Dare Great Things For Christ

When it comes to leadership, so much can be said and so much has been said but sometimes it can be a little confusing. What exactly is meant by leadership? What is not leadership? What comes first and defines the rest? In the approach we take at the Saint John Leadership Network, leadership begins with what we call aspiration. Profoundly put, this means the ability we have to dream. In today’s course we examine where dreams come from and how to recover its power in our lives.

Last week Dare Great Things passed a milestone. We issued our two hundred and first episode. Our past episodes have been an amazing journey through stories and documents and lives of the saints that have inspired us. I’m really excited to be able to start something new now. Starting with Episode 202 we will begin to present the Saint John Leadership Network’s own proper teaching about leadership. We call it AUDEO and I am honored to share it with you. In today’s episode I give an overview of this unique Catholic take on leadership.

In his encyclical letter, Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII makes an astounding claim. He claims that the involvement of religion in the affairs of the state and the economy is necessary as a means to regulate and perfect the potentials of the same. The same can be applies to each one of us in our workplaces where we lead. Understanding how our faith impacts the well running of our offices can help us be convinced of the power of our faith in our business.

It has been said that human society can be divided into those who have and those who have not. For many this opposition is the source of a lot of contention and fighting. But does it have to be this way? In his encyclical, “Rerum Novarum”, Pope Leo XIII uses this very question as an opportunity to present an attractive proposition of the Gospel. In fact, Christians need to fill the space of possessions, talents, needs, and wants with Jesus Christ. This is the role of the Catholic leader.

Let’s face it, work is hard, and a lot of people would prefer not to work if they didn’t have to. What would a world look like where people no longer worked? People no longer owned things? Wouldn’t it be better or in fact could it be really worse? Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Rerum Novarum explores this asking the question about the link between work and dignity. It becomes a practical question for each one of us.

It’s common place to hear people say that things are happening today that have never happened before and that social tensions today are unique. However true that statement might be it needs to be grounded in history. In point of fact, the political tensions, the social tensions we suffer from today have roots as far back as the industrial era. Encyclical “Rerum Novarum” by Pope Leo XIII addressed many of these tensions and by studying them we can gain jewels of wisdom for our approach today.

It has been said that success is more difficult to handle than failure. For those of us striving for success this can be hard to hear. How can I be successful with success and why do worldly honors trip up more people than difficulty and challenge? St. Thomas Aquinas tackles this question when he treats the virtue of magnanimity. How can Christians really strive after greatness and stay humble? This is the secret of the virtues and the secret that St. Thomas teaches about in his Summa Theologica.

The topic of leadership is not always popular among Christians. In particular because many Christians see leadership as the antithesis to humility. Afterall, how are you supposed to remain humble while deploying all of your gifts in the sight of others? How are you supposed to remain humble while seeking after success? St. Thomas Aquinas gives some amazing insights into the virtue of humility and shows that it is actually essential for every leader and that in fact true leadership can make you humble.

Living a life according to virtue is difficult for anybody. But those in roles of leadership are under particular scrutiny by those whom they serve. Everyday their every decision has impact on the lives of those who are underneath them. For this reason, leaders have a special need for the virtue of justice. By justice each person is given what is their due. But justice presents special challenges both in its acquisition and in its practice. Thank goodness for God’s grace.

Whether we are leading a family or a business, all leaders have to do things they don’t want to do. As soon as we assume the mantle of leadership we assume the mantle of facing things that could hurt us – that could take valuable time away, valuable resources away or even inflict pain at different levels of our life. This means that leaders have to be brave. St. Thomas Aquinas describes the virtue of bravery as fortitude and this third of the cardinal virtues is what we are focusing on today.

If you were to take a poll of famous topics for leadership talks, temperance would not rank in the top ten. For most people temperance has a negative connotation, as if it were something that would stifle our energies or keep us from the fullness of life. St. Thomas Aquinas has a very different vision for temperance. According to him, temperance is necessary for the full life and has the power to guarantee that we attain the real good and excellence for which we are called. This is why studying it is so important for us today.

If there’s one thing that organizational leaders share in common it’s the need to know how to advance when no one else does. Being at the top means being in charge and being at the top means making decisions that will influence the entire organization for the better or for the worse. The goal, obviously, is to make decisions well and this ability is much more than instinct. For the ancients, they called it the virtue of prudence. I’d like to look at St. Thomas Aquinas and what his teaching on prudence has to teach us today.

There is a lot of talk today in Catholic circles about virtuous leadership. This is a good thing but do we know why virtue is important? Why does Catholic teaching emphasize virtue so much and why should it be important to business leadership? In this second of a six part series I lead our participants through an examination of the importance of identity for leadership and the importance of virtue for identity. If we are going to admit that leadership comes from who we are and virtues help define who we are, then we see the importance of virtues for leadership.

Today, talking about character based leadership has become something fashionable. Books, podcasts, seminars all focus in on on the term virtue. By so doing we feel like we have checked of our Christian box in leadership and that we can safely move on. But the issue is actually much more explosive. Character influences leadership in ways that are profound and fruitful. The question is why? In this first of a six part series I would like to look at the question more deeply.

Work is a constant in everyone’s life. While we can enjoy it or we can suffer from it we cannot avoid it. But how can I make it better both for myself and for the people that I manage and the people who benefit from it? And if I work in business how can I ensure that my business remains ethical – truly focused on the true good? The key is to look at work and business from the human perspective. It is something done for the human person – for the benefit of everyone else.

Leaders don’t get to be in the positions they have by doing nothing. Instead they are men and women of action. But does this mean they have to leave their people behind? Is there a way to unite both action and productivity? In the Catholic imagination the two are linked. In the 13th century a Dominican friar named St. Thomas Aquinas gave valuable insight into this very question by comparing human leadership with God’s governing of the world.

It goes without saying that those in leadership want to lead well, but what are the elements that make a leadership effective, good, and even pleasing to God. Without a doubt St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica gives us some valuable insights when he talks about how God leads the world. If our leadership could be patterned on God’s we’d be sure to be doing something right. In this second of my six part series, I focus on how good leadership makes the people who follow us more fulfilled in who they are.

People of faith in leadership positions find themselves in a quandary: “How do I live my faith when my job is vowed to be in a secular situation?” After living that way for many years sometimes we can feel that faith does not actually have a place in the workplace after all. The roots of Catholic leadership go very deep. St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica lays a surprisingly relevant foundation for Catholic principles. I can’t wait to unpack them with you in this series of six talks delivered for the St. John Leadership Network.

The power of a leader is as much about your connection with your people as it is about your vision and your drive. People follow those who trust them and they trust those who show the character and the drive necessary not only to succeed but to succeed at doing what’s right. This is the difference that Christ makes. In this sixth and final episode of our six part series on The Difference Christ Makes we look at the unique impact Jesus gives to his followers in their connectivity with others and how that applies to our businesses.

Leaders are people of action. They are those who have the vision to know what they want to do, the intelligence to choose how to do it, and the dedication to carry the job through. It’s this last part that is a challenge for many. As soon as we begin the process of change, challenges will arise from every side. How do we form the heart and the drive sufficient to carry our actions through to success. In these circumstances the Christian faith shines beautifully and gives Christian leaders and advantage.

There are many aspects about the Christian faith which we could find surprising. Not everything that God does is immediately self evident to us. But something that never ceases to amaze me is that God insists that we take action. Not only does he say, “Do not be afraid,” but He doesn’t let us off the hook. Leaders have to make decisions constantly and engage themselves in operations that can sometimes be risky. Why does God do this? And where can we find the courage to embrace the risk and still dare the deed?

Making decisions is one of the most important aspects of leadership. Our people count on us to make decisions and to make them well. And the decisions of a leader can jeopardize or bless the entire organization. But making choices is not something that comes easy. How do we know which of the many possible good things to choose from is the right one? For a Christian, Christ comes to bring us clarity. But what does this clarity look like? How are we supposed to know what God’s will is and what we are supposed to do.

We all know that Christ makes a difference. But what difference does he make in leadership? Is there anything distinctively difference about the way Christians approach leadership with the way seculars approach leadership? What difference does Christ make? In this second of a six part series we examine the impact of Christ upon our creative energies. Our ability to think outside the box and to create a whole new context for our ideas. Surprisingly this is something we have done throughout the history of the Church and something we will keep doing today.

While the demands of leadership are the same in every context, the way we approach leadership can be different. A Christian leader leads differently than his secular counterpart. From visioning an idea to implementing a strategy, through carrying out and executing a plan, a Christian leader simply leads, frankly, differently. In this first of a six part series I examine the difference that the Christian spirit demonstrates in leadership. I attempt to answer the question, “What difference does it make if I believe?”

Daring great things is where leadership begins but leadership ends in the hearts of those that follow us. Its not enough just to be doing things or doing them well, we have to do them in a way that other people can associate with and make it their own. How do I make my great accomplishments a legacy that other people can benefit from? We have to learn how to make our spirit come alive in the hearts of others. Ironically, has to be concerned about his followers.

Before we do anything it is important to stop and plan how we are going to do it. Afterall, failing to plan is planning to fail. Part of this planning includes looking at where we could actually falter along the way. And understanding the reasons we fail can become a big reason why we succeed. In this fourth talk of the series we look at one of the biggest reasons we fail: fatigue, burnout, and being frustrated along the way.

One of the most common struggles that people have is passing from planning into action. We all know what we should be doing, but actually doing it can seem an insurmountable hurdle. How do we pass from having good intentions to actually having good actions? Every leader has to do this. St. Thomas Aquinas gives us the key. He says the fear of risk can be overcome by love and by the knowledge of what is right. Putting this into practice can be the difference between failure and success.

Without a doubt leadership is hard and challenging and sometimes we get so used to its challenge that we forget that we can make it successful. We learn to get used to the very things that can cause our downfall. But it doesn’t have to be this way. One of the big elements we struggle with as leaders is our ability to plan effectively - our ability to see our way through changing circumstances. This ability is impeded by what we call “fog”. And understanding “fog” is the key to overcoming it.

Leaders want success. In fact, our people count on us to provide success. That’s why it’s important to know where we can fail. Being able to identify the pitfalls along our road is sometimes as important as knowing where we are going. In this series of five talks, we examine the five pitfalls that plague leaders and hinder our ability to succeed. The first among these five is fatalism and I am so looking forward to breaking it down and opening it to Christ’s hope in your lives.

Most people acknowledge that humility is a good thing – something that we should desire. But most leaders struggle to find how humility can be incorporated into their leadership. Afterall, don’t we need to be assertive? Controlling? In Charge? It would seem that if I am a leader and I am humble that I am weak and incapable of providing the vision and the drive necessary for my people. But this is not the case. In the third chapter of St. Paul’s letter to Titus we see that God’s vision for humility is a powerful one. In all the books of the bible we find God’s wisdom

We all know that leaders are responsible for getting things done, leading their organizations to be productive, but sometimes we forget that leadership also sometimes has a softer side and that a leader is just as responsible for the moral climate of his organization as he is for its efficiency. In St. Paul’s letter to Titus, Chapter 2, St. Paul outlines his vision for the leader as the guardian of excellence. And what he wrote Titus then still holds true for us today.

One of the most intriguing figures in the New Testament is St. Paul. Most commentators spend their lives speaking of Paul’s theology and his relationship with Christ. But Paul was also a leader who left a legacy of leadership to his followers and one of his closest disciples was Titus. In Paul’s letter to Titus we find the heart of a leader speaking to his leader about the task he has appointed him, In Paul’s own words a leader is God’s steward.

There are a lot of things in common between business leaders and mountain climbers. In the same way that mountain climbers dare heights by precipitous paths, so the business leader needs to walk a fine line. So many things need to be balanced at the moral level and inside of themselves in order to do what they do and do it at the service of Christ. But there are principles to guide them. One of these principles is that everything we do we do for others. Our success means the success of everyone involved in the process.

In our work with the Catholic leader, one of the most sensitive subjects is whether or not they should make money. For some reason making a profit in our business has been associated with guilt and corruption. But is this association always accurate? Is it okay for a Catholic business leader to actually make a profit? And if they do make a profit what are they supposed to do with it? How does Christ qualify our success and how does a profitable Christian business look different from those of the world?

All of us engaged in business know the scenario: the people at the top have the answers, the people at the bottom have the wherewithal, the people at the top become frustrated that the people at the bottom don’t execute, and the people at the bottom become frustrated because the people at the top don’t listen. How do we reverse this paradigm? In 2011 the Catholic Church issued a document called, “The Vocation Of The Catholic Business Leader.” It issued six principles to govern leadership in this environment. The fourth principle, that of subsidiarity, tackles just this question.

The non-Christian world can paint a vision of capitalism wherein the owner or the boss rules over the workers – exacting from them the maximum of energies in the most efficient way possible for the maximum profit. Is this the vision that God has for our work? In its landmark document from 2011, the Catholic Church lays out six principles to guide business leaders. Its third principle holds that business ought to be for the benefit of the employees as well as the customer. Here’s how this can be done.

All of us are aware of the cliché that says that business somehow causes poverty or that capitalism and charity are opposed. This however is challenged by the document that the Vatican released in 2011 called “The Vocation Of The Catholic Business Leader.” This document issues six principles that are to guide every business leader in their vocation and its second principle says that businesses are there to help the poor. How can this be done?

In 2011 the Vatican issued a guide for Catholic business leaders called The Vocation Of The Business Leader. This is an amazing document, because in 33 pages it summarizes the whole teaching of the Catholic Church about business but does so in a way that is helpful to the Catholic business leader to read in a short time. I want to go through that document and study it’s six practical principles for business, because in a short form it gives us a real guide for our real lives.

There are many ways to define the secrets of success but Christians have their own definition. St. Paul lays it out clearly for us in his second letter to Timothy, chapter 4, where he speaks about the crown that is laid up for him in the Lord. Through all of his life and his many ups and downs, St. Paul witnesses that Jesus is faithful and has carried him through all his adversities. His words of hope help inspire us in our own journeys as leaders.

St. Paul is surely one of the most famous leaders listed in the entire Bible. His life reads like a passionate saga and is full of lessons for those of us, who being Christians, want to follow in his footsteps leading in our world. That’s why his second letter to Timothy is so important. It actually chronicles St. Paul’s final letter in the New Testament to one of his closest disciples. Chapter 3 of this letter offers us wonderful insight into faith’s capacity to bring us endurance.

The second letter to St. Timothy is one of St. Paul’s most important letters. Written at the end of his life, St. Paul leaves a legacy in the heart of Timothy for how he sees good leadership. It remains for us an amazing example of God’s teaching for us on the power and truth of our own leadership and gives us valuable insights on what it means to please Christ by being a good soldier for Him.

Without a doubt the life of St. Paul is one of the best places to study leadership in The New Testament. Not only is his life an example of leadership, but in his first and second letters to Timothy St. Paul exposes his heart. He writes to his beloved son, Timothy, whom he has formed in the faith, a letter of encouragement to go all the way to the end to mee the demands of leading God’s people. His letter gives us many wonderful insights, especially in how to rekindle the fire.

Let’s face it, leading other people is always hard. If we say the wrong thing in the wrong way, we can actually discourage the people we are supposed to encourage. On the other hand if we just tell them the truth like it is, we can leave them without any motivation. Speaking the word of truth correctly is the art and essence of good communication and leadership. But how do we do this? Pope St. Gregory the Great offers us some amazing insights in his book, “On The Rule of Shepherds – Book 3.”

The Bible has a lot to say about talking. The Letter of St. James, for example, says the tongue is the key to all virtue. The Lord Himself says that every idle word we’ll have to account for on the day of judgement. And all of us who manage people know the power of words to edify and destroy. But what is the value of silence? Is it possible to talk too much? How do we know when to speak and what to say? Pope St. Gregory The Great has some valuable insights.

As anyone who has ever had to manage people can tell you, jealousy is one of the most dangerous passions to rule in the workplace. Where people are jealous division will ensue and teamwork will corrode. We who are in charge of our teams needs to watch for jealousy and ward against it. Pope St. Gregory The Great in his “Rule Of Shepherds” Book 3 gives us some valuable insights we can apply as we try to lead our workplace with Christ.

Anyone who has had to manage any kind of organization – from a business to a family – know that patience is called for. But how do we build it up? How do we grow in our patience? How do we know when impatience actually could be a good thing? Pope St. Gregory The Great gives us wonderful insights in his tenth admonition in his third book “On The Rule Of Shepherds” written for pastors of the Church but applicable for business leaders and family leaders alike.

Ask any organizational leader what the hardest part of their job is and they will all say the same thing: managing people. You cannot win at business without your people but your people can often be the reason why you lose at business. Becoming an excellent manager is an art and a skill as much as it is a natural talent. In Chapter 3 of his work, On The Rule Of Shepherds, Pope St. Gregory The Great gives us insight that can help all of us with this difficult task.

The one who rules by fear will also fall by fear. This saying was never so true as in the life of King Saul. In this fourth and final episode of our commentary on Saul as an anti-leader, we see the end of his life. He ends his life in the same way that he led it: fearful, controlling, and inconsistent. Saul’s life is a wonderful pattern for us to avoid. He shows us that the temptation to control ends in folly.

While seeing how leaders fail is never pleasant, it can also be very instructive. The rise and the fall of King Saul in the Bible presents us a good example of a life gone awry in authority. His jealousy over David is the most well known symptom but the cause of his downfall is rooted in something much deepers. Not only character flaws but a stubborn pride that keeps him from accepting God’s will. Here’s part three on my series on King Saul.

Most of us remember the life of King David in the Old Testament but few of us have ever studied the life of King Saul. Just as the life of King David is an example to us of great leadership, the life of King Saul can be seen as an example of what I call “Anti-Leadership.” In 1 Samuel 18 and 19, this anti leadership is on full display. Saul is not only afraid to fight Goliath but gets jealous of David. And his fear and jealousy have a lot to teach us about our own leadership today.