Good to Great!

There is a seemingly apocryphal story, about one of Britain's greatest Prime Ministers, Winston Churchill, which goes as follows:

Young man (seeing Churchill leaving the bathroom without washing his hands):

At Eton they taught us to wash our hands after using the toilet.

Churchill: At Harrow they taught us not to piss on our hands.

This conversation, personifies the man! Opinionated, razor's wit and rigid he is my favourite politician, who recognized, Adolf Hitler & the Nazi's for what they were, even before the rest of the world had woken up to them and the threat that they posed.Churchill brilliantly navigated the Brits through WW 2, but on cessation of the great war was seemingly lost & voted out of power.

There is another story that I really like.............

Churchill, found himself at an airfield in reviewing the airmen. He was introduced, to one airman, who had, survived a stricken & on fire bomber and had saved himself and his other colleagues under very trying circumstances.Meeting the Prime Minister was a momentous occasion & the airman was very nervous. Churchill, noticed this and asked the man if he felt small in his ( Churchill's ) presence? The airman said yes, he did, looking awkward. Churchill, then said, he too felt very small in the airman's presence, because he could never have been so brave!

Power distance & placing folk on a pedestal have plagued us & continues to do so.In the classic Forrest Gump, the young Forrest is called stupid by all and sundry, till his mother steps in and says, 'stupid is as stupid does'. What a revelation & how true! You can only be stupid if you do stupid things, you cannot be intrinsically stupid.Striking insight!

I think the analogy hold good for the 'Greats' as well.......you are great as long as you do great things and vice versa!A person's greatness lies in his actions and not in the position that he/she holds.

Churchill was a vain man who understood greatness and gave it its due, with wry humor and that for me made him great and in in the same breath endowed him with a great sense of humility!

He says.....

When I was younger I made it a rule never to take strong drink before lunch. It is now my rule never to do so before breakfast.

Reply to King George VI, on a cold morning at the airport. The King had asked if Churchill would take something to warm himself.

Power Distance.......not Churchill!