DGT Episode 272 - Leading With Love - The Christian Leaders Advantage Part 4

The Catholic church has always taught that work was genuinely a human activity.  Meaning that it was something that we did that made our lives better.  But with the increase of technology, social media, and the changing demographics of the work force, work itself seems to be a different kind of experience.  Nevertheless, the truth about work hasn’t changed.  And God’s vision for work laid out in the Bible remains the same.  This is a Christian advantage.  By letting the truth of our faith inform our leadership Christians protect and enhance the working environment for all involved.

In trying to understand the advantage that the Christian faith gives to us in our leadership, there’s no more powerful place to look than our perspective on heaven.  Afterall, eternal life is the backdrop behind everything a Christian does, the ultimate goal of all our motivations.  But what practical difference does this make in the perspective that we take at work.  Well, in fact, it makes a big difference if we let it.  In this fifth part of our series on The Christian Leader’s Advantage we explore the power of the idea of heaven. 

In some ways all leadership is the same.  Individuals have to move groups of people to accomplish things in unity.  What then is the Christian difference and what does a religion of love have to do with leadership?  In this fourth part of our series on The Christian Leaders Advantage, we explore the difference that love makes in leadership.  Not only does it speak to the emotions of all involved, but it allows leaders to penetrate more deeply into what really motivates people to be their best.  And being the best of all things, why wouldn’t love make us the best of all leaders.

How does the approach a Catholic takes towards leadership differ from the approach anyone else takes?  Does our faith in Christ make us better leaders?  In this third part on our series “The Christian Leader’s Advantage”, I examine the fact that Christians believe in eternal life, and I examine the practical ramifications that this belief has on our ability to lead others well.  Afterall, if Jesus Christ called us to lead and he called us to be Christians it’s because our Christianity has something wonderful to do with our leadership.  And I’d like to show you how.

When it comes to leading others, Christians out to have a distinct advantage.  After all Christians who lead believe that they are leading in the hand of God and following his lead.  But what does this advantage actually look like?  One spot where we can see it particularly is in our belief that our sins can be forgiven.  How does our claim about the forgiveness of sins impact the world of work?  In this second on our series on the Christian advantage I want to explore the power of mercy to transform our vision of leadership.

Christians have long professed that we are at the same time like everyone else and different.  We’re the same because we are human just like anyone else but we’re different because we have received the grace of Christ.  Well if this is true then our leadership will also be the same and different.  Our leadership will have to follow the same laws as everyone else and the same structure but we should also be leading with the grace of Christ.  I wanted to find out what this meant and share a short course with you.  A series of talks on this subject to help you appreciate the Christian advantage.

So far in this series on the four anchors we’ve looked at how God is the secret to human success.  How this is expressed firstly by the family being anchored by God and how it’s extended by our work being anchored in our family.  In this next conference I take a look at how our culture stands to benefit by being firmly anchored in our work and the key role that Catholic business leaders play in transforming the culture by bringing the values of the Gospel through their families and through their workplace into the heart of society.

Whether we like it or not all of us have to work every day.  So what’s the secret to working with satisfaction and fulfillment?  In this third segment in our series on the Four Anchors I explore what work could look like when it is anchored soundly in our identity as who we are.  And in particular I take a look at how that identity of who we are is given to us in a profound way by our family.  Just as our family can be anchored in God our work can be anchored in our family and the values that they give us. 

Faith and family values just seem to go together but why is this so and what happens to our family values if we separate them from faith?  Many young families today are doing just that trying to see if we can maintain a family without necessarily linking it back to God.  On the other hand the Catholic church consistently teaches us that God is the key to family unity and to family greatness.  But what does this mean?  In this second part of our series on The Four Anchors we explore the real blessings that faith represents for our families.

As we try to navigate our way as Catholics in a modern world many of us wonder what the recipe is for true success.  Everyone wants a happy world and a healthy country but many people aren’t very clear about what role the Church or God has to play in giving us those.  In fact, however, there is a very clear recipe.  And I like to call it the four anchors.  In this five part series I am going to walk you through those four anchors and give you practical tips on how to implement them yourself.