Dare Great Things For Christ

When it comes to leadership, I think you can learn as much from bad leaders as from good ones. It is certainly the case in the life of King Saul. King Saul ruled over Israel for forty-two years, beginning when he was 30 years old and his life spanned in 1 Samuel 9 all the way to 1 Samuel 31. During his remarkable rule his faults become more and more evident. And by studying them we can learn to avoid them in our own lives.

Anyone who has ever successfully led a project to its completion can readily attest to the fact that leadership is as much of a challenge from the inside as it is from the outside. Leaders not only have to adjust to changing circumstances and vicissitudes beyond their power, but leaders also have to play the mind game of being ready to pivot. Being able to let go of the ideal that can sometimes keep us from success. Our faith can help us here. Not only by inspiring us but by keeping us realistic.

Every Advent Christians are treated to readings from the Gospel which remind them to stay awake. In Luke chapter 21 Our Lord says, “Keep on the alert at all times.” Obviously Our Lord here is referring here to a spiritual alertness but it’s also something that we can apply in the world of business. To what degree does a leader need to stay awake at all times? How can his faith help him to do so? And how can his business help him to stay awake in his faith?

There’s an old adage in Christianity that God writes straight with crooked lines. The same can be said with many on their course to success. A good leader needs to know how to bend and when to bend. It’s like the old adage, “Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.” That ability to change course in the midst of a project we refer to as “pivoting.” Beginning by our understanding of success and lived through our willingness to change , sometimes our ability to succeed depends upon our ability to pivot.

We all know how important determination and effort is to succeed at what we do. After all a large portion of success is determined by our effort to get there. What can be overlooked in this process, however, is the nimbleness and agility of mind necessary in order to make the adaptations or even change course as needed on our pathway to success. This flexibility is something that we can cultivate and grow and it is at the very root of the art of power.

The second book of Pope St. Gregory The Great’s “Rule For Shepherds” comes to a close by tackling one of the thorniest problems in the heart of a leader. Whom do we serve? On the one hand if we serve only God we run the risk of losing the people that we are called to lead. However, if we serve the people that we are called to lead we can sometimes run amuck of our relationship with God. The proper balance can only be found in what I call the love of a servant.

Christian leaders have to face a constant dilemma. Belonging to Jesus Christ and at His Service their hearts are focused on heaven, and yet having to care for the things of this world their time and their mental capacity are dominated by the things that pass. How do we keep our souls alive and fresh in God when are time is spent with the anxieties and cares of life? This constant problem for Christian leaders could be summed up by the expression “We need to live in the world, but not of the world.”

Christians who lead faith’s many paradoxes – we are supposed to be humble and yet we have authority. We are supposed to be docile and yet we assert ourselves. We are supposed to be virtuous and yet we place ourselves in positions that are often tempting. Is it any wonder that so many people think Christians aren’t supposed to lead or so many Christians refuse to lead. Pope St. Gregory the Great gives us a keen answer in chapter 6 of his second book, “On The Rule Of Shepherds.”

When you’re in charge you don’t have a cookie cutter method for guaranteeing you are doing what is right. You have to make decisions that are difficult and uncertain and you have to make them every day. Pope St. Gregory the Great understood this because he had to do the same thing every day. And in his book, “The Rule For Shepherds” he gives us insight on how to bridge the paradoxes and find a way to leading our people with a unified vision despite the variety of decisions that fill our day.

Pope St. Gregory The Great has an enigmatic phrase at the beginning of Chapter 3 of his second book of his monumental work, “The Rule Of Shepherds.” He says, “A leader must be first in all of his actions.” Simply put this means a leader’s actions must be excellent, magnanimous, kingly. There’s an indication and an expectation that those who lead live at a higher level of excellence. But how does this call translate for a Christian today?

Let’s face it , leadership is hard! As soon as we start to lead we encounter a whole host of sacrifices and challenges that we never had to face before. And yet for everything daunting about it, leadership also presents a unique blessing for us. By persevering through the challenges and continuing to do the mission Christ has given us, we grow in holiness and in charity. This is the positive message that Pope Gregory The Great puts forth in his second book of his Rule For Shepherds, and his wisdom from more than a thousand years ago continues today.

Christian leaders have to do something difficult – we have to constantly balance asserting ourselves and using our talents and being humble before God. Errors can happen in both ways either by not asserting ourselves or by losing sight of the service we render to Jesus. St. Paul was not unaware of this challenge. In First Timothy 5 and 6 he shows St. Timothy how to make this proper balance and exhorts him to lead while being friend to Christ.

For anyone who has tried it is obvious that leadership is not easy. Besides skill and opportunity, a leader needs a tremendous amount of steadfastness and just plain grit. In St. Paul’s First Letter to St. Timothy, we see St. Paul encouraging St. Timothy with the full realization that what he has commanded Timothy to do will be hard. May the Word of God inspire us to persevere as well.

Does God expect us to lead out of our strengths or out of our weaknesses? It seems like both are good options. In the First Letter of St. Paul to St. Timothy chapter 3 we read St. Timothy give us a list of the qualifications that God wants to see from his bishops and his deacons. Qualifications which could be applied to any of our positions of leadership. Is this an indication that God wants us to be qualified for leadership? If so, how do we get that qualification?

St. Paul the Apostle was an incredible leader in his own right. Before dying he left his legacy in writing both to St. Timothy and to St. Titus. In this second part of this series on his First Letter to St. Timothy we see Paul express the importance of leadership and the specific contribution to Christian leadership for everyone in the world. As Paul encourage Timothy so also he encourages us today.

Sacred scripture is replete with references to leadership. And the wisdom of the Saints such as St. Paul can have great impact for the leaders of today. What does St. Paul leave behind him? In this series on the First Letter of St. Paul to Timothy I want to examine the lessons in leadership that Paul bequeaths to his young follower. In chapter one we see Paul leaving a legacy of character based leadership that must both maintain the old and bring it to the new.

Even though written fifteen hundred years ago, Pope St. Gregory The Great’s landmark treatise on the rule of shepherds continues to provide valuable insight to us today on what it means to lead. Notably he says that leaders have to be virtuous. Why is this? What’s the role of virtue in leadership? This last class in this series closes out our treatment of this great document by comparing the virtuous rule with the rule of the wicked.

Leaders know that they’re talented. You know that you have gifts that you are called to share. But how do you stay humble? Is it ever okay to refuse the honor of leadership out of a sense of deference or humility? And on the other hand is it ever okay to accept to lead because you know that you are the best one for the job? These are the questions that St. Gregory The Great treats in chapters 5, 6, and 7 of his book, “Regula Pastoralis”, that is, “A Rule For Shepherds.”

Leadership is a challenge for all of us for many reasons but almost every leader complains of being distracted. Not being able to focus on what they have to do and sometimes being overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of the problems before them. You might be interested to know that the same complaint was shared by a pope, Pope St. Gregory The Great. In his book, “On The Rule Of Shepherds” he writes about this and about how to overcome it by the grace of God.

St. Gregory The Great lived a very long time ago but his words remain important for us today. Even though he was a Pope and a Bishop he was first and foremost a leader. His book, “On The Rule Of Shepherds” is a hallmark on leadership from the middle ages to today. Looking at this book can give us insights into what Christ asks for those that follow Him by leading others.

One of the biggest challenges a leader has is the fact that everyone of us is responsible for the decisions that the people under us will make. How can I help the people that I lead make good decisions? St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica writes a great deal about making choices. By following his teaching we can have an insight that will help us to make good decisions.

Of all the kings of the Old Testament King Solomon stands apart. His reign was stupendous. His wisdom very deep. His success by worldly standards was unparalleled. And yet he fell and he fell mightily. What can we learn from his example? An example of a talented man, extremely wise and extremely successful, but whose lack of virtue gets the better of him.

Among the saints in the New Testament Saint Paul stands apart. He was successful in ways that we can’t even measure. He was the apostle to the Gentiles, the founder of churches, and the model for evangelizers. But Saint Paul also knew hard times: riots, anxieties, afflictions, imprisonment. What can we learn from the things the Bible shows us where Saint Paul knew not only victory but defeat.

Sometimes leaders feel like they have to be perfect. It can be good, however, to study the times that leaders aren’t perfect. Seeing that God shows mercy to us even when we are imperfect can encourage us to continue to lead even during difficult times. In Part 3 of our series “Where Leaders Fail” we read about Moses. Just like we can learn from his wonderful deeds, we can also learn from his weaknesses.

Most of us are aware of the story of King David, of the way that God blessed him and of God’s eternal covenant with David. And most of us are aware of the story of Bathsheba and David’s famous lack of chastity. The lessons of the life of David for our spiritual lives are many and deep. But studying his failures from Bathsheba to Absalom his son to his census of Israel teaches us a powerful lesson about God’s merciful love for his leaders.

We all know that leaders need to be strong and bold and brave. We all know that a group’s success will depend in large proportion on the success of it’s leadership. But what happens when leaders aren’t successful? Have there ever been saints that showed us the other side of failure? What can we learn from the stories of leaders, even Saints, who may have come up short from time to time. Join me in my first part of the series, “Where Leaders Fail.”

In this final episode of my class on Saul Alinsky’s book, “Rules For Radicals,” I give an overview of this thought and describe why I think his thought is so dangerous and at the same time so appealing. His vision for organizers represents a vision that many people share about leadership. But I think it’s also an opportunity for us who follow Christ to understand better what the world is really longing for from our leadership.

In Chapter 7 of his book, “Rules For Radicals” Saul Alinsky unveils what he is most famous for. The rules for victory that radicals can follow for organizing a community for change. These rules have sparked much interest and debate for many years because they are both practical and successful. But are they aligned with the Gospel? Where can we both learn from them and do better?

All leadership implies power but does power explain what leadership is? From a Catholic perspective leadership requires principle. Saul Alinsky would disagree. In Chapter 6 of his book, “Rules For Radicals”, Alinsky lays out a very powerful description of leadership without principle. What does the Christian have to say in response?

Regardless of what we have to say, our ability to say it is equally important. If we cannot express what we have inside no one will listen to us anyway. This is the great intuition of Saul Alinsky in “Rules For Radicals” where he outlines the words used by organizers, the education necessary for an organizer, and highlights the importance of their ability to communicate. How does this relate to the Gospel?

Does a good end justify the means taken to get there? Our leaders authorized to do the good “no matter what” by any means necessary – even means that are wrong? Can we judge something as being wrong when it actually produces something that is good? These questions are central to the question of leadership and the decisions we have to make as leaders. Our Lord in the Gospel gives and answer to these questions. So does Saul Alinsky in Chapter 2 of his book “Rules For Radicals.” Let’s compare the two.

Christ calls us to be leaders, but what exactly is the point of the leadership to which He calls us? In Saul Alinsky’s, “Rules For Radicals,” he presents a vision of leadership devoid of an ultimate end goal. Instead he insists on the ultimate relationship between leadership and the power to wield it. Couldn’t this be a Catholic moment? Isn’t this an opportunity for us to build a bridge with his thought?

Sometimes the voice of the Gospel can best be heard by listening to the voices of those who do not profess it. Such is the case for Saul Alinsky. In his “Rules For Radicals” this social agitator outlined a series of beliefs that have produced stunning success. But have they produced effective leadership? What’s the difference between his philosophy on leadership and the truth of the Gospel?

The persuasive power of any falsehood lies in its proximity with the truth. Machiavelli’s, “The Prince”, contains many truths and many statements which ring true to our practical ears. Chapter 22 concerning the secretaries of princes is a great example of this. In this chapter we read many things that help us understand our role as servants against the backdrop of Machiavellian reasoning.

Chapter 18 of Machiavelli’s “The Prince” is the most controversial of them all. You could even say that it represents the heart of his thesis. Concerning the way in which princes should keep faith it flies directly in contradiction to what most of us as Christian leaders understand as the power of leadership coming from Christ. And so it is a fascinating study to help us understand where Christ wants us to lead and how.

In his book “The Prince”, Machiavelli makes the claim that it is better for a leader to be feared rather than loved. He makes the claim that the efficiency of maintaining power is better for those who instill fear in their followers rather than those who live the good life. What is a Christian to do in front of such a claim? How did Christ live this out? This is what we want to talk about today.

Leaders find themselves at the crux between the practical and the ideal. Between what is expedient and what is best. How does our faith help us navigate staying in power and using our influence while following the teachings of God and practicing virtue? One way not to do it is to follow the teaching of Machiavelli. In this first of series of talks on anti-leaders we begin by studying Machiavelli and “The Prince.”

For many leadership is an act whereby we influence people to do what we need them to do. This is a very true idea, however, Catholic leadership goes much deeper. For Christians, we try to lead other not only to do what we need them to do but to be whom God has made them to be. This lasting legacy needs more than skill of command and organization, it needs the ability to inspire in a way that leaves a legacy.

St. Thomas Aquinas is a genius of thought and in this course for Catholic leaders I present a summary course on the four aspects of all human action essential for leadership. In today’s class I focus in on the doing of deeds. All leadership goes from vision into planning and from planning into execution. Doing the great things we planned is the key to having impact in our lives.

The story of Wilbur and Oliver Wright has captivated our hearts for more than a century. In their lives we see an example of innovation being the first in flight and proving the impossible can be done. But their story is more than just daring. It involved a lot of planning and strategy and their ability to make good decisions. St. Thomas Aquinas concurs. Great leadership begins with great dreams but great dreams need great strategy for execution.

By our baptism God calls us to be leaders of our world. But where does leadership begin? How can someone who might not customarily be used to leading actually begin to assert themselves under God’s grace in the world around them? St. Thomas Aquinas offers us some amazing insights from his Summa Theologica. Let’s dive in and talk about the movement of the will and it’s power to lead.

Leadership can be defined in many ways. Yet most definitions converge on the same point: Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. The impact my life can make on others to bring others to act for a common vision. But how can I harness my leadership for its maximal impact? How can I lead best? St. Thomas Aquinas gives us the key – he teaches how to act with depth.

After a lifetime of leadership, effort, struggle, all of us want to leave a legacy behind that will be remembered. When it is all said and done what will your life leave behind? These are the questions that all of us face, King David was no different, and before he died he spoke to Solomon, his successor, and he gave him his legacy. By looking at it we can get a better glimpse of our own.

Our Lord doesn’t call leaders to lead just in their businesses. He calls them to lead in their families as well. And in fact, it is especially in the family that the depths of who we are are tested and tried and where our leadership most intimately links us to our God. It was no different for King David as he confronted the real struggles in his family. He also had to find his own peace with God.

Shouldn’t it all be easy? That’s a question we a lot of us ask ourselves as we lead our businesses and work with our children – we have a dream in our mind, a kind of nostalgia, that life should be at least easy if we are good at it. And we all want to be good at it so we think somehow or other that troubles or difficulties are signs of failure. But that’s not what the life of King David shows us. By looking at how King David dealth with trials we can learn a little bit more about our own.

Every good leader knows that there are few people in his life more important than those that he trusts to give good advice. It was no different for King David. In his kingdom he relied up on prophets and friends to guide him. One of his most trusted advisors was the prophet Nathan. Their relationship was profound. Nathan corrected David twice and saved his kingdom and his legacy forever. Let’s listen to the story and listen to God speak to us as well.

All of us need time where we can take a break and let our spirits be renewed. In this very special series on “A Retreat With King David” I lead business professionals through a time of reflection on their own life as leaders in light of the story of King David. God’s incredible working in David’s life presents a paradigm to help us understand the challenges and the grace of our own.

Every leader needs to pray. The best gauge of h ow much we can stand for is the dignity of the One before whom we knee. Prayer is the heart of leadership because it preservers the heart of the leader. And the inner spirit that soars towards God can transform the world as needed. One of the most powerful prayers for leaders is the prayer of The Litany Of Humility and I’m looking to sharing about it with you.

All too often in my life as a Priest I hear business leaders tell me that they don’t know why they pray. It’s almost as if for them the time spent in prayer might be spent better by doing productive labors. Our inability to honor the sabbath properly speaks to this. What does the Bible have to say about the prayers of leaders? What you find in the Bible might surprise you.

The life of the Virgin Mary is the tale of a hero. In the face of great obstacles and great opposition Our Lady demonstrated leadership in the most excellent of ways. She goes before us as a mother and a queen, but it can be easy to overlook the harrowing and trying circumstances in which she lived. Learning about her heroism helps us in our own.