Dare Great Things

In this final episode of my class on Saul Alinsky’s book, “Rules For Radicals,” I give an overview of this thought and describe why I think his thought is so dangerous and at the same time so appealing.  His vision for organizers represents a vision that many people share about leadership.  But I think it’s also an opportunity for us who follow Christ to understand better what the world is really longing for from our leadership. 

In Chapter 7 of his book, “Rules For Radicals” Saul Alinsky unveils what he is most famous for.  The rules for victory that radicals can follow for organizing a community for change.  These rules have sparked much interest and debate for many years because they are both practical and successful.  But are they aligned with the Gospel?  Where can we both learn from them and do better?

All leadership implies power but does power explain what leadership is?  From a Catholic perspective leadership requires principle.  Saul Alinsky would disagree.  In Chapter 6 of his book, “Rules For Radicals”, Alinsky lays out a very powerful description of leadership without principle.  What does the Christian have to say in response?

Regardless of what we have to say, our ability to say it is equally important.  If we cannot express what we have inside no one will listen to us anyway.  This is the great intuition of Saul Alinsky in “Rules For Radicals” where he outlines the words used by organizers, the education necessary for an organizer, and highlights the importance of their ability to communicate.  How does this relate to the Gospel?

Does a good end justify the means taken to get there?  Our leaders authorized to do the good “no matter what” by any means necessary – even means that are wrong?  Can we judge something as being wrong when it actually produces something that is good?  These questions are central to the question of leadership and the decisions we have to make as leaders.  Our Lord in the Gospel gives and answer to these questions.  So does Saul Alinsky in Chapter 2 of his book “Rules For Radicals.”  Let’s compare the two.

Christ calls us to be leaders, but what exactly is the point of the leadership to which He calls us?  In Saul Alinsky’s, “Rules For Radicals,” he presents a vision of leadership devoid of an ultimate end goal.  Instead he insists on the ultimate relationship between leadership and the power to wield it.  Couldn’t this be a Catholic moment?  Isn’t this an opportunity for us to build a bridge with his thought?

Sometimes the voice of the Gospel can best be heard by listening to the voices of those who do not profess it.  Such is the case for Saul Alinsky.  In his “Rules For Radicals” this social agitator outlined a series of beliefs that have produced stunning success.  But have they produced effective leadership?  What’s the difference between his philosophy on leadership and the truth of the Gospel? 

The persuasive power of any falsehood lies in its proximity with the truth.  Machiavelli’s, “The Prince”, contains many truths and many statements which ring true to our practical ears.  Chapter 22 concerning the secretaries of princes is a great example of this.  In this chapter we read many things that help us understand our role as servants against the backdrop of Machiavellian reasoning.

Chapter 18 of Machiavelli’s “The Prince” is the most controversial of them all.  You could even say that it represents the heart of his thesis.  Concerning the way in which princes should keep faith it flies directly in contradiction to what most of us as Christian leaders understand as the power of leadership coming from Christ.  And so it is a fascinating study to help us understand where Christ wants us to lead and how.  

In his book “The Prince”, Machiavelli makes the claim that it is better for a leader to be feared rather than loved.  He makes the claim that the efficiency of maintaining power is better for those who instill fear in their followers rather than those who live the good life.  What is a Christian to do in front of such a claim?  How did Christ live this out?  This is what we want to talk about today.

Leaders find themselves at the crux between the practical and the ideal.  Between what is expedient and what is best.  How does our faith help us navigate staying in power and using our influence while following the teachings of God and practicing virtue?  One way not to do it is to follow the teaching of Machiavelli.  In this first of series of talks on anti-leaders we begin by studying Machiavelli and “The Prince.”

For many leadership is an act whereby we influence people to do what we need them to do.  This is a very true idea, however, Catholic leadership goes much deeper.  For Christians, we try to lead other not only to do what we need them to do but to be whom God has made them to be.  This lasting legacy needs more than skill of command and organization, it needs the ability to inspire in a way that leaves a legacy. 

St. Thomas Aquinas is a genius of thought and in this course for Catholic leaders I present a summary course on the four aspects of all human action essential for leadership.  In today’s class I focus in on the doing of deeds.  All leadership goes from vision into planning and from planning into execution.  Doing the great things we planned is the key to having impact in our lives.

The story of Wilbur and Oliver Wright has captivated our hearts for more than a century.  In their lives we see an example of innovation being the first in flight and proving the impossible can be done.  But their story is more than just daring.  It involved a lot of planning and strategy and their ability to make good decisions.  St. Thomas Aquinas concurs.  Great leadership begins with great dreams but great dreams need great strategy for execution. 

By our baptism God calls us to be leaders of our world.  But where does leadership begin?  How can someone who might not customarily be used to leading actually begin to assert themselves under God’s grace in the world around them?  St. Thomas Aquinas offers us some amazing insights from his Summa Theologica.  Let’s dive in and talk about the movement of the will and it’s power to lead.

Leadership can be defined in many ways.  Yet most definitions converge on the same point:  Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.  The impact my life can make on others to bring others to act for a common vision.  But how can I harness my leadership for its maximal impact?  How can I lead best?  St. Thomas Aquinas gives us the key – he teaches how to act with depth.

After a lifetime of leadership, effort, struggle, all of us want to leave a legacy behind that will be remembered.  When it is all said and done what will your life leave behind?  These are the questions that all of us face, King David was no different, and before he died he spoke to Solomon, his successor, and he gave him his legacy.  By looking at it we can get a better glimpse of our own.

Our Lord doesn’t call leaders to lead just in their businesses.  He calls them to lead in their families as well.  And in fact, it is especially in the family that the depths of who we are are tested and tried and where our leadership most intimately links us to our God.  It was no different for King David as he confronted the real struggles in his family. He also had to find his own peace with God.

Shouldn’t it all be easy?  That’s a question we a lot of us ask ourselves as we lead our businesses and work with our children – we have a dream in our mind, a kind of nostalgia, that life should be at least easy if we are good at it.  And we all want to be good at it so we think somehow or other that troubles or difficulties are signs of failure.  But that’s not what the life of King David shows us.  By looking at how King David dealth with trials we can learn a little bit more about our own.

Every good leader knows that there are few people in his life more important than those that he trusts to give good advice.  It was no different for King David.  In his kingdom he relied up on prophets and friends to guide him.  One of his most trusted advisors was the prophet Nathan.  Their relationship was profound.  Nathan corrected David twice and saved his kingdom and his legacy forever.  Let’s listen to the story and listen to God speak to us as well.