fresh, well-fed French army that was determined to kill them all. On the morning of October 25, 1415, the English army awoke, about to fight what we now know as the battle of Agincourt, facing hopeless odds and knowing they were all going to die.

That's probably a worse situation than anything you'll ever have to face as a manager. I certainly hope so!

If you want to read about the messy, fantastic, fascinating reality of what happened next and how the ragtag English army achieved a stunning victory, I highly recommend Agincourt, Henry V and the Battle  that Made England, by Juliet Barker.

However, for our purpose (learning how to be better managers) it's more useful to turn to Shakespeare’s version of the events. In his play Henry V the young king transforms the dire situation into an opportunity to build loyalty and enthusiasm. He rallies the spirits of his troops with the famous oration known as the St. Crispin’s day speech. This is a great example of inspired leadership, of the power of words to move hearts and minds, to fundamentally transform how people perceive their situation.

Take a few minutes now to watch this clip of Kenneth Branagh, as King Henry, rallying his troops with this brilliant rendition of the famous St. Crispin’s day speech in his acclaimed movie version of the play. Just before this clip begins, one of his noblemen had wished they had 10,000 more English soldiers with them, and Henry responds.

Isn’t that remarkable?

Did you see what he did? In this speech, Henry turns the wish for more soldiers on its head, convincing his men they're lucky to be in the battlefield and to be so few, while the many who are safely in their beds in England are the unlucky ones who will forever regret not having been there. By the end of the speech they see themselves, in his words, as, "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers." Rather than grumbling and fearful, they are now united and determined in the face of grim adversity.

We probably can’t achieve the oratorical magnificence of Branagh reciting Shakespeare, but that’s fine, we don’t have to. We can still use some of the same ideas that are used in this speech in our work as managers when we're facing tough times. In the next post, we’ll take a closer look at these ideas. There are a number of subtle and powerful insights to be gained. Then in the third and final post in the series, we’ll review some practical nuts and bolts techniques you can use as a manager to turn adversity into strength.

Her are parts two and three of this series.