I’m sad to see the demise of Pope Francis. I’m not Christian. But I bought into much of the Christianity that he stood for.
That said …
This is a thought about business… So within that context, I’m left wishing that more CEOs, especially the tech and financial services titans, had read the same “leadership playbook”.
There are many aspects of his leadership that I admired. He very clearly went to the core values of what the religion was about, rather than the institutions that the church had built up. He used those values to talk about areas in a more human way than most of his predecessors dared (or believed?) – from climate change, to homosexuality, to genocide.
But the trait he displayed in abundance from day one, but sadly missing in so many CEOs today? Much talked about, much less lived…
Servant leadership.
Servant leadership is talked about a lot, especially by those who’ve often not led at scale (yes, often coaches!). Because those who’ve not led at scale yet choose to preach it often don’t understand at worst the addiction of power and control (at any level), or more commonly, the recalibration that goes on in a leader’s head that makes them genuinely believe that shareholders are the only people whose interests matter.
Not so with Francis.
I recall shortly after his appointment to lead 1.4Bn Catholics (there’s scale!), rather than washing the feet of priests or his fellow cardinals as was customary for popes, he washed the feet of the poor, the imprisoned, women (shock horror) and even…. (mock shock) Muslims!
He was sending a message that the values he stood for were to help those who needed it most, to be in their service, and to put that service as a higher purpose than enriching the institution (aka shareholders).
And that perspective lasted to the very end. He was calling the Holy Family church in Gaza every night to talk to the parishioners and community who were (and still are) sheltering from some of the most horrific atrocities being committed on the planet today. People in need. People in suffering. And he called them every day.
Almost everything that I saw of him from day one was about servant leadership.
I struggle to think of the CEOs standing behind incoming US presidents thinking more about the humans they impact than their own positions or maximising the value of their stock and options.
I am not, as I mentioned, a Christian. But I couldn’t help but feel that pope Francis’s focus on humanity was more what the religion was intended to stand for than enrichment of institutions. Human-centred principles over the pursuit of power and money.
And a class lesson in leadership.
RIP.
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