Dare Great Things

Like anything stepping into leadership requires training.  Stepping into Christian leadership requires that we not just be skilled but also ethical and holy.  How to integrate these two worlds?  How to integrate our spirituality, our faith, and the realism of the world of business?  The Church’s Magisterium put forth a wonderful document that outlines a way forward.  By educating Christians in the principles of Christ, and in the use of the virtues, she points forward a way for us to not only do business but to lead.   Register for the AUDEO Masterclass:  https://saintjohninstitute.org/event/audeo-masterclass-business-owners-and-top-level-leaders/

Without a doubt something that all leaders have in common is that we are men and women of action.  Practically oriented, skilled in social settings, leaders tend to rise to the top because they engage their talents in their situations to make a difference.  They are men and women of action.  Does the Christian faith have room for them and do they have room in their hearts for Christianity?  What about contemplation, receptivity, submission to God?  In this second part of our series on applying the gospel we explore these actions and more.   Register for the AUDEO Masterclass:  https://saintjohninstitute.org/event/audeo-masterclass-business-owners-and-top-level-leaders/

It’s an amazing fact that we spend nearly half of our waking life at work.  The relationships we form there are real, intense, and impact our overall vision of life.  For the Christian this represents a real challenge.  How can I live the relationships I have at work or in my social setting in a way that glorifies God and helps others to know him better?  In this first of our series on Applying The Gospel we analyze the Catholic Church’s insistence that whatever we do serves to make communities of persons.     Register for the AUDEO Masterclass:  https://saintjohninstitute.org/event/audeo-masterclass-business-owners-and-top-level-leaders/

Whatever format it’s found in, teamwork has always played an essential role in getting anything done.  It’s so important in fact that much of contemporary literature around leadership focuses on a leader’s ability to generate and maintain healthy teams.  But isn’t the notion of a team something that is essential to the Christian religion?  And if so shouldn’t Christianity offer a special advantage to a Christian leader?  In this tenth episode of our series on the Christian advantage in leadership I take a look at this question. Register for the Fit Women’s Hike:  https://saintjohninstitute.org/event/fit-womens-hike-2/

Most Christians charged with positions of leadership tend to separate what they have to do every day in a practical sphere from there growth as Christians.  Spirituality and practicality are often looked at as opposites.  When this happens though, two things occur:  firstly, the world of practicality is left bereft of spiritual guidance and, simultaneously, our spirituality loses the strength that comes from our practical endeavors.  By uniting the two the Christian has the advantage.   Register for the Fit Women’s Hike:  https://saintjohninstitute.org/event/fit-womens-hike-2/

The theme of putting your people first is popular today in leadership theory.  Many studies are done and cited that conclusively show that focusing on company culture affects the bottom line in a positive way.  But focusing on people and developing people has not always been the hallmark of western capitalism.  In fact many of the advances towards more humane work come from Christianity.  Why is this?  And how can harnessing it give us an advantage?

When it comes to leadership what we do on the outside flows from what we have on the inside.  Our thoughts and our motivations drive the actions which determine our success.  Here Christians have a distinct advantage.  Ever since Christ rose from the dead Christians know the truth about our final victory over evil and therefore our daily victory over problems.  In this seventh of our series on the Christian leadership advantage we explore the Christian power of positivity.

The Catholic church has always taught that work was genuinely a human activity.  Meaning that it was something that we did that made our lives better.  But with the increase of technology, social media, and the changing demographics of the work force, work itself seems to be a different kind of experience.  Nevertheless, the truth about work hasn’t changed.  And God’s vision for work laid out in the Bible remains the same.  This is a Christian advantage.  By letting the truth of our faith inform our leadership Christians protect and enhance the working environment for all involved.

In trying to understand the advantage that the Christian faith gives to us in our leadership, there’s no more powerful place to look than our perspective on heaven.  Afterall, eternal life is the backdrop behind everything a Christian does, the ultimate goal of all our motivations.  But what practical difference does this make in the perspective that we take at work.  Well, in fact, it makes a big difference if we let it.  In this fifth part of our series on The Christian Leader’s Advantage we explore the power of the idea of heaven. 

In some ways all leadership is the same.  Individuals have to move groups of people to accomplish things in unity.  What then is the Christian difference and what does a religion of love have to do with leadership?  In this fourth part of our series on The Christian Leaders Advantage, we explore the difference that love makes in leadership.  Not only does it speak to the emotions of all involved, but it allows leaders to penetrate more deeply into what really motivates people to be their best.  And being the best of all things, why wouldn’t love make us the best of all leaders.

How does the approach a Catholic takes towards leadership differ from the approach anyone else takes?  Does our faith in Christ make us better leaders?  In this third part on our series “The Christian Leader’s Advantage”, I examine the fact that Christians believe in eternal life, and I examine the practical ramifications that this belief has on our ability to lead others well.  Afterall, if Jesus Christ called us to lead and he called us to be Christians it’s because our Christianity has something wonderful to do with our leadership.  And I’d like to show you how.

When it comes to leading others, Christians out to have a distinct advantage.  After all Christians who lead believe that they are leading in the hand of God and following his lead.  But what does this advantage actually look like?  One spot where we can see it particularly is in our belief that our sins can be forgiven.  How does our claim about the forgiveness of sins impact the world of work?  In this second on our series on the Christian advantage I want to explore the power of mercy to transform our vision of leadership.

Christians have long professed that we are at the same time like everyone else and different.  We’re the same because we are human just like anyone else but we’re different because we have received the grace of Christ.  Well if this is true then our leadership will also be the same and different.  Our leadership will have to follow the same laws as everyone else and the same structure but we should also be leading with the grace of Christ.  I wanted to find out what this meant and share a short course with you.  A series of talks on this subject to help you appreciate the Christian advantage.

So far in this series on the four anchors we’ve looked at how God is the secret to human success.  How this is expressed firstly by the family being anchored by God and how it’s extended by our work being anchored in our family.  In this next conference I take a look at how our culture stands to benefit by being firmly anchored in our work and the key role that Catholic business leaders play in transforming the culture by bringing the values of the Gospel through their families and through their workplace into the heart of society.

Whether we like it or not all of us have to work every day.  So what’s the secret to working with satisfaction and fulfillment?  In this third segment in our series on the Four Anchors I explore what work could look like when it is anchored soundly in our identity as who we are.  And in particular I take a look at how that identity of who we are is given to us in a profound way by our family.  Just as our family can be anchored in God our work can be anchored in our family and the values that they give us. 

Faith and family values just seem to go together but why is this so and what happens to our family values if we separate them from faith?  Many young families today are doing just that trying to see if we can maintain a family without necessarily linking it back to God.  On the other hand the Catholic church consistently teaches us that God is the key to family unity and to family greatness.  But what does this mean?  In this second part of our series on The Four Anchors we explore the real blessings that faith represents for our families.

As we try to navigate our way as Catholics in a modern world many of us wonder what the recipe is for true success.  Everyone wants a happy world and a healthy country but many people aren’t very clear about what role the Church or God has to play in giving us those.  In fact, however, there is a very clear recipe.  And I like to call it the four anchors.  In this five part series I am going to walk you through those four anchors and give you practical tips on how to implement them yourself. 

Most people want to see some positive change in our culture.  But many people struggle to know exactly what this should look like.  Are we struggling just for struggle’s sake or is there an end goal that we are supposed to be striving towards?  In this last part in my series on cultural leadership I wanted to give you the big picture.  Looking at Matthew 25 where we can understand why Jesus wants us to impact culture.  Namely, as an act of love for him.

All of us want to make a difference for Christ in our culture today.  But most of us don’t know where to begin.  A wide variety of issues competes for our attention.  One thing the Catholic church has consistently argued is that the family is the root of society.  As the family goes so the world will go.  Maybe this is why for the Catholic church so much attention is spent on developing family ties.  Why is this so, however?  And what importance should we give the family in our own efforts to transform the culture for Christ today?

Most Christians today recognize the importance of engaging our culture with the Gospel.  Changes are afoot that would radically alter the way that we raise our families and understand our fundamental freedoms.  This sense of urgency has led many to find the most effective ways to impact the culture.  How do we transform a culture before it transforms us?  One of the most overlooked methods, however, is the simplest: the direct encounter we can have with the people around us.  If cultural leadership were football, this would be the ground game, and this is the method our Lord, Himself, showed us.