Dare Great Things For Christ

Theodore Roosevelt said, “People will not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  It’s a fact that leadership is something that followers bequeath to the one that leads them.  Meaning that we who lead in the footsteps of Christ have to gain the trust of those whom we are leading.  Few saints embody this better than St. Joan of Arc.  She literally lead troops into battle.  Because they believed in her – believed in her vision and saw her courage.  She led from the heart and her leadership serves as an example for us today.

Anyone charged with leadership has to constantly confront difficulty.  In fact any leader will tell you that problems are their playing field.  But confronting difficulty and challenge is not always easy.  It takes courage and bravery.  Pope Leo the Great, the Bishop of Rome from 440 AD to 461 AD, gives us an example of tremendous courage in the face of controversy.  The example he gives in his day can strengthen us to do the challenges in front of us each day in the office and in the family.

Leading with daring might sound glorious but in practice it’s actually difficult to define.  How do we know when our daring is not rationale?  And where can we look to find the surety that we need to dare great thing for Christ?  In this fourth Leadership Lessons From The Saints we take a look at some of the comments by Jose Maria Escrivá.  Not only did St. Jose Maria dare something great for Christ but he described it as a virtue and a necessary component to anything that would call itself Christian leadership.

Of the many saints we could hope to emulate, Pope John Paul II stands apart for his excellence in leadership.  Not only was he Pope of the Catholic Church at a very difficult time in church and world history but his twenty-six year long pontificate was marked by incredible achievements, changes, and unique global impact.  In this third of our series on Leadership Lessons From The Saints we unpack several lessons from the life and teachings of this master of humanity.

Of the many excellent texts on leadership in the Catholic Church’s tradition The Rule of Saint Benedict surely holds a pride of place.  Written around 530 AD by St. Benedict of Nursia this text provided the foundation for the way of life of his monks.  A way of life that shaped many of our traditions in Western Civilization.  This is why his take on leadership is so important.  And he provides us with a valuable lesson in our ongoing series on the lessons of leadership from the saints.

It might surprise many of us to remember that the saints themselves were oftentimes leaders and as such had to shoulder the heavy burden of leadership just like we do.  It can be helpful to learn from them; what did they do, how did they handle the daily stresses of life?  In this first class of Leadership Lessons From The Saints I look at John XXIII’s ten rules for a day – rules that he practiced every day and which certainly could help us as well.

Like anything stepping into leadership requires training.  Stepping into Christian leadership requires that we not just be skilled but also ethical and holy.  How to integrate these two worlds?  How to integrate our spirituality, our faith, and the realism of the world of business?  The Church’s Magisterium put forth a wonderful document that outlines a way forward.  By educating Christians in the principles of Christ, and in the use of the virtues, she points forward a way for us to not only do business but to lead.

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Without a doubt something that all leaders have in common is that we are men and women of action.  Practically oriented, skilled in social settings, leaders tend to rise to the top because they engage their talents in their situations to make a difference.  They are men and women of action.  Does the Christian faith have room for them and do they have room in their hearts for Christianity?  What about contemplation, receptivity, submission to God?  In this second part of our series on applying the gospel we explore these actions and more.

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It’s an amazing fact that we spend nearly half of our waking life at work.  The relationships we form there are real, intense, and impact our overall vision of life.  For the Christian this represents a real challenge.  How can I live the relationships I have at work or in my social setting in a way that glorifies God and helps others to know him better?  In this first of our series on Applying The Gospel we analyze the Catholic Church’s insistence that whatever we do serves to make communities of persons.  

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Whatever format it’s found in, teamwork has always played an essential role in getting anything done.  It’s so important in fact that much of contemporary literature around leadership focuses on a leader’s ability to generate and maintain healthy teams.  But isn’t the notion of a team something that is essential to the Christian religion?  And if so shouldn’t Christianity offer a special advantage to a Christian leader?  In this tenth episode of our series on the Christian advantage in leadership I take a look at this question.

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