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Historical Leader Synthesis Essay On Sir Winston Churchill

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Historical Leader Synthesis Essay on Sir Winston Churchill

Soaked in sweat, I ran to the library to get a book on a historical leader before they were all gone. I would like to think I found a great leader, but I think one found me. As I was reading a book on great leaders of World War II, I initially focused on American leaders, but Sir Winston S. Churchill seemed fit my exact requirements. Sir Winston S. Churchill was a Visionary and Ethical Leader. In the following pages, I will explain how Winston was a visionary leader and how he used Inspirational Motivation and global diversity to gain advantage during World War II. I will also explain how he critically thought through a gut-wrenching decision by using Dr. Toner’s three Ps in the …show more content…

In Harmon’s (1991) article, he details a scene where Sir Winston Churchill is sitting around the strategy table, debating the benefits of area bombing. Area bombing is a tactic where an area is indiscriminately bombed, regardless of military objective. During the meeting Winston stood up and proclaimed, “Are we beasts, are we taking this too far” (Harmon, 1991, p. 3). LM03, Ethical Leadership, discusses Dr. Toner’s three P’s, which are principle, purpose, and people (DAF, 2014c, p. 7). To me, Winston Churchill put the three P’s in the correct order when he decided to commence area bombings. He put the principle of freedom and justice before the purpose of winning the war and finally, he put the people in their proper place of third. Had he not made this decision, who knows how many more would have died. The air raids killed innocent women and children, but many others today enjoy freedom and liberty because of this decision. The war continued and as the German people became war weary, ended in 1945 due, in part, to Churchill’s proper use of the three P’s. Making a decision like this takes guts, resolve, and most importantly an ability to see the second and third order effects. Winston Churchill would not have made the decision to area bomb had he not known that its effect on the German people would cause them to lose their will to fight, therefore limiting the endless supply of troops Hitler seemed to be able to acquire. This, to me, is why Course 14 intertwined the critical thinking and ethical leadership modules. On Facione’s scoring rubric from CF03, Critical Thinking, I would definitely have given Winston’s decision to use area bombing a 4 out of 4 (DAF, 2014b, p. 24). In the strategy brief, he interpreted the evidence

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