This week’s post will be short. There’s a lot going on. Deal with it, heroes.
We’re on the last of 4 virtues modeled by the Jesuits and discussed in the book Heroic Leadership by Chris Lowney. The last one is my favorite: it’s the quality of heroism. That’s right, superhuman strength and power. Not necessarily capes or magic powers. On p. 284, Lowney says: “Heroic leadership invites people to assess their daily impact, to refocus if necessary, and to articulate the leadership mark they want to make in the world. It invites us to replace accidental leadership with purposeful leadership, of self and others.” Doesn’t that sound fun?
Jesuits weren’t only driven by love; they were also driven by another ambition, that of magis, or “more”. They wanted more, and they were willing to go to fairly great lengths to get it. They didn’t wait around. They went after things. Lowney, again: “Loyola’s most powerful practical insight about heroic leadership was that it is self-motivated.” The Jesuits didn’t invent self-serving leadership practices, but they definitely took them to some new heights, Ends justified the means all over the late 1500’s.
What I so appreciated about all of Lowney’s book is how he was able to apply the relevant and consistent lessons from the development of the Jesuit society to organizations today. He relates helpful truths to companies in real time without dismissing the equally significant and legitimate flaws in Loyola’s system. When I read the following passage, I felt like it could have been written on this blog:
We’re all leaders, and we’re all leading all the time, often in small, unintended ways. The hundreds of casual encounters with fellow humanity that one experiences each day- buying one’s morning coffee, jostling in traffic, dealing with employees- are all opportunities to convey respect (or not). Innumerable fifteen-second transactions with one’s assistant, colleagues or spouse and children turn into hours of interaction over a month. Few stop to consider the message they’re sending in these passing encounters, which add up to most of one’s waking life. The leader embracing the “one great moment” theory drifts through them, searching out instead the defining dramatic opportunity that will qualify as capital-L leadership. But let’s be honest. More attitudes have probably been shaped for good or bad by a chief executive’s attitude towards employees sharing an elevator ride than by his or her eloquently worded pronouncement intended to make a profound and lasting impression on thousands of lives for generations to come.
And with that, we will close. Come back next time for lots more groovy talk about our favorite subject, self-leadership. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for the full series, Michele. Sorry to have missed you while I was in SB!