DGT EPisode 291 - Going Towards The Need - Leadership Lessons From The Summa Part 1

When we assume a role of leadership we set ourselves apart from the people that we lead.  By definition the leader is at the top or first in line.  And leaders in general play positions in society where power is a part of their lives.  But what do we do as Christians?  Shouldn’t we be the same as every other Christian?  And what if our position of leadership brings us a little too close to the world and its way of thinking and acting?  What did our Lord do?  How did He live?

All of us know that leadership is a demanding thing.  Physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Anyone who stands in front of the crowd and points the right direction will take a beating.  And yet strangely this is exactly what God asks us to do.  Maybe it’s for this reason that our Lord himself took times to rest.  In this second part of our series on Leadership Lessons From the Summa, St. Thomas Aquinas teaches us the three different ways that Jesus rested.

Without a doubt leadership requires us to engage other people.  Whether it be in networking for new partnerships or interviewing new employees, we live an active life.  For many Christians this is problematic.  We can sometimes feel that being a leader and being active means that we can’t be as contemplative and prayerful as we should be.  In this lesson of leadership coming from St. Thomas Aquinas I lead you in a study of his treatise on the life of Christ to glean insights there. 

Few saints exemplify the power of Catholic leadership more than a simple Italian nun named St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.  Although plagued with bad health and many restrictions in her life she found a way to be incredibly productive founding schools, orphanages, and hospitals on four continents.  She teaches us to overcome whatever lies in our way as we pursue God’s will – sharing with us her personal motto, “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.”

Regardless of our positions and responsibilities communication is always a challenge.  How did the saints communicate when they needed to?  In today’s episode on Leadership Lessons From The Saints, I look at St. Patrick.  Not only did he manage to communicate foreign ideas to his audience, but he did so in a way that was persuasive.  He managed to do something with his communication that all of us leaders need to do.  He communicated facts in a way that moved and promoted action.  So, his leadership lesson from 1600 years ago remains true today.

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.