Rotman Leadership Talk: Saint John Paul II - The Pope & The CEO

I was at the U of Toronto's Rotman School of Business this morning to attend a talk by Prof. Andreas Widmer. The talk was part of a series on leadership organized by the Archdiocese of Toronto; Newman Centre Catholic Mission; Rotman School of Management at the U of T.

Prof. Widmer served as a Swiss Guard at the Vatican in his youth. As Swiss Guard, he was responsible for protecting the Pope, with his own life if necessary. He later became a successful corporate executive, successfully bringing more than 50 technology products to market, and CEO of strategy consulting firm OTF Group (formerly part of the Monitor group). He is now Director, Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of America. Widmer authored a book titled The Pope & The CEO: John Paul II's Leadership Lessons to a Young Swiss Guard. Today's talk is a summarized version of the book and highlights some of the key lessons from a leadership point of view.

Widmer grew up as a "farm boy" in a small village in Switzerland. He joined the Swiss Guards in 1986 as a young recruit in search of meaning in life. On Christmas Eve of his very first year, his Sergent Major put Widmer on overnight duty - at a time when he would otherwise be celebrating Christmas with family back home. Homesick and suffering from culture shock far from home, young Andreas was feeling lonely and lost that evening. He was in fact so depressed about spending his first Christmas away from home that he was secretly crying while trying to hide from his fellow Swiss Guards.

When the pope emerged from the papal apartment on his way to celebrate midnight mass he saw Widmer at his post. Widmer was in a sorry state with his eyes still red from the silent sobbing he endured that evening. John Paul approached and said, “You are new, aren't you? Of course! This is your first Christmas away from home. I appreciate the sacrifice you’re making for the Church. I’m going to pray for you as I celebrate mass tonight.”As Widmer reflects on that exchange, he recalls that the Pope did not tell him what to do, but instead offered to "just do it" for him - to pray for him. He was also the only person who had the empathy to sense his fragile emotions, none of the other guards—his friends—had noticed his anguish that night. Only the one person who would serve one billion Catholics paid special attention to him. It was at that moment that Widmer learned the true meaning of servant leadership. 

Over the years Widmer developed a close relationship with the Pope. He admired Saint John Paul II's qualities as a servant leader. Above all, he was deeply moved by John Paul II's holiness and acts of self-sacrifice. Yet the Pope would never accept his admiration, telling the young Swiss Guard that whatever quality that Widmer admires in him, it is not in him, but merely a reflection of God.

So, what are some takeaways from the talk? Let's read on.

The first objective of your company is to be creative

Widmer explains that when we work, when we lead a business, we are in fact co-creators with God. We need to focus our energies on creating something new, something additive and something valuable to society. This means that our business goals should always be oriented towards "becoming more" rather than simply "making more".

Are the goods that you create truly good? Do the services that you provide truly serve? If our goals are oriented simply towards making more then the outcome will tend to be self-enrichment rather than contributing to the good of society. Many of us are very good at making more, but how many of us can say that we are becoming more?

Great food for thought.

The second objective is to support others to be more holy

We are all called to be holy; we are all called to be saints. What this means is two things: First we want to live for a good that is greater than ourselves, and second we love others as we love ourselves. To become a saint really means to flourish and thrive as a human, to realize the full potential of the goodness that can be found inside us.

Widmer shared his experience of unemployment with us. For two years he was unemployed, and he relates to the sense of diminished self-esteem and humiliation that he suffered during that time. From that experience of unemployment, Widmer believes strongly that work is a fundamental requirement for humans to fully flourish to our full potential. Without work, our very humanity is diminished and our call for holiness is severely hampered.

Hence, Widmer calls on business leaders to make it their objective to support others realize their full potential through work. Support your team and your employees to flourish and thrive as much as humanly possible, so that they fully realize the goodness that can be found in them. This involves viewing each individual as a human worthy of dignity: Pay your staff for who they are, not for what they do.

The third objective is to reward

Widmer urges us that our company's final objective is to create in abundance. Our goal should be to create and produce far in excess of what we put into the business originally. This means that all companies should exist to create a profit - an added value that was created by the company, and which did not exist before. In this sense, there is no such thing as a non-profit company, that is an oxymoron! Every company should make a profit, the real question is what do you do with the profit? Again great food for thought.

The Create, Support, and Reward (CSR) framework

Widmer summarized his three points by framing them as "CSR" or Create, Support and Reward. He argues that this framework can be at the center of a company's objectives and can be used by business leaders to motivate everyone towards holiness.

Widmer closed the talk with an encouragement for us to go out and start creating. He used the example of a young boy given a box of colorful crayons. Go out and start drawing. Ask yourself: are you drawing for yourself? or are you drawing for God (the greater good)? Have no fear, paint big, don't wait for permission!