Darkest Hour - Uneasy is the Head that Wears a Crown

 A simple truth about people who are gifted with the skills of leadership - they lead.  I know that sounds obvious - and to some degree rather trite - but the truth of the matter is that people who have the gifts of leadership can’t help themselves but to lead others.  It is what they are wired to do.  It defines “who” they are and “what” they are gifted to do in this life.  We see it in athletics, organizations, business, government, and on the battlefield.  As I write this post it is Veterans Day - a day set apart to honor those who have served over the decades in one of the branches of the United States Military - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.  Not everyone who serves in the military happens to be a leader - just like not everyone who plays a sport or works in business leads.   Leaders need followers - people who will carry out the orders or directives of the leader.  Some of those orders will be simple while others will be difficult and life threatening.  For example, the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944 was littered with the corpses of those who followed orders…did their job dutifully…and died carrying it out.

William Shakespeare wrote in His play Henry IV, part II:  “Uneasy is the head that wears a crown.”  The phrase has become a popular English idiom meaning that those charged with the major responsibility of leadership carry a heavy burden that makes it difficult for them to relax or take things lightly.  This was clearly demonstrated and portrayed in the 2017 film, Darkest Hour.  The film covers the the earliest hours and days of Winston Churchill’s ascendancy to the prime minister’s position in Great Britain.  Neville Chamberlain had resigned in disgrace; the politicians were divided with regards with how to respond to the advances of Hitler’s war machine; the British troops on the continent were in fast retreat with little or no support or cover; and there was no “rescue” coming from the United States.  Into this mess enters Winston Churchill - considered to be past his prime, pugnacious, and uncouth.  

But what do leaders do?  They lead.  With the support of his family and few close allies, Churchill pushed the British Empire on a trajectory towards war with Nazi Germany - a superior, better armed and prepared country for such a war.  He was guided by his sense of what was right and true.  He was unwavering in his indignation to the evil that Adolf Hitler and the Nazis represent.  He measured the odds - and although wanting - was still willing to travel the high, moral ground.  The movie does an amazing job of demonstrating the weight and burden that leadership was raining down upon Churchill.  With the pressures of his opposition working behind the scenes to broker negotiations with Nazi Germany, Churchill remained steady on the course - even if that course led to global war.

As you watch the Darkest Hour you can’t help but see the similarities of leadership with the Biblical icon Moses.  Leading people who are divided, fearful, and lacking in trust for the leadership being provided.  The weight and the burden resting heavy upon Moses’ head; the weight and the burden resting heavy upon Churchill.  But Moses remained true to his course - the edge of the Red Sea they travel; Egyptians in hot pursuit…all looked lost…all seemed to point to impending doom.  And then with an outstretched hand and the staff of God in hand the waters parted and the Children of Israel passed safety through the waters on dry ground.  And then the waters folded on top of the pursuing Egyptian army.  Leaders lead.  God lifts the weight of the crown resting upon Moses’ head.

And Churchill?  With the British troops and other allies (Belgian and French) pressed against the sea with the Nazi war machine closing in, Churchill leads.  Leadership often comes with painful and profound decisions that will affect many.  For Churchill the  leadership decision to order the small force in Calais to attack the Nazi War machine  to provide cover in Dunkirk was such a decision - a suicide mission if there ever was one - to buy time for the flotilla of small boats (mostly manned by British civilians) to sail across the English Channel and rescue the trapped troops in Dunkirk.  This bold, heavy, leadership decision lead to the rescue of over 338,000 troops.   Moses and the Israelites…Churchill and the troops…Leaders lead.

So on this day when we remember our Veterans let’s not forget those who lead - the military leaders and government officials who have to wear heavy the crown that has been put upon them.  It is their very nature to lead…but that doesn’t mean leadership is easy.  I encourage you to go and watch the movie Darkest Hour and then immediately watch Dunkirk.  These two movies will show you the pain and challenges of leadership as well as the consequences when executed to near perfection.