The Thursday Leadership Insight; "Let Us Dream "Three Leadership Steps from Pope Francis to Guide All Leaders to Build a Better Future
This weekend marks their most important celebration for Christians worldwide , Easter. The Easter season is for the 2.38 billion Christians worldwide, a time of resurrection and new beginnings. It is also the second week of spring for everyone, a time of new beginnings. As we think of new beginnings amid the still lingering pandemic, economic and social unrest, leadership is critical. Everything does rise and fall on leadership, as noted by John Maxwell. One concern or question is are there any leader you can look to for leadership guidance. We have recently witnessed much more self-serving leadership than serving leadership. Is there a bright light of leadership who has some straightforward, simple guidance to make a path for a better future? What leader can we look to who is forward-thinking honest, humble, curious to learn from different perspectives? Who is determined to serve and connect with all people despite their beliefs or agreements with his? A leader who will be faithful to their beliefs while being able to stand up to anyone who abuses the truth or those less fortunate? Who is courageous enough to stand up for what is right in a soft-spoken yet powerful manner and seek to reach out and connect for all on an array of platforms. Various sources worldwide have used these descriptors to characterize the leadership model set by the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis. Installed on March 13, 2013, He is the leader of 1.34 Billion Roman Catholics worldwide. Pope Francis leads a congregation that accounts for approximately 17.7% of the world population, according to a March 26, 2021 report by Carol Glatz of the Catholic News Service.
Pope Francis is a unique leader for many reasons. He is the First pope from the Americas, where he was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires. He is the first pope from the Society of Jesus, The Jesuit Order. Pope Francis took his title in honor of St Francis of Assisi, the Jesuit Order founder. Pope Francis is also a committed world leader who sees himself as a servant first. He is a humble , listening, and learning leader who does not seek the spotlight yet is adept at using his platform to promote dignity , respect and service for all, no matter their beliefs. The Pope has traveled the world and served as an emissary of connection to numerous countries, notably Sarajevo and Bosnia, Palestine, Iraq and Cuba, Greece, Israel and the US and Latin America to meet with various leaders and groups in the country where they live and work. He intentionally reaches out to serve the underserved and forgotten, and alienated members of their society. He is also frank in doing the right thing for all, especially in apologizing for the Church's sad history of sexual abuse and addressing societal issues that affect everyone no matter their faith walk. Francis has been noted for his advocacy of social justice, compassion, and outreach to worldwide people and the responsibility of all to choose to serve. He is very vocal in speaking out against governments and economies which marginalize and disenfranchise people. He has spoken out against some for lack of action on climate change, banning immigrants, genocide, and those who don't follow mask mandates. He will also hold firm to traditions that are not always popular. Pope Francis is also the first pope to use social media platforms, having his own Instagram account and using YouTube and TED Talks to seek ways to intentionally connect through different media platforms.
He has taken the Papacy from a ceremonial management position to a public pulpit to address social justice. Pope Francis demonstrates transparency and the ability to consider all sides and take either or both sides to task for injustice. He will use social media yet also hold conferences to consider the accountability of social media for good. The Pope will stretch the office to include women in the church hierarchy and confront those who are on either side of an issue who don't act in the best interest of all humanity. He is a clear communicator who has written several books on leadership and faith and even an Op-Ed for the New York Times.
Pope Francis has a tough job, a worldwide congregation, an entrenched tradition-laden past.Above all, remember people choose to go to and serve in the church. They can choose not to attend or serve as well. He really is a leader of a primary volunteer sustained organization. Interestingly while church attendance is declining worldwide, it is not in the Catholic Church; according to the Carol Glatz article noted earlier, the Vatican reported an increase of 16 million Catholics from 2018 -2019— a 1.12 percent increase compared to 2018 while the world's population grew by 1.08 percent. Pope Francis has personally been recognized around the world for his leadership. He has been named Man of the Year by several organizations since 2013. Pope Francis was even named by Esquire as the best-dressed man of 2014 and has been pictured on Rolling Stone's cover. He has been listed in the top 5 most influential leaders and the only nonpolitician since 2013. I bet that although gratifyingly , the awards are not as important to Pope Francis as being the servant leader of his congregation and to the world.
In a time where rising above is crucial to everyone, whether it be called resurrection to Christians or Recovery. We all want to move forward to a better future. In his latest book published on December 1, 2020, during a second surge of the COVID 19 pandemic, Let Us Dream; The Path to a Better Future, Pope Francis writes in the prologue, " I see this as a time of reckoning. Your categories and ways of thinking get shaken up, priorities and lifestyles are challenged. We are in a time of crisis. The question is, how are you going to come through this crisis. The basic rule of a crisis is that you don't come out of it the same. If you get through it, you come out better or worse, not the same. We all can be creators of our futures. From this crisis, we can become better or worse. We can slide backward, or we can create something new." Despite these troubling truths, Pope Francis notes the many examples of service to give him hope and encourage all of us to dream and create a path to a better future together. This Thursdays' Leadership insight describes three straightforward yet profound steps leaders can follow to guide us forward, dream again and build a path to a better future.
Step 1 See clearly beyond yourself and your organization to the world view.
Pope Francis asks leaders these straightforward questions: How do you view yourself, others, your organization, your community, and the world? He encourages all leaders to drop the myths of self-sufficiency and "So-Whatism" or indifference to those not like us or acting as victims to instead develop clarity for what the world needs and your responsibility. He urges leaders to communicate with heart and connection a vision of service. The Pope asks leaders to expand their view to the world's people's concrete needs, not only their organization's interests. He calls on all leaders to develop a mindset of possibility to expand thinking about possibilities and opportunities and see more clearly the needs of all.
Step 2.Choose Wisely
Pope Francis asks leaders to consider how we make our decisions as leaders, what values do you adhere to, and what is your decisions' purpose? He writes that "a time of trial is always a time to distinguish the paths of good that lead to the future from other paths" This step requires the clarity developed in step one plus the choice of path. Leaders who choose wisely make choices based on dialogue, reflection, discernment, and choices grounded in non-negotiable values. He cites the values of life, nature, the person's dignity, work, and relationship as those non-negotiables. Discernment allows leaders to navigate their different organizational, societal contexts to serve the common good. Pope Francis notes this requires collaboration, asking, listening, and respecting diverse points of view. This requires the courage to be uncomfortable with not knowing the answers. The leader to choose wisely must be humble and vulnerable to be curious and inquisitive to the organization's opportunities and the world and have awareness and discernment of false narratives that can take the organization off course.
3. Act to do Good
Pope Francis asks leaders today are you acting and doing for the greater good? He notes that calamities can lead us to act together for the common good. When we think of past crises like Pearl Harbor or 9-11, we have seen this action in most leaders. He encourages us to act in fraternity instead of individualism. He notes that individuals or organizations must reimagine fraternity. The Pope defines fraternity as "a sense of belonging to each other and all of humanity to come together for a shared horizon of possibility." He is unequivocal that the choice is ours to act and move either forward in fraternity or backward. Pope Francis notes that to dream, leaders must act to do good and build hope as leaders for all people to have a better future. Acting to do good is a win for everyone. Leadership expert and author Jeff Henderson writes "that doing good is good for business." Acting to do good is serving the community, the business, the organization, and the world.
It is a fascinating coincidence that the start of pandemic lockdowns began on March 13, 2020. March 13,2013 marked the 7th anniversary of Pope Francis's installation as the Pope. His leadership model gives all leaders a three-step straightforward guide to dream and build a better future. Pope Francis notes we are at "a time of reckoning and moving through the challenges of today we will not be the same. We will either be better or worse but not the same." Leadership by all of us, not just those with titles and positions, will determine our path to building a new future. The leaders' ability and choice to see clearly, choose wisely, and act to do good is crucial to building a pathway to a brighter future. This, as Pope Francis notes, is a choice for all leaders to commit to a much bigger context than your organization, your community, or your country. Leaders today who choose to follow Pope Francis's and the late Senator John McCain's counsel to serve a purpose bigger than yourself can build a better future. Craig Groeschel states that as leaders, we could do better to create a" New Better Normal." In this time of the resurrection and new beginnings, a leader has three steps to build that pathway from Pope Francis.
The Leadership Question / Challenge for you is.
1.Can you choose to see clearly, choose wisely, and act to do good for all?