Are you a brave enough leader to face the truth?
Feb 23, 2024
Shakespeare had some great lessons for leaders. Everyone remembers the speech in Henry V where Henry inspires his troops, but the real lesson for leaders comes earlier when Henry, in disguise, walks among his troops and listens to what they are saying. They are outnumbered, cold, hungry, far from home and they know that tomorrow they are very likely to die. They speak their truth to each other. Had they known who he was they would probably not have done that.
What Henry hears does not encourage him, but he listens to the truth and knows that their future lies in his hands. The responsibility of the leader is his, the loneliness of the leader is his. He takes what they have said and in the morning plays back to them how to overcome that sense of fear to send them into battle victorious.
The role of the present-day leader may not be as dramatic or historic (unless you are the President of Ukraine) but that lesson of listening to the truth, taking responsibility for the outcome, and leading the team forward, is as true now as it was in Shakespeare’s day.
