Pope Francis on Leadership

Pope Francis – Why He Leads The Way He Leads

by Chris Lowney

           In Pope Francis – Why He Leads The Way He Leads, Chris Lowney reveals how Pope Francis’ Jesuit background has shaped his leadership principles.  The author draws on 3 sources of information to illustrate Pope Francis’ leadership style:

·         What he has been “saying and doing” during his papacy;

·         Leadership values he emphasized while supervising Jesuit trainees in Argentina;and,

·         Principles he learned during his own Jesuit training.

Lowney identifies “six habits and convictions” (9) that define Pope Francis’ leadership – habits and convictions that, at face value, seem somewhat paradoxical.

In Chapter 2, Lowney identifies a few aspects of Jesuit training that heavily influenced Pope Francis’ leadership values.  St. Ignatius developed Spiritual Exercises – a series of meditations on Jesus’ life, the novice Jesuit’s personal history, and how specifically the novice might follow Jesus.  Lowney believes that “These Exercises are almost certainly the most fundamental influence on the pope’s spirituality.” (12)  Another Jesuit influence on him has been the “frontier spirit” of Jesuit missionary life.  A third influence is the expectation that young Jesuits teach.

In chapters 3 and 4, Lowney explores Pope Francis’ first two apparently contradictory convictions: know yourself deeply but live to serve others.  Before he was ordained, the pope wrote a credo that reflects his profound understanding of himself: I am flawed, I am a good and gifted person, and I am called to offer my gifts. Lowney explains how the pope’s credo drives him to lead with integrity and purpose:

·       I am flawed.  I can’t function effectively in the world if I give free rein

to every impulse.  I owe it to myself to battle my own demons.

·       I am gifted and fundamentally good.  There is a unique contribution

that I can make, and therefore,

·       I am called to lead. (39)

A model for the world of humility, Pope Francis
often requests that people pray for him

In Pope Francis’ view, a leader must, though, transcend self to serve others. Lowney shares as the symbol of Pope Francis’ devotion to serving others his memorable Holy Thursday 2013 washing of the feet of several male and female young people in the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention centre.  He also gives other examples of the pope’s humble service to others, such as the time when he was bishop and flew from Argentina to Japan and back just to spend a few hours with seminarians studying there.  When invited by them to spend his time in Japan sight-seeing, he declined, saying, “I came here to see you.” (46)  

Pope Francis demonstrates humility by washing feet of inmates on Holy Thursday

Chapters 5-6 address Pope Francis’ third and fourth convictions: immerse yourself in the world but withdraw from the world daily. Telling examples Lowney provides of the pope’s commitment to engaging in the commonest elements of everyday life are taken from his time spent running a seminary in Argentina.  While there, he would rise early each morning to do the laundry and to feed the pigs on the farm attached to the Colegio Maximo complex. He also insisted that the young Jesuits he trained go into the impoverished nearby neighbourhoods to teach catechism to the children.  As pope, he continues his immersion in the world by rejecting the idea of living in the isolation of the papal apartment, and instead, choosing to share meals and live among the other residents of the Vatican guesthouse.  Lowney describes the pope’s leadership as dirty-footed: “Those dirty feet – Bergoglio’s at the pig trough and the seminarian’s in the barrio – crystallize a vital but increasingly endangered leadership habit: the commitment to stay in touch, deal with reality, accept accountability for one’s work and decisions, and recognize that we humans are all inextricably linked. (59)

During his Holy Thursday 2013 homily, he directed priests to “tend their flocks so attentively that they would come to bear the ‘smell of the sheep.’” (72)  Throughout the first year of his papacy, he personally called and emailed individuals to model his leadership theme of remaining “grounded”, learning from people before you teach them, and treating “each person as a uniquely dignified individual.” (73)  The wisdom of Pope Francis’ dirty-footed leadership is thus:

·         You can’t lead us if you don’t know our reality;

·         You will know our reality only by walking among us;

·         Don’t just look; do something and learn something. (66)

Immersing himself in his community meant that, while serving
as Cardinal in Argentina, Pope Francis frequently rode city buses

Paradoxically though, Pope Francis’ antidote for dealing with the problems and challenges of the world is his fourth conviction - to “Step back from it all” and “commit to a regimen of reflection [particularly prayer].” (74)  He modeled this value on his first day as pope by foregoing administrative duties to pay a visit to St. Mary Major Basilica to pray. Lowney points out that the pope’s emphasis on “decluttering his mind to refocus on priorities” (80) several times a day is grounded in the Jesuit practice of the Examen – the daily examination of conscience.   Lowney humorously suggests we use the “Bergoglio app” to remind ourselves everyday to carve up some daily reflection time: “Even the dumbest of smartphone alarms can be programmed to chime us into a few moments on nonaction each day.” (87) 

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast models the Examen
for Learning Leaders at the Ottawa Catholic School Board 

The final two convictions of the pope, as identified by Lowney, are the subjects of chapters 7 and 8: Live in the present and revere tradition, but create the future. The author explains that Pope Francis’ commitment to always attending to the moment is based on Jesuit tradition which states “Do what you are doing”. (92)  He shares as an example the time when the pope was a cardinal and risked being late for an appointment in order to hear the unplanned confession of a distraught man.  Then again, the pope has made several pronouncements like the following on the importance of basing actions on Catholic values of the past: “A Christian without memory is not a true Christian … he or she is a prisoner of circumstance, of the moment.” (98)

Though he reveres the Catholic values and traditions of the past, Pope Francis is not overly attached to the status quo, according to Lowney.  He argues that the pope inherited from Ignatius of Loyola, the Jesuit founder, a bias for action.  Ignatius, a proponent for missionary zeal, told his followers, “Live with one foot raised.” (123)  For Lowney, it’s the pope’s belief in momentum and progress that drive his commitment to change.

Lowney postulates two steps in Pope Francis’ change philosophy.  The first step is depicting a new culture for the Catholic Church.  He wants a “humbler, simpler Church” that embraces “those at society’s peripheries – the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized. ‘How I would like a Church that is poor and for the poor,’ he has told journalists.” (126)  The next step is moving from vision to action, which requires four aspects of change agentry:

           1.  Unify the team around a common mission;

          2.  Put the mission ahead of self-interest;        

                 3.  Don’t run from the future; run toward it; and,

          4.  Be biased toward action and tolerate failed experiments. (128)