purple-orange

How do we understand leadership; what it is and what it means? Leadership is defined by action; it is more than just the exercise of authority. Leadership transcends position and status. It is about choices and intentions. It is about service and the giving of oneself.

In Christ we find the perfect model of authentic leadership. A form of leadership by example, which requires the communication of a model for behaviour. God, the Master of the Universe, in his absolute love, humbles himself and becomes the Suffering Servant, the Pilgrim God with us. God thus leads his creation in his example by demonstrating the Law of Love in his own Incarnation and Passion. God does not merely command us to love without first demonstrating how we are to love. God does not command us to show mercy without first demonstrating mercy. God’s leadership in creation is therefore understood as not merely the exercise of supreme authority, but more profoundly, the action of leading by supreme example. God reveals his truth and love not merely by declaring it, but by demonstrating it in Christ. In light of this, we can understand these words, “if God so loved us, we ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11) It is because we have witnessed such love that we can now follow in the footsteps of it, guided by the ultimate model- Christ himself. It is the elemental integration of one’s intentions with one’s actions. Mahatma Gandhi perhaps understood this idea when he remarked that we should each “Be the change we wish to see in the world”. If we are to lead than we should lead first and foremost by our example, integrating and communicating our intentions, values and vision in our behaviour.

“It is our choices… that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” – J.K. Rowling. Our choices, their underlying intentions, and not so much our abilities, are important aspects of leadership. What we choose to do and how we choose to act influences not only the outcome, but the formation and determination of our character. One may possess a great talent, but it is how one applies the talent – the choice – that reveals and shapes the character and the outcomes. What worth is the possession of great intellect when one’s choices are poor? What worth is great social status when the choices made to attain that status were poor, harmful or destructive of self or others? Jesus notes this when he asks, “For what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and looses or forfeits himself?” Choice then, not merely ability, is required for leadership.

The direction and orientation of one’s inner moral compass of conscience must be informed by a cultivated awareness of truth, for it is the content of one’s consciousness that shapes one’s behaviour. Leadership, therefore, requires that a person’s conscience be based on a solid conscious awareness of the truth of the matter, and not on ignorance. Ignorance is bliss because one can then use the excuse, ‘I didn’t know’, whereas when one is aware of the truth, one is obliged to act based upon that awareness. Being aware of the truth of the matter does not mean hoarding that knowledge for oneself. To lead, once a person is awakened and aware he or she desires fervently to awaken his fellow human beings and to share this awareness with them. A person cannot genuinely lead by ignorance. Jesus notes that leading by ignorance is like, “the blind leading the blind,” they both ultimately “fall into the ditch.” Christ reprimanded such blind ignorance for it was the source of many misguided choices, and he was presumably ridiculed for it, because he lead with an awareness of the truth, and he sought to infuse the brilliant light of truth into his creation to dispell the darkness of ignorance and manufactured deception.

Christ led by example and with full awareness of the truth. As our ultimate model of authentic leadership, Jesus experienced ridicule, rejection, name-calling and ultimately suffering. Leadership is not easy. It can be incredibly difficult and riddled with challenges, trials and tribulation, even immense suffering. But that is no reason to surrender. Christ suffered terribly and was pierced deeply, yet he chose not to yield; instead he suffered for what is right and true. Leadership is not without suffering. However, it need not be a cause of misery. Helen Keller offers some deep insight: “Happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” Suffering for a worthy purpose is far better than suffering for nothing. Often we encounter situations in our daily lives where we are presented with a choice between what is right and what is easy. Our leadership and our integrity then comes down to the choice we make.

Leadership involves integrity, the crux of which is that we actively seek to integrate our vision into our daily lives, so that our beliefs are reflected in our behaviour and conduct. It is the integration of our innermost intentions and principles with our outward actions and responses. “Just as the body without spirit is dead, so too faith without works is dead.” (James 2:20) Fulfill your beliefs and vision by demonstrating them in your behaviour, and in thus showing integrity, others may be prompted to follow also, guided by the model you have set. Integrity is the ultimate honesty about one’s identity, for it requires that one be transparent to the values that one claims to profess.

Leadership involves communication; it involves conveying a meaningful message, not merely through language, but more deeply through one’s behaviour. The message does not need to be packaged in luminary language cloaked in many brilliant words and dazzling adjectives. The message can be conveyed through action, and if conveyed through action, the message usually speaks for itself. Perhaps this is how one can understand the meaning behind the phrase, “Actions speak louder than words.” In a Christian context, God communicates the message of his absolute love not merely by his declaration of it, but by his action of supreme giving in Christ. The challenge for us is to communicate our inner intentions and principles, our vision, through actions and behaviour in daily living, not mere declarations of words, for human language is limited in its scope to convey a message.

Our innermost intentions are also important elements in leadership. If my actions appear on the surface to reflect goodness, but my intentions are only for self-gain, then in the eyes of man I may be a saint, but in the eyes of God I am a fraud, for my intentions are not pure. Remember Christ’s exclamation that “Blessed are the pure of heart!” God’s opinion is the only one that matters, for only God sees into the heart and can discern it with complete accuracy. He sees where human eyes cannot and naught can be hidden from him. God’s almighty gazes pierces the superficial facade of our outward appearances and penetrates ever deeper into the very core of our being; God sees the heart. God perceives the source of an action in the character of the person. He sees the intentions of the heart that motivate a person’s behaviour. Are our intentions pure in our leadership and service? This is a challenging question that prompts deep introspection and contemplation about the motivations behind our behaviour and responses.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Aesop offers us some insight, advising that no action of compassion is too small or futile. Mother Teresa too once wisely remarked that, “It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that we put into them that matters.” St. Therese also stated that “Nothing is small in the eyes of God.” We can begin to understand then that even simple deeds, deepened by pure intentions, are great in heaven, and that we cannot accurately measure an action by earthly standards. Perhaps this explains why many of the closest heroes in our lives are not necessarily persons of earthly renown that have accomplished great tasks of magnificent magnitude, but rather, people close to us – our friends and families – whose actions while being simple where deepened by love and thus touched our lives and hearts in a profound and mysterious way. We can understand then why even the simplest of acts, when deepened by pure intentions, are great in the lives of those we encounter. Contemplate for a moment, the story of the Widow’s Offering in Luke’s Gospel. The widow, being impoverished herself, offered a minuscule monetary offering. However, Jesus exclaims that she had given more than all the other donors because she gave of all she had. Perhaps even, her offering, as small as it was, was one made with pure intent. Leadership is not defined by actions of incredible magnitude, but often, by many simple actions deepened by an inner passion and love.

Leadership, we can now see, is not merely an exercise of authority, a position or a status. It is deeper than that, and in that sense, we are all leaders by demonstrating and integrating our beliefs and intentions in our behaviour, regardless of whether we retain a formal title or not. Leadership is not rigid, therefore, it is not restricted to a select few of the elect or elite, but rather is present in each one of us as we make our own personal choices with regards to conduct and behaviour.

I admit, and must confess, that I personally struggle to integrate my own vision and beliefs in my actions. I struggle with integrity. And it is for most people I believe a challenge. But then again, leadership is itself challenging, but one grows throughout it. I hope that this short piece offers some contemplative insight on what leadership means, particularly in light of Christian philosophy. And I myself hope to return to this piece, seeking to renew it by reading it and finding further information to add.

For me, this piece is also very personal. It outlines what I believe leadership is. The next challenge is integrating this perspective into my own actions. I fear sometimes of preaching and not acting on that which I proclaim, thereby reserving principles to the realm of mere conversation, without them fully permeating throughout my life. This is a personal challenge I face, and it seems like a moral one to me.

Slowly I grow. However, this is not all to my own merits, and many other people must be thanked for cultivating in me these ideas and insights which have circulated my psyche and have now spilled over into writing. The ideas presented in this piece, therefore, are not originally my own. That is not to say that I stole them from other sources, but rather, that this piece is contemplative and draws on various ideas about leadership that I have encountered throughout my own life experiences and interactions with other people. To them I owe a great debt of gratitude.