Dare Great Things

The ability to cast an effective vision is much more than coming up with great ideas.  Ideas require planning in order to be effective and planning requires choice and focus.  But as we all know our choice and focus can sometimes be wrong.  That’s because strategy itself depends upon our awareness.  Being alert, being aware, and being attentive is the secret for making great plans.  Let’s take a look at how this dovetails with our faith to help us lead everywhere in our lives. 

One of the most important aspects to any leadership is your ability to have ideas.  Casting a vision and showing where we want to go is essential to have anyone follow us.  But what is the difference between having ideas and having good ideas?  What makes a potential idea or a future vision something that is captivating and true?  Our Christian faith helps us here – God will help us to be temperate, to not be afraid to prioritize, and to be open to the great things he wants to do through us.

The easiest way to get lost in doing anything is to not know what you are trying to do to begin with.  Anytime we’re called to lead a project of any kind, our leadership begins with vision.  But what if we can’t find a vision?  Is there something deeper at the root of being able to cast a vision going forward?  There is – we call it the power to dream.  Dream is the power within a leader to reach forward to something which you do not yet possess and its roots lay in healing our ability to desire things. 

All great leaders dare to dream but what do you do when the dreams have gone dry?  Where does our power to come up with great ideas or great initiatives come from?  In the Christian view of leadership, it comes from deep within our hearts made in the image and likeness of God.  Which is why the redeeming power of Christ to heal us and our sense of ourselves is the key to unlocking our desire to dare great things for Christ.  Journey with us as we explore self-acceptance and its power to change our lives. 

There are a plethora of books and articles written about leadership today.  But most of them focus on leadership as if it were an individual enterprise – almost like something the leader does in a vacuum.  In fact, however, leadership requires leading others which means our relationship with others and ability to get them to join our cause is at the heart of what we’re doing.  Does our faith in Christ give us an advantage here?  How does a Christian leader form a team and motivate them to give the very best of themselves. 

The key that determines the success of every great endeavor is whether or not we actually do it.  Planning, scheming, dreaming, all of these things are fine but in the final analysis only doing a deed will get the deed done.  But getting things done is hard.  Things can arise that we did not plan energy can wane situations can change.  It’s a good thing that God is on our side and leading out of a place of faith helps you to bend and not break. 

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  The same could be said about the road to failure.  The difference between success and failure is often the ability to try.  But this is exactly what is difficult for many of us.  We can have the greatest intentions and the most noble aspirations but passing into action seems to be on of the hardest things to do.  Does faith offer us any remedy?  Does grace give us any advantage in taking the plunge of leadership? 

All of us want to be influential in our lives.  We want to be successful parents, great business leaders, powerful leaders in our community and we know that all of our influence flows from our actions and all of our actions flow from our intentions and desires.  But intentions are not good enough.  Great leaders know how to build on good intentions and make effective plans to really hit the mark.  Our Catholic faith shows us this in many ways and our faith can provide a priceless tool as we fight for vision.

It seems self evident to say that all leadership begins with vision but that begs the question, “where does vision begin?” For many people finding a vision is a very difficult thing to do.  In the face of so many problems and challenges how can we come up with good solutions.  The truth be told God has a lot to do with healing our ability to dream.  His grace in us repairs the fundamental structure of leadership by allowing us to recapture our ability to cast a vision.

Leadership has many definitions but all of them have one thing in common:  people have to follow.  Regardless of how good your idea is or how passionate you are about it, if you can’t bring other people along with you, you will not be able to lead successfully.  But effectively sharing your vision and your passion is more than just a natural talent.  It’s a skill that can be studied and harnessed.  And what is more, it is an especial gift that Christ gives to the world through his Christian leaders.

Everybody who is successful knows that great ideas are only the beginning.  You need a strategic plan, you need helpers along the journey, and you need the staying power of pure determination.  Does our faith have anything to do with this?  Does being a Christian give an advantage to leaders?  Or is there any overlap between the faith and the demands of our practical life?  We believe that there is and one of the best places to see it is in the beauty of grit.

Getting things done.  How do I pass from ability to action?  I may know what is right, I may know what I need to do, but actually doing it is a whole other thing.  What’s more, sometimes the risks involved of actually doing something and putting my name to paper are quite daunting.  What if I’m wrong?  Can I afford to pay the consequences for my choices?  Many people prefer to simply hide.  How can my faith in God help me to pass from potential into action and make the difference I really want to make?

One of the hardest parts about leading is making choices.  It seems that if you choose one thing, you can’t have another.  And the perspective of missing out on something can make us afraid.  How can we be sure that what we chose is really the best way?  Would life be easier if we didn’t have to make those decisions at all?  I find it fascinating that God forces us to make decisions.  It’s almost like God isn’t afraid of making us choose.  How can we as leaders make the best decisions?  What’s the secret to choosing well?

When it comes to leadership, so much can be said and so much has been said but sometimes it can be a little confusing.  What exactly is meant by leadership?  What is not leadership?  What comes first and defines the rest?  In the approach we take at the Saint John Leadership Network, leadership begins with what we call aspiration.  Profoundly put, this means the ability we have to dream.  In today’s course we examine where dreams come from and how to recover its power in our lives. 

Last week Dare Great Things passed a milestone.  We issued our two hundred and first episode.  Our past episodes have been an amazing journey through stories and documents and lives of the saints that have inspired us.  I’m really excited to be able to start something new now.  Starting with Episode 202 we will begin to present the Saint John Leadership Network’s own proper teaching about leadership.  We call it AUDEO and I am honored to share it with you.  In today’s episode I give an overview of this unique Catholic take on leadership. 

In his encyclical letter, Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII makes an astounding claim.  He claims that the involvement of religion in the affairs of the state and the economy is necessary as a means to regulate and perfect the potentials of the same.  The same can be applies to each one of us in our workplaces where we lead.  Understanding how our faith impacts the well running of our offices can help us be convinced of the power of our faith in our business.

It has been said that human society can be divided into those who have and those who have not.  For many this opposition is the source of a lot of contention and fighting.  But does it have to be this way?  In his encyclical, “Rerum Novarum”, Pope Leo XIII uses this very question as an opportunity to present an attractive proposition of the Gospel.  In fact, Christians need to fill the space of possessions, talents, needs, and wants with Jesus Christ.  This is the role of the Catholic leader.

Let’s face it, work is hard, and a lot of people would prefer not to work if they didn’t have to.  What would a world look like where people no longer worked?  People no longer owned things?  Wouldn’t it be better or in fact could it be really worse?  Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Rerum Novarum explores this asking the question about the link between work and dignity.  It becomes a practical question for each one of us.

It’s common place to hear people say that things are happening today that have never happened before and that social tensions today are unique.  However true that statement might be it needs to be grounded in history.  In point of fact, the political tensions, the social tensions we suffer from today have roots as far back as the industrial era.  Encyclical “Rerum Novarum” by Pope Leo XIII addressed many of these tensions and by studying them we can gain jewels of wisdom for our approach today. 

It has been said that success is more difficult to handle than failure.  For those of us striving for success this can be hard to hear.  How can I be successful with success and why do worldly honors trip up more people than difficulty and challenge?  St. Thomas Aquinas tackles this question when he treats the virtue of magnanimity.  How can Christians really strive after greatness and stay humble?  This is the secret of the virtues and the secret that St. Thomas teaches about in his Summa Theologica.