Though I wouldn’t say that to his face.
He was like 6’2”. And rather muscle-y.
If you look at Washington’s military record…it’s actually kind of embarrassing. He more or less caused the French and Indian War, and the rest went like this for him:
So it’s impressive that he was appointed general of the Continental Army right after the outbreak of the American Revolution.
But…his record didn’t really change:
That final loss at Fort Washington was the worst of the entire war. And they’d named the darn thing after him too. Well, at least he won the Battle(s) of Saratoga, the turning point in the war for the American side.
Oops.
Washington did win two small back-to-back victories at Trenton and Princeton. In fine American fashion, he defeated a bunch of Germans (no really, they were mercenaries hired by the British).
Then…
Hey, a tie! That’s improvement. But his record didn’t really matter, because the next battle won the entire war:
He wasn’t Napoleon, Hannibal, or Robert E. Lee
Those men all won lots of battles but still lost their wars. Washington did the opposite. His army had fewer men, fewer guns, less training, less officer experience. And it showed.
But none of that mattered, because Washington had a better strategy. He lost some battles. Actually, lots of battles. But always got away without surrendering. Washington had a special knack for not totally losing.
When he won, he won completely.
There really is a simple, silly strength in not giving up. Washington and those first patriots had it in spades. But they also had a strategy that worked. Even when their tactics didn’t.
The best tactics in the world will only win small victories for your business. But a good strategy eats tactics for breakfast.