Lesson No. 9: Be gracious. It is the right approach. It generates good karma. “Karma” is Sanskrit for “action” or “deed.” And right action, coupled with right intention, multiplies itself.
It is November 1940. Neville Chamberlain has just died. Winston Churchill is now prime minister, having replaced his political rival Chamberlain in May 1940. Churchill told Chamberlain that he and his wife should take as much time as they needed leaving No. 10 Downing Street, the home of the prime minister. Chamberlain never forgot. While he didn’t support Churchill 100 percent, he never actively opposed him.
It fell to Churchill to eulogize Chamberlain at the House of Commons. It is one of the greatest speeches in the English language. Churchill starts off by acknowledging the roles chance and circumstance play in our lives: "In one phase men seem to have been right, in another they seem to have been wrong. Then again, a few years later, when the perspective of time has lengthened, all stands in a different setting."
Today's heroes are tomorrow's goats; today's goats are tomorrow's heroes. Churchill talks of how Chamberlain's hopes for peace were dashed — recall the iconic photo of Chamberlain returning from Munich and his meeting with Hitler, the peace treaty fluttering in the wind as he deplanes and his announcement of peace in our time.
Churchill goes on, "But what were these hopes in which he was disappointed? What were these wishes in which in which he was frustrated? What was that faith that was abused?" Churchill answers: "[T]he most noble and benevolent instincts of the human heart — the love of peace."
Earlier in the speech, he delivered these empathetic, honest and heartfelt lines: "The only guide to a man is his conscience; the only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions. It is very imprudent to walk through life without this shield, because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations; but with this shield, however the fates may play, we march always in the ranks of honour."
Churchill teaches lawyers to be gracious. He implores us to act with character. He counsels us to be decent. Following his advice is just not that hard. For example, some mistakes by lawyers can result in a judge pouring out the client based solely on that mistake. But sometimes the judge doesn’t do that; she spends a little more time and notes in her holding that she would have reached the same result in the absence of the lawyer’s error.
Once, in a tough venue for employers, I lost big in a trial. The plaintiff's lawyer took a minute to tell me I had done a good job. He acknowledged that he and his client had won a big verdict but noted that they still had to keep it. That was gracious.
I try to extend that spirit to others. At the end of my depositions, I thank the plaintiff for his courtesy and professionalism in a tough experience. Sometimes, lawyers do not do these kinds of things, because we think we will look foolish, appear weak or be exploited. But Churchill took the long view of right actions. Attorneys should, too.
