“Cometh the hour, cometh the man.”

History is littered with moments where one person turned the tide when all seemed lost.

In May 1940, Churchill was reluctantly chosen by Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister of Britain’s new, national government.

While he was the only candidate acceptable to the opposition parties, he had a poor reputation in Parliament, particularly after his role at Gallipoli and his defection to the Liberals.

When he refused to negotiate with Hitler, instead deciding to “fight on the beaches,” the political elite thought he was mad.

Yet, he was proven right.

That ability to inspire is one of the intangibles of great leadership.

We know it when we see it, but it’s not always immediately obvious.

Ukraine’s President Vlodomyr Zelensky was written off as lightweight, a joke, who accidentally won the top job after starring in a comedy about a teacher who becomes the President.

Until then, his credentials included voicing Paddington in the movie and winning the Ukrainian version of ‘Strictly’.

Only last week, the New York Times dismissed him as “seriously in over his head”.

Yet he’s now a global hero, holding together a fragile, yet lion-hearted coalition of his fellow countrymen in the face of the fourth largest army on earth.

His gift is his accessibility

Hunted by Putin’s merciless ‘Wagner’ mercenaries, he’s still posting short videos from the streets of Kyiv, reassuring citizens that he’s still in charge.

Memorably, when President Biden offered him a way out, he responded: “I need ammunition, not a ride”.

Here at home, our Prime Minister, much maligned after ‘partygate’, is also showing strong leadership.

He may push the conventional boundaries, but this crisis is revealing a man who is more than up to the challenge.