What we think is the right road
A good leader knows what he or she is about; a good leader organizes, trains, motivates, supervises and ensures success. A good leader does all these things – while pointing to the latest management guidebook – effectively. A good leader writes vision statements, talks the newest "quality management" lingo, always conforms to "best practices," and gets results.
But it's the wrong road
Many hundreds of books purport to explain how to lead and manage. There are great leadership lessons to be learned, we hear, from the world of business, the military, even sports. These lessons normally consist of listings of "principles" and "traits" or the recitation of stories. There are certain adages or apothegms we are supposed to learn and there are personal characteristics that we should try to master. Although there is mild merit in these things, the fact is that much of what passes for instruction in leadership is little more than a parade of clichés, which, under scrutiny, may prove to be more deranged than directive. That is because proper leadership is not about good results; it is about results for good.
"Do anything it takes to win!" "No pain, no gain!" "Better sweat now than blood later!" Here is the problem with leadership by slogan: When we try to reduce the chemistry of leadership to a single element, we misrepresent the moral, political and human complexity of what it means "to show the way to others." These six words are the essence of what leadership means, minus one critically important adjective.
For example: Catholics must never do anything it takes to win, on a baseball diamond, on a battlefield, in a courtroom, or on the campaign trail. If, at any time in their education, Catholic students are told that winning is all that matters, their moral vision is jeopardized and may become warped. The missing adjective is right. Our task is to show the right way to others. That is what good leadership means.
It was Warren Bennis, the organizational consultant, who said, "Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing." But how do leaders discover the "right thing"?
To know and to do what is right requires an education in what is good and in what virtue means. If we are "technically and tactically proficient," but use our talents in the service of what is wrong, then we betray our common humanity. An "education" not grounded in the loam of commitment to moral worthiness is counterfeit. Among the great teachings of the history of salvation is the repeated lesson that faithfulness to God brings success, while disobedience brings personal, even national, disaster.
The "good counselor" Professor Germain Grisez talks about enduring "Modes of Responsibility" which can serve as preliminary guidance. I take great liberty here in dramatically condensing them, but here are some of the key elements of Christian leadership:
1. Develop our talents and employ them with gratitude, devotion and unswerving loyalty to the One who bestowed our talents originally (see Luke 12:48).
2. Build community (see Catechism of the Catholic Church 2045).
3. Act reasonably, never merely to satisfy appetites and urges.
4. Do what we ought to do, even when the task is disagreeable.
5. Never discriminate unreasonably. Also: Be justly merciful and mercifully just.
6. Act in the light of moral truth, not just to keep up appearances. Prefer the light, even the glare, of what is true to the emotional shade of what is comfortable.
7. Be patient and long-suffering whenever possible.
8. Do what is fruitful, but do not try to get the best results at any price. Also: Know the value of things, not only their cost.
So that's it: leadership in eight "easy" maxims!
But it ain't so. Those maxims are useful, and so is the key ingredient of the natural law: Do good and avoid evil (1 Thes 5:21-22). Similarly, St. Paul's declaration that "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me" is also important and comforting. But these are not self-explanatory adages. They require interpretation; they require grace.
We must always pray for the grace to know what is the right and good and true course to pursue; to realize that having the strength to do all things comes from Him, for Him; and that "the Law of God entrusted to the Church is taught to the faithful as the way of truth and life" (CCC 2037).
The essence of good leadership, then, lies always in our being faithful followers. The first, best and inviolable "maxim of leadership" is Our Lord's command: "Follow me" (Mt 16:24).
Deacon James H. Toner serves at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro.
Using the passage from the Prophet Isaiah where the Lord promises a new heaven and a new earth, Pope Francis recently said that God dreams about us. "God thinks of each of us and loves each of us. He 'dreams' about us ... about how He will rejoice with us," the pope said. "The Lord dreams of me! He thinks of me! I am in the Lord's mind and in His heart" – each of us can say this! And according to Isaiah, he concluded, God has many plans for us, "plans typical of one in love."
Yes, my dear young readers; God has dreams and plans for you! Each of you is on the Lord's mind and in His heart. And His plans are always plans of love, plans for your happiness. Our foundress, St. Jeanne Jugan, grew up in a poor family during a difficult period of history. She didn't have much, but she knew that she was uniquely loved by God. When a young man proposed to her, she turned him down, saying, "God wants me for Himself." She knew that God had a definite plan for her.
I pray that God will give each of you the grace to say with conviction, "God wants me for Himself." Maybe that won't mean belonging exclusively to Him in the consecrated life, as in the case of St. Jeanne Jugan; nevertheless, He wants you for a life-project that you and He will accomplish together – for a work that He cannot complete without you.
Perhaps God is calling you to give yourself to a spouse with whom you will give birth to new children of God. Perhaps God's plan is for you to use your gifts and talents professionally for the building of the culture of life in a society that, while rich, is so spiritually poor. It has been said that millennials are the most pro-life generation. I witness this every year when I attend the Vigil and March for Life in Washington, D.C. I also witness youthful generosity in the many students who volunteer in our homes, bringing joy to the elderly.
For many years, our pro-life efforts have been focused on the unborn, and this is definitely a noble and necessary cause. But, a new frontier has opened in the battle for life, a new struggle that needs attention, courage and zeal. In the wake of the highly-publicized suicide of a terminally ill young woman – someone of the younger generation – the floodgates of death have been released in the form of widespread efforts to legalize physician-assisted suicide in our country. As you discern God's plan for your life, I beg you to consider whether that plan might be taking you to this new battleground for life.
Whenever I meet medical and nursing students, I ask what area of practice most interests them. It is rare that anyone responds geriatrics or palliative medicine. Without diminishing the importance of any other specialty, I always beg them to consider the care of the elderly and terminally ill.
The population of our country is aging rapidly and there is a frightening shortage of geriatric-trained healthcare professionals. The same could be said of palliative care. Many who are already engaged in the battle against assisted suicide and euthanasia believe that the most convincing argument against the taking of one's own life – or the life of another – in response to suffering is to assure that effective palliative care and human and spiritual accompaniment are available to all. The lives of the most frail and vulnerable really are in our hands.
Pope Francis has spoken repeatedly about "cultural euthanasia" – our society's tendency to abandon those who seem unproductive or burdensome, especially the very young, the disabled and the very old. God's plan for many will include married, family and/or professional life. But I believe that He is calling others to give themselves totally to Him, just as He called St. Jeanne Jugan, by devoting a life of service to the elderly and dying, whose lives are increasingly at risk in a society that no longer recognizes their inviolable dignity. What could be more counter-cultural?
Sister Constance Veit is communications director for the Little Sisters of the Poor.