“This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.”
Posted by Mike Donahue on October 25, 2009 in Big Thinkers, Big ThoughtsThe words above were written by William Shakespeare in Act IV, Scene III of his play, Henry V. And today, October 25 is in fact, the Feast of St. Crispian. It’s also the anniversary of the victory of King Henry’s tattered and outnumbered army over the French in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
This blog pays homage to two big thinkers. The first is William Shakespeare, who gave us this wonderful play and the stirring words of Harry the king to rally his troops before battle. The second is Richard Olivier, whose book, “Inspirational Leadership: Henry V and the Muse of Fire” rallied me as I began my career as an executive coach.
Richard is the artistic director of Olivier Mythodrama Associates (www.oliviermythodrama.com/). His program uses theater and the arts to develop leadership skills. He calls Shakespeare a “leadership consultant of pre-modern times” and refers to Henry V as a “wisdom story” with lessons for leaders “coded into the play.” It takes a big thinker to make the leadership lessons in the Bard’s play visible to the likes of me.
I met Richard when he gave the keynote at my first conference for Vistage chairs. His talk spotlighted the leadership lessons that Shakespeare coded into nearly every act of Henry V. Olivier the younger made his presentation especially memorable by slipping into the character of King Henry and playing the scenes. He gave a memorable performance that inspired me to read his book. There I found new tools to use in coaching the members of my new Vistage CEO group.
Olivier’s book included a quote from Act V, Scene III of Henry IV Part 2 on the importance of a coach that I’m particularly fond of. Young Prince Hal says to his Lord Chief Justice “My voice shall sound as you do prompt my ear…to your well-practiced wise directions.” What executive coach wouldn’t love to be hear that from a client?