Bold AND brave…

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

And so began the open armed conflict between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies, just as the sun was rising at Lexington, on the morning of April 19, 1775.

It would be another 457 days before a bold AND brave Continental Congress would sign the Declaration of Independence. These 56 men, listening both to their constituents AND to their own hearts, made a choice — a bold AND brave choice — to be citizens, not subjects.

But history would show that this declaration was, by no means, Congress’ only bold choice. In fact, one could argue that that America’s fate hinged as much on the choice of who should lead the fight for independence as it did on the declaration of it. John Adams proposed George Washington. His fellow delegates unanimously agreed, and the choice was made. It was June 15, 1775, and George Washington was Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army.

As the author Eric Metaxas puts it, “When it comes to true greatness, George Washington’s tough to beat. There’s so much to say about Washington that it’s hard to know where to begin.”

And when it comes to the BTL Essentials of Personal Excellence, His Excellency had the biggies down pat.

Strong CORE – check
Humility – check
Courage – check
Discipline – check
Commitment to learn – check
Emotional intelligence – check

In late 1776, the Continental Army suffered a series of decisive and, at times, embarrassing defeats. Mistakes in both judgement and execution proved costly to the inexperienced American soldiers. But just when America’s future looked bleakest, General Washington’s heroic crossing of the icy Delaware and surprise attack at Trenton on December 26, followed by his victory at Princeton one week later, turned the early momentum of the war and reinvigorated the courage and confidence of his troops.

David McCullough, in one of the closing passages of his riveting book 1776, succinctly describes Washington’s unshakable conviction of purpose, his willingness to learn from his mistakes, his obsession with discipline and courage, and his understanding of a leader’s role to inspire, especially in difficult times.

“It was Washington who held the army together and gave it spirit through the most desperate of times. He was not a brilliant strategist or tactician — not a gifted orator — not an intellectual. At several crucial moments, he had shown marked indecisiveness. He had made serious mistakes in judgment. But experience had been his great teacher from boyhood, and in this, his greatest test, he learned steadily from experience. Above all, Washington never forgot what was at stake and he never gave up. Again and again in letters to Congress, and to his officers, and in his general orders, he had called for perseverance — for perseverance in spirit; for patience and perseverance; for unremitting courage and perseverance. Soon after the victories of Trenton and Princeton, he had written, ‘A people unused to restraint must be lead — they will not be drove.’

Without Washington’s leadership and unrelenting perseverance, the revolution almost certainly would have failed.  As Nathanael Greene foresaw, as the war went on, ‘He will be the deliverer of his own country.’ “

George Washington was the right man at the right time with the right stuff — purpose, humility, courage and discipline. Bold AND brave.

Bold VISION, brave ACTION.

Vision AND action.

Bold AND brave…