Heroic Leadership

by Chris Lowney

  From Ricci, innovation and imagination. From Goes, perseverance and risk taking. From Clavius, intellectual rigor and a commitment to excel. From the founder of the Jesuits and countless colleagues living and dead, a way of living and a way of making their lives whole-by integrating the principles of self-awareness, ingenuity, love, and heroism.

  CHAPTER 1 2

  Conclusion

  Google search of the word leadership returns more than ten million matches. An online bookseller offers more than ten thousand titles on the theme. It's safe to assume, even without a painstaking review of these titles, that none of them portrays society as awash in leadership. It is almost certainly the opposite. Many of these works will only reinforce what we already intuitively know, that we need more principled and more effective leadership at the helms of major corporations, more confident personal leadership at home and in the workplace, and more visionary and inspired leadership from those who coach, teach, mentor, and advise us.

  It's also a pretty safe bet that few to none of those thousands of titles promote as a rich font of leadership wisdom the handful of friends who approximately 469 years ago banded together to start a new company. They seemed entirely unprepared: they had no product, no capital, no company name, no experience, and no business plan. Their odds of succeeding seemed slim.

  Yet before long, a thousand-strong Jesuit company was operating on four continents. In little more than a generation the Jesuits became the world's most successful religious company, arguably the era's most successful company of any kind. They pioneered strategy for engaging non-European peoples that one historian deemed "one of the few serious alternatives to the otherwise brutal ethno-centrism of the European expansion over the earth."' And they literally pioneered: they were the first European explorers to chart the Upper Mississippi River, vast stretches of China's interior, the source of the Blue Nile, Baja California, and areas yet further afield, "regions which neither avarice nor curiosity had tempted any of their countrymen to enter;-.-.-. tongues of which no other native of the West understood a word."2

  The signature of their conquest? Not boatloads of booty, usurped hegemony, or flags planted for distant European kingdoms but knowledge. Europe was soon overflowing with maps, natural histories, wisdom literature, grammars and dictionaries, and comparative studies of theology churned out by Jesuits all over the world-Ricci's Italian rendering of the Confucian Four Books; Marquette's charts of the Upper Mississippi; Asian missionaries' translating dictionaries of Japanese, Tamil, Vietnamese, and a handful of other languages; celestial readings by Jesuit astronomers on opposite ends of the world (Beijing and deep in the South American interior). Europe learned from the Jesuits, and so did host countries beyond. Immanuel C. Y. Hsu's The Rise of Modern China inventoried Jesuit cultural and technological contributions: "From them the Chinese learned the Western methods of cannoncasting, calendar-making, cartography, mathematics, astronomy, algebra, geometry, geography, art, architecture, and music. At the same time, the Jesuits introduced Chinese civilization to Europe. It was the initial meeting of China and the West in modern times, and provided China with the chance to modernize itself."3

  Yet their most visionary and influential innovation seems in retrospect so plain, so obvious, and almost inevitable. Some great ideas are so widely embraced and imitated that we eventually forget they were once new and exotic: automobiles, telephones,-.-.-. school systems. To be sure, schools and primitive school networks predated Jesuit efforts, but no other organization had ever launched a system of such great scale and imagination. Leading global com panies still struggle to incorporate certain business practices that marked the Jesuit school system four full centuries ago: building a multinational staff, managing across borders, relentlessly surfacing and circulating best practices, and differentiating oneself from competitors by one's commitment to a "total quality" product. Where Jesuits went, colleges followed-in Prague, Vienna, Lisbon, Paris, Goa, Ingolstadt, and two dozen other cities during the first generation of their efforts alone.

  FOUR PRINCIPLES THAT MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE

  Infinitely more valuable than the plan, product, and capital the Jesuits so obviously lacked was what the founders did have: uncompromising commitment to a unique way of working and living, to a life that integrated four leadership principles-self-awareness, ingenuity, love, and heroism.

  Neither Loyola nor his cofounders understood these as four leadership pillars any more than they would have considered them leadership skills, as we use the term today. Rather, taken together and reinforced over a lifetime of practice, these four principles became for them a way of doing things, an integrated approach to life. They responded to opportunities and crises not by grasping at flavor-of-the-month tactics. Instead, they operated the same "way" today as they had yesterday and would tomorrow, at home and at work, through successes and failures. The dying septuagenarian Schall relied on the same methods he had relied on as a twentyyear-old fresh recruit in Rome. The astronomer Clavius in Rome profited from the same self-reflective discipline practiced by the musician Antonio Sepp in the Yapeyu reduction. And the same love energized Antonio Vieira whether he was facing down slavers in Brazil or mentoring younger Jesuit colleagues in Portugal.

  Companies aren't self-aware; people are. And organizations don't love; only humans do. Leadership is a personal choice. Whatever missteps Jesuit managers made, none ever forgot that leaders are developed one at a time. And none ever skimped on the process that turned Jesuits into leaders. Generation after generation, every recruit undertook the Spiritual Exercises, rooted in Loyola's own tortuous journey toward effective personal leadership. Loyola had attracted some of Europe's finest talent not through his superior intellect or stunning accomplishments and certainly not with a compelling business plan-or any business plan, for that matter. His magnetic appeal lay in his ability to help others become leaders. Loyola's approach to mentoring his cofounders became the company model: everyone has leadership potential, and true leaders unlock that potential in others.

  Heroism revisited

  Magis-driven heroism encourages people to aim high and keeps them restlessly pointed toward something more, something greater. Loyola urged Jesuit trainees in Italy to "conceive great resolves and elicit equally great desires." He reminded another team that "no commonplace achievement" should satisfy their ambitions to excel. His lieutenant Nadal barnstormed Jesuit Europe exhorting recruits that whatever occupation they pursued, they should "not be satisfied with doing it half-way." The astronomer Clavius, from his Collegio Romano perch, envisioned churning out "brilliant and most eminent men, who-.-.-. are distributed in various nations and kingdoms like sparkling gems."4

  It could sound like so much fancy rhetoric from the bosses, except for the fact that the bosses believed and lived it themselves. And they didn't just live magis-driven lives or tell recruits about the magis-they invited each recruit to consider and commit to it. Recruits accepted the invitation, and magis-driven Jesuits all over the world started believing and acting as if whatever they were doing was somehow "the greatest enterprise in the world today." And when enough team members feel that way, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Magis-driven heroes bring energy, imagination, ambition, and motivation to their work; the results take care of themselves.

  Heroism makes a person equal parts dreamer and indefatigable pragmatist. Xavier was sent to India but concocted the utterly unrealistic scheme of taking on all of Asia instead (utterly unrealistic except that his later colleagues pulled it off). Jesuit high school teachers operated within the more limited confines of classroom walls-but with no less heroism. Their heroism was measured not by the scale of their opportunities but by the quality of their responses to the opportunities at hand. Heroic leaders don't bide their time until the big moment comes along; they grasp the opportunities within reach and extract as much richness from them as possible. Herosim lies in the nobility of committing to a way of life that focuses on goals that are greater than oneself.
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  Ingenuity revisited

  Ingenuity disposes people not just to think outside the box but to live outside the box. Confident that most challenges had solutions, men like Ricci and de Nobili explored tactics and strategies that transcended the narrow mindset of their European contemporaries. It wasn't just that Ricci and de Nobili were smart or hardworking but that they had cultivated the vital attitude of indifference-the lack of inordinate attachments-and the inspiring spirit that the whole world would become their house.

  Indifference leads people to root out provincialism, fear of the unknown, attachment to their own status or possessions, prejudice, aversion to risk, and the attitude that "we've always done it this way." And when people see the whole world as their home, they can turn a hopeful, interested, and optimistic gaze toward new ideas, cultures, places, and opportunities. By freeing themselves from inordinate attachments that could inhibit risk taking or innovation, they become poised to pounce imaginatively on new opportunities. And by looking at the future with optimism, they become more likely to find those opportunities and solutions. Loyola called it "living with one foot raised."

  Love revisited

  Love lends purpose and passion to ingenuity and heroism. The Jesuit company mission to help souls remained a sterile abstraction until love made it personal. Love transformed that mission and how the Jesuits went about it. Loyola's colleague Jeronimo Nadal remarked that, "Our Father [i.e., Loyola] used to say that we should not help our neighbor coldly or in slow motion. And by this simple dictum he expressed the end of our Society: namely, to run fervently to the salvation and perfection of our fellow men."5 Love gave them the passion and courage to take on Spain's most powerful courtiers and the whole societal mindset they represented. "I am told that Your Lordship is displeased that we admit so many `New Christians' to our company. The company may and must not exclude anyone.-.-.-. It may refuse no talent, nor any man of quality, whether he be `New Christian' or noble knight or another."6

  It's easy enough to understand how a loving outlook could bene-fit a company dedicated to helping souls. But love makes all companies stronger. How? Love allows a company to embrace all talent, regardless of creed, color, social status, or credentials. Love is the passion to see team members excel, "to run at full speed towards perfection." And love is the glue that binds individuals into loyal, supportive teams.

  Love-driven leaders see a world of uniquely dignified humans, not "fearful, greedy deceivers." They live by the premise that people perform their best when working with and for people who offer genuine support and affection.

  Self-awareness revisited

  Self-awareness roots and nourishes the other leadership virtues. The person who figures out what he or she wants and stands for has taken the first step toward heroic leadership. Those who have pinpointed and begun to root out their weaknesses and unhealthy attachments are building the indifference essential to ingenuity.

  Early Jesuit recruits discovered the power of explicitly naming their values: This is who I am, this is what I stand for, this is what I want. That naming process has two consequences. First, most are pleasantly surprised at how much they already stand for, and they become more energetically committed to their values simply by articulating them. Second, with the process inevitably comes reassessment: Am I happy with this? Is this the leadership statement I want to make in the world? Is this the legacy I want to leave behind?

  Self-awareness is no one-time project. No less essential than the initial assessment of one's strengths, weaknesses, values, and worldview is the ongoing, everyday habit of self-reflection, the examen. It's an opportunity to measure life-a little bit at a timeagainst principles and goals. Did I teach the last class with loving interest in my students, or did I go through the motions? Did I engage my imagination at work today or settle for a "good enough to get by" effort? It is an opportunity to ensure that one remains balanced on the fine line walked by de Nobili and others: adventurous yet committed to core beliefs. The examen is grounded in the assumptions that even leaders make mistakes, that we can learn from our mistakes, and that each of us has a limitless capacity for growth and development.

  Although the concept of self-reflection may conjure up images of withdrawing from the world, those who get it right find themselves better equipped for energetic engagement with the world. The three daily mental pit stops-"upon arising," "after the noon meal," and "after supper"-help one achieve the focused, re-collected lifestyle that early Jesuits called simul in actione contemplativus, "contemplative even in action." As a colleague said of Loyola, "It is unbelievable with what ease our Father recollected himself in the midst of a tide of business."7 Getting to that point was no unique saintly trick; it was the fruit of continuous patient investment in selfawareness-the initial commitment to discovering one's resources, weaknesses, and goals, followed by the daily habit of self-reflection.

  How TODAY'S MANAGERS CAN LEAD LEADERS

  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 onto trains, dealing with subordinates-are all opportunities to convey respect (or not). Innumerable fifteensecond 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 frank. More attitudes have probably been shaped for good or ill by a chief executive's manner toward 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.

  Heroic leadership invites people to assess their daily impact, to refocus if necessary, and to articulate the leadership mark they want to make. It invites them too to replace accidental leadership with purposeful leadership, of self and others. In Loyola's leadershipgreedy vision, even those elevator moments are opportunities to lead. It's a humble yet optimistic approach. Humble because it acknowledges that leaders ultimately don't control results, only their own actions-their input, as it were. Yet optimistic because it recognizes that one's actions can be profoundly influential not only in the present moment but years later as a model for future teachers, parents, employees, and managers.

  In the case of the Jesuits, the four-pillared approach to leadership was not something "done to" them by their managers; it was what each Jesuit chose for himself. It's no accident that their greatest leadership feats were accomplished by inspired leaders in the field, not by managers at headquarters. Ricci, de Nobili, Schall, the reductions Jesuits, and thousands of high school and college teachers all sought out opportunities. And personal leadership transformed these opportunities into heroic achievements.

  So if everyone leads, and if leadership flows bottom up, what role remains for corporate and organizational Pooh-Baps? It's commonly assumed that leaders are those in charge: the generals, captains, managers, team leaders, and chief executives. But the Jesuit vision spins that notion on its head. If those once considered followers are in fact leaders, what becomes of those we once considered leaders? How can those traditionally considered leaders, managers, or bosses apply the wisdom of the Jesuits?

  First of all, they stop behaving as if they're leading followers and start acting as if they're leading leaders by doing what helps others lead.

  Lead yourself-and others by example

  If you want your team to perform heroically, be a hero yourself. If you want your employees to support one another, support them with the encouragement, loyalty, and honest coaching that helps each "run at full speed towards perfection."

  No leadership tool is as effective as the example of the leader's own life: what he or she does, what values his or her actions
reflect, and how well the "walk" matches the "talk." Personal example makes the difference between deep, long-lasting influence on others and "just a piece of paper" nonleadership that breeds cynicism.

  Develop the brightest and best talent

  Quamplurimi et quam aptissimi. The Jesuit founders built their company by finding and developing "as many as possible of the very best." When developing aptissimi required diverting already scarce resources into educating recruits, they didn't hesitate. They understood that well-developed talent drives company success. Shuffling other priorities in order to develop that talent was not altering the company strategy; it was the company strategy.