My wife and I have now watched the first two seasons of Netflix’ The Crown. It is an intriguing drama about life inside British royalty in the 40’s and 50’s. As I watched, I became aware of several takeaways for leaders.
1) With focus and determination you can become a good leader. Queen Elizabeth begins her role as queen unsuspectingly when her father dies. She is a young 25 year old women. She purposefully and determinedly commits herself to learning how to lead. She gets a university tutor to help her grow in general knowledge in order to keep up in conversations with more educated leaders. She allows Winston Churchill to mentor her in how to carry herself and how to think about her role. She learns how to represent the Monarchy, represent the British Empire, and represent the Church of England by focusing on her role rather than on her own interests. Good leadership and learning go hand in hand. Queen Elizabeth demonstrates that the place you start as a leader does not have to be where you finish, however, to move forward you must put in the time and effort to improve.
2) Sometimes you need to do a 180 degree turn. This lesson is taught by Winston Churchill in the episode “Act of God.” A heavy smog caused by industrial soot coats London for several days and leads to the death of thousands of Londoners. Winston Churchill is initially rather cavalier about how the government should approach the crisis. He is awakened to the gravity of the crisis when he visits a hospital and is moved by the devastation the thick smog is having on the citizens. He quickly pivots his position on the government’s responsibility to take action. Showing compassion, he quickly directs the government to give aid. The change cast him once again as a great and caring leader for the people of the British Empire. This situation reminds me of the saying, “It’s never too late to make the right decision.” You may be pretty far down the wrong road. If so, do a “180.” The people counting on you to do what’s best will thank you.
3) Quite frankly, sometimes, you can’t keep your promises. This is true, usually when you have made a promise out of ignorance, and then realize your promised action is inadvisable. This happened to Queen Elizabeth when she promises to allow her sister Margaret to marry a divorcee. In the end, Elizabeth has to tell her sister that she cannot support the marriage. This is not the only time Elizabeth, in her younger years, makes a promise she can’t keep. Another time, she promises one of her close employees a major promotion. She has to renege on this as she learns more about proper protocol with royal job succession.
Promises are important, and a leader should strive at all times to keep a promise. The lesson here is that as a leader, try get all the facts and consult all the experts before you make a promise. Even then, new information and circumstances may change your ability to keep it.
4) Lack of self awareness leads to disaster. Prime Minster Eden, driven by insecurities, orchestrates the Suez Canal invasion. It precipitates a military and economic disaster for the British Empire. Later, Queen Elizabeth confronts him about initiating this ill fated war. She challenges him for having done so out of feeling insecure and inadequate in the shadow of Winston Churchill. If Eden had been willing to confront his own dark side, he could have avoided that disastrous chapter in Great Britain history. Self awareness is an essential practice for individual leadership development. It is important to continuously work at understanding yourself and being comfortable in your own skin.
5) Pick your friends carefully. Prince Phillip’s friend and private secretary, Michael Parker, turns out to be be not such a good friend. Parker is forced to resign as secretary because of a marital affair. His influence over Prince Phillip and his behavior while with the Prince creates controversy and leads to conflict between the the Prince and Queen Elizabeth. If the Prince had been more careful about the company he kept, he could have saved himself and his family a great deal of embarrassment. It is important to be intentional about who you are spending your time with. Are they people who reflect the kind of person you want to be? Develop a circle of friends who are characterized by supporting each other and motivating each other to love and good deeds.

In my journey as the executive director of a community mental health agency I have learned and relearned the lessons above. Leading is not easy. There are many problems and few easy solutions. Leadership development is a never ending process. It requires ongoing learning and adaptation. The five lessons we see from the characters in The Crown come through their inadequacies and failures. These types of experiences can either be the end of a leader or tools to help grow the leader. The characters in The Crown certainly help us see that.