Heroic Leadership - About Jesuits & Stuff
When my son Xavier was born (named after St Francis Xavier) a friend lent me this book on Heroic Leadership (available at Amazon) in which Francis was outlined on several occasions as an illustration of a Heroic Leader. I read the book more to learn about the historical person of Francis Xavier, however in doing so, have enjoyed this book and had my whole view of the Jesuits, Catholic Orders and similar things totally changed.
As a follower of Christ having grown up in a Protestant environment we develop many ideas about Catholics. Fortunately I was blessed to have attended a Catholic High School (Emmaus College) and was able to have realised what a blessing the Catholic System is. However I had developed some ideas about the Jesuits from books I had read. This book changed all of that for me and gave me a very high regard for the Jesuit Society. I realise in fact that without the Jesuit Society (and similar Catholic Orders), the world today would not be what it is.
Ignatius Loyola founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) along with 9 other men, one of whom was Xavier. Ignatius was a funny man with an ex military background who had a crazy time in his life where he went barefoot for several years and begged on his wasy to Jerusalem and back on a pilgrimmage of sorts. As he did this, he had a revelation of God and of himself at a riverbank in Italy. After seeing himself in a whole new light things started to change for him. Self awareness in God’s eyes was the key.
This Book is not your typical leadership book – much better. It outlines 4 things the Jesuits did as leadership principles. They are not your typical leadership principles, more like personal growth principles, but they worked for the Jesuits.
- Self awareness – promoted through the Spiritual Exercises of the Jesuits
- Ingenuity
- Heroism
- Mutual Admiration – Or Love for each other.
Whilst Chris Lowney (author) talks about these things in Leadership Terms and in terms of building a good company – it’s apparent that these are the things that Christ himself taught us to do. It’s an excellent book, available at Amazon.
