The Pope and leadership

Years ago I received, as a gift, a book titled “Heroic Leadership” and written by Chris Lowney. It had an intriguing subtitle: “Best Practices from a 450-year-old Company that Changed the World.”

It turns out Lowney is a former seminarian who became the managing director of the investment firm J.P. Morgan & Co., and now chairs Catholic Health Initiatives, one of the largest American healthcare systems.

The 450-year-old company Lowney refers to is the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits. Yes, Lowney is a former Jesuit seminarian. I know the title and subtitle seem to be almost immodest, but the book has many insights on how the Jesuits’ training does equip them to take on heroic leadership. The book is a recommended text in the Ateneo Graduate School of Business.

Now comes Pope Francis, who is a Jesuit, and Lowney has another book. It’s titled “Pope Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads” and subtitled “Lessons from the First Jesuit Pope.”

Much has been said about the Pope’s simplicity and humility, certainly traits to be emulated. He also invokes mercy and compassion frequently, something which I wrote about in my column last Wednesday. But there is more to the Pope’s leadership that should offer lessons for many, not just those in the religious sector but also our government officials, corporate executives, school administrators, organization heads—virtually anyone, if you think about it, considering that we all have to become leaders in all kinds of circumstances.

Lowney describes the crisis in leadership that we face today, and his characterization of leaders who are self-absorbed, paranoid and mean can well fit many of the companies or institutions we work in.

To write his latest book, Lowney went through the Pope’s many homilies, speeches and media interviews dating back to his pre-papacy days, and then reflects on how Ignatian (after St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits) philosophy and practice may have shaped the way the Pope exercises leadership.

I will confess to a bit of a conflict of interest here: I studied for 11 years in Jesuit schools, and maintain ties with Ateneo de Manila (which I like to refer to, when I’m in UP Diliman, as “that other good school around the corner”). Seriously, it was only after reading Lowney’s second book that I realized just how important the Jesuit training can be, and how it can leave its imprint not just on seminarians and priests but also on the students of Jesuit schools.

6 commitments

Lowney develops six “foundational commitments” that mark the Pope’s leadership, and that can be used for a new leadership ethos. He summarizes this leadership in three pithy statements that seem almost like paradoxes.

First, know yourself deeply but live to serve others. The Pope’s motto, adopted when he was consecrated a bishop in 1992, is Miserando atque eligendo (Having mercy, he called him), a reference to Jesus choosing Matthew, a tax collector, as one of his apostles. Tax collectors in Jesus’ time (and, to some extent, in our times) were despised, yet Matthew was among the few chosen. It is important for a leader to have self-insight, recognizing one’s flaws as well as gifts.

Second, immerse yourself in the world, but withdraw from the world daily. I found these two commitments to be the most important. The Pope, drawing from his many years of pastoral work and as an educator, talks all the time about the need to walk through communities, to listen, to take action, and to learn from it. He is also committed to learning from the marginalized: “We understand reality better not from the center but from the outskirts.”

Jesuit schools emphasize an engagement of the world, but warn against becoming captives of that world. It is heartening to see how Archbishop Socrates Villegas’ New Year letters—with seven strongly worded, and practical, pointers on simplicity—have gone viral on the Internet.

The point about a daily withdrawal from the world is important. Once asked what he would save in case of a fire, the Pope mentioned his breviary, a small book carried by priests that contain prayers and reflections (and, in his case, letters from his grandmother and a favorite poem).

Withdrawing from the world, for priests and Jesuits in particular, includes having a daily schedule of prayer, reading and reflection. It is a time to be grateful for all the good that transpired, but also a time to alert oneself to what the Pope calls “idols, small and great,” including vanity, “surging pride,” and addiction to power and privilege.

Annual retreat

Lowney mentions how Jesuits take an annual retreat lasting eight days, using spiritual exercises that go back to St. Ignatius. Jesuits are also encouraged to go on pilgrimages—not those luxury ones we see advertised all the time, but those that involve long walks, contemplation, and a simple lifestyle.

I felt this part about withdrawal and silent retreat to be important. Too often, we think of leadership development in terms of workshops and seminars, with professional “coaches” giving pep talks, pushing for more productivity and meeting quotas and targets.

Lowney reminds us that many religious traditions provide for contemplation—for example, the Muslim calls to prayer five times a day. In a more secular world, we may need to remind ourselves of the need for solitude, with executives learning to close the door for a few minutes daily to reflect and meditate. Our offices should provide us with a quiet place for quiet time. What we often see is too much of what Lowney calls “unproductive busyness” and “active nonaction”—terms borrowed from business professors Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal, involving endless texting, cell phone calls, e-mails and meetings.

Lowney’s final pair of commitments: Live in the present and revere tradition, but create the future. Pope Francis has talked about building on stones, or tradition, but not becoming enslaved to the past. We see this in the way he has been trying to break some traditions within the Catholic Church, often amid great opposition.

What I find important is the Pope’s emphasis on living the present. He is said to ask people in the confessional if they play with their children, to emphasize how even the most tedious and repetitious tasks of parenting can take on great significance.

Run into the future, not from it, Lowney writes, and this is something I’ve always appreciated in the way Jesuits educate. Innovation and change are welcome, and we see this, too, in the Pope, who once said, “Fidelity is always a change, a blossoming, a growth.” Another quotable quote from him: “Look forward to the surprise of each day.”

There is much more in Lowney’s book but I would advise that we keep learning from the Pope himself in what he says, not just in speeches and official encyclicals but also interviews with him, and his many passing casual and candid remarks.

What further impresses me about the Pope’s leadership style is his exhortations to be caring, merciful, and compassionate. Take this quote from a speech in 2013 to Brazilian bishops: “Unless we train ministers capable of warming people’s hearts, of walking with them in the night, of dialoguing with their hopes and disappointments, of mending their brokenness, what hope can we have for our present and future journeys?”

It augurs well not just for the Catholic Church but for the world that we have this leader in our times.

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