5. Know How to Inspire Your Followers

Some of Shakespeare’s most rousing speeches come from “Henry V.” At key points in the play, Henry delivers beautifully crafted, deeply moving speeches to inspire his men. They set even the hardest hearts tingling with excitement and patriotism. Much of Henry’s success derives from his ability to share a vision with his followers and kindle in them the desire to be their best selves in the service of something bigger than themselves. The most famous of these speeches runs, in part, like this:

This day is called the feast of Crispian: ... He that shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’ Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars. And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’ Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot, But he’ll remember with advantages What feats he did that day: then shall our names. Familiar in his mouth as household words ... Be in their flowing cups freshly remember’d. This story shall the good man teach his son; And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remember’d; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother.

Henry successfully makes the army feel like a single brotherhood through this speech, throwing his lot in with theirs, and he directs their thoughts to the future so that they imagine the heroic things they’ll do and how they’ll live in honor forever after because of it.

5 Lessons in Leadership From Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’

Epoch Booklist: Recommended Reading for Nov. 29–Dec. 5

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Henry’s Short Story, ‘The Purple Dress’