We Happy Few: A Call for Inclusion
By The Army Leader
The 25th of October is St Crispin’s day, a festival that celebrates the martyrdom of Saints Crispin and Crispinian around 286 AD. It is also (and perhaps better) remembered as the anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt, part of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France.
On the morning of the battle King Henry V gave a rousing speech to his soldiers, chronicled in Shakespeare’s play almost 200 years later.
It is a famous motivational speech. During World War 2 Laurence Olivier boosted British morale by delivering the speech on the radio. During the legal battle for the 2000 US presidential election, members of George W Bush’s legal team joined arms and recited the speech.
But Shakespeare’s fictitious version of the speech also has a second message, not of motivation but of inclusion: a message of bringing people together and tying them into a cohesive team.
The well-known phrase ‘band of brothers’ is taken from Henry V’s speech. Readers will recognise it from the title of Stephen Ambrose’s 1992 book and the later TV series about E Company of the 101st Airborne during World War II.
In the closing scene of the TV series Carwood Lipton, First Sergeant of Easy Company during the Normandy landings, quotes Shakespeare’s speech. You can watch it here, at 12:55.
So what does St Crispin’s day have to do with inclusion?
We few, we happy few
Let us start with Henry V himself and clear up his motivations.
Henry is not a social justice warrior with a diversity and inclusion agenda. He is a nakedly ambitious leader who wants to conquer France and make a name for himself. You can feel his ambition when he is discussing whether he would like another 10,000 English soldiers at the battle.
If we are mark’d to die, we are enough
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
Or a more modern translation, taken from ‘No Sweat Shakespeare’:
If we are marked down to die, we are enough for our country to lose. And, if marked down to live? The fewer the men the greater the share of honour!
For the love of God, don’t wish for one man more.
I’m not interested in gold, nor do I care who eats at my expense. It doesn’t bother me who wears my uniform.
Such outward things don’t come into my ambitions.
But if it is a sin to long for honour? I am the most sinful soul alive.
What drives Henry is the will to win and take his share of the honour that winning brings. Of course, Henry V does not want everyone in his team; he has standards. If his soldiers want to be part of the in-group they have to be willing to give up their lives for the team. If they do not, Henry would rather get rid of them.
O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmorland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
Or:
No, don’t wish for one more soldier.
Rather proclaim to my army, Westmorland, that anyone without the stomach for this fight should leave now.
He will be guaranteed free passage and travel money will be put in his purse.
We would not like to die alongside any man who lacks the comradeship to die with us.
Notice that he is not proclaiming that he would not like to fight alongside anyone who would not put the team first. He is stating that we, the team, would not. He sets the price for entry to the team: the discipline of putting the team before personal safety.
We band of brothers
Henry sets the price of entry to the team as selfless commitment. But in what way is his speech a message of inclusion?
The speech was written by Shakespeare to demonstrate how inspirational Henry V was. In the play, it shows the audience that Henry has finally transitioned from young man to true king.
Henry V’s inspiration is underpinned by calling his team to a higher purpose: a higher purpose that is not defeating France but is being part of a team so strong that the members of the team will be part of it forever.
And he does not care about the background of the soldiers who join him in the team. No matter where they are from, if they fight alongside him they will be his brothers.
Check out his words in the most famous part of the speech:
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
Or:
We few; we happy few; we band of brothers!
The man who sheds his blood with me today shall be my brother; however humble he may be, this day will elevate his status.
And gentlemen in England, still lying in their beds, will think themselves accursed because they were not here, and be in awe while any speaks who fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.’
Achieve the Task, Develop the Team and Develop Individuals
Consider, then, what the speech says about building a team.
Henry is ambitious and desires glory. To get it he needs to motivate his team.
“If we are marked down to die, we are enough for our country to lose. And, if marked down to live? The fewer the men the greater the share of honour.”
He sets the price. Any soldier not willing to put the task and the team before their own life is not welcome.
“Anyone without the stomach for this fight should leave now.”
But this is the only price he sets. Background is irrelevant.
“The man who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; however humble he may be, this day will elevate his status.”
And any who are willing to pay the price will be good enough to be the leader’s brother.
“The man who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; however humble he may be, this day will elevate his status.”
In his Action Centred Leadership model, John Adair tells leaders that part of their job is to build cohesive teams. That means building teams where every member feels included in the team’s identity.
A cohesive and inclusive team sets a high entry standard, but it is a standard that can be reached irrespective of background. Once that standard is achieved, it considers everyone who has done so to be part of the team.
So, on St Crispin’s Day, think about how you can make your team a few, a happy few. No matter how ‘lowly’ the aspiring members are, make sure that if they reach the standard they are in the team – a band of brothers.
Now read the speech in its full glory.
WESTMORLAND:
O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work today!
KING HENRY:
What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin, Westmorland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark’d to die, we are enough
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmorland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name 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—
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester—
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.
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 remembered—
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
CS Lewis also wrote about inclusive leadership and the danger of excluding people from your team. Read more about the subject in Exclusion and Inclusion: The Inner Ring
