Scott Kirby sees himself, whether he admits it or not, as a wartime leader in the vein of Wintson Churchill. His address to employees earlier today makes this clear.
I covered his speech to employees earlier today, but wanted to dedicate a separate post to one portion that truly caught my eye.
“One of my heroes has always been Winston Churchill. One of his famous quotes during the darkest days of World War II was, ‘When you’re going through hell, keeping going.’ And while we’re going through hell right now, the character of the men and women of United Airlines has been revealed for all to see over the last couple of months. And I could not be prouder or more honored to be in the trenches with you.”
He quotes Churchill’s famous “when you’re going through hell, keeping going” line to urge everyone not to give up (Churchill likely never uttered that line). Even if the quote is a fabrication, Kirby sees himself as a wartime leader, just like Churchill. COVID-19 is referred to as the enemy and he vows that “we will overcome it”. He further vows to save jobs “once this virus is defeated, and it will be defeated.”
Kirby pledges to lead United through this battle and be in the “trenches” with each employee during this difficult time.
Churchill is an interesting choice. He’s a hero of mine too, though his rambunctious nature seems very different than the cool and collected Kirby, who I’d link more to Eisenhower or perhaps FDR than Churchill. Furthermore, Churchill was a big picture guy who left details to others while Kirby is known as a micromanager.
But the wartime undertones of Kirby’s address effectively capture how Kirby views this crisis and his role in saving United. Churchill did not let collateral damage stop his tireless effort to win the war. It seems that Kirby will not either.
It is quite the stretch to compare Scott Kirby with Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, or FDR.
He compared himself…or at least that is the way I interpreted his speech.
Fun fact: all people have their dark sides. If I remember correctly Churchill hated India. He even let a huge famine occur in India even though one of the viceroys (or whatever the British representative/leader in India was called) begged for him to send food. Doubling down on his hate, he even refused to let the ships carrying grain from Australia from unloading food, even though Britain had enough in the later years ago of the war and the ships were docked in India anyway to refuel.
Not trying to crap on Churchill, I even did a project on him in High school. Just pointing out something that isn’t in history books.
Churchill was no saint. No one really is.
Churchill was probably a racist and definitely an imperialist. No doubt he was an effective statesman who did some things that benefited humanity as well. Tough one. I’d definitely advocate against people citing him as their hero though. All heroes and heroines are flawed, but there are likely better ones available.
@Aaron
For sure Churchill had problems (I’m from Iran, and he was a crucial part of Operation Ajax), but I’d posit he’s still a hero, hands down. He saved the world from fascism. While the US was dithering as to whether it should actually go against Nazi Germany (they only ended up doing so bc of Pearl Harbor), and Stalin signed a nonaggression treaty with Hitler (which Hitler later broke), Churchill took a solid stance.
The real joke of this article is comparing Scott Kirby, the surly United executive for whom the best birthday present is an increase in checked bag fees, to Churchill. That’s a joke, for sure.
In my defense, he compared himself.
I guess I’m missing where anyone (including Scott) compared himself to Churchill…he said here’s one of my heroes and here’s a quote I like… I had/have lots of heroes or people I’ve admired but even if I quote them that’s a far cry from comparing myself to them. I think everyone is reading way too far into this…he compared situations (WWII and Covid) but he didn’t compare himself to Churchill.
@Matthew
Fair enough. I guess by that logic I’m the next Attlee at least. Or perhaps Thatcher.
Ugh that quote is certainly popular these days.
I heard Andrew Cuomo utter it during one of his “must-see” press conferences.
“ Americans can always be relied upon to do the right thing…after they’ve tried everything else” ( W.S.Churchill)
Let’s hope Kirby gets it right first time. The stakes are high.
He should start by saying he won’t make any money until they can get the airline back on track. So sad to see thousands will be let go and he makes millions.
Well they both instituted severe food rationing…
LOL.
i
I wish Scott the best of luck and pray for his (and his team’s success). Rather than be like Churchill, i’d rather he be more like FDR. Both are legendary communicators, though FDR was the better ‘manager’.