RSVP: Leaders only

What is a leader? A gallery of CEOs immediately comes to mind. Yet Chris Lowney’s Heroic Leadership challenges each reader to leadership.

Many Filipinos despair over the current political leadership, asking themselves how can government officials and their close relatives line their pockets with the country’s limited resources when their countrymen suffer from dehumanizing poverty? True, there are still good, honest and very talented people in government but their number seems to be dwindling very quickly. And for a country whose population believes in God and the afterlife, how can our officials flagrantly disregard the substance of the religious teachings they supposedly embrace?

Heroic Leadership provides a rich buffet for mental digestion. First, it reminds us that, just as an edifice is built one block a time, a great nation is built one person at a time. The book introduces us to the Society of Jesus, "founded in 1540 by 10 men with no capital and no business plan. The Jesuits built, within a little more than a generation, the world’s most influential company of its kind."

We Filipinos know all about the Jesuits. Or do we? Here, we get a glimpse of the early years of founding father Ignatius de Loyola as a military man, a pilgrim and a student of basic Latin grammar – a life that was neither glamorous nor prescient of what was still to come. The book also describes other fascinating persons who were not particularly powerful in the Jesuit hierarchy. Who has heard of Benedetto de Goes and his journey to Agra (India) as the Jesuit representative to the Mughal emperor’s court to participate in inter-faith discussion? Goes even served as emissary to the emperor. How about Matteo Ricci, an Italian who ended up in China, published a treatise in the local language and style, produced maps inscribed with Chinese characters and adopted the local way of dress? Who knew about Adam Schall, a German Jesuit turned first-rank Mandarin in the court of the Manchu emperor? Who ever heard about a female Jesuit?

Heroic Leadership goes beyond entertaining stories and distills four principles demonstrated by the lives of Jesuits and how these principles have constituted the foundation of the order’s enduring success. Self-awareness. Ingenuity. Love. Heroism. The beauty of these principles is that they are attainable by every person regardless of social or economic status, religious persuasion, race or profession.

On its face, Heroic Leadership is not a political guru’s bible. Yet the principles outlined therein are relevant not only in managing a corporation, but also running a nation right.

Chris Lowney was born to a Catholic family that observed the church’s traditions but was not overly religious. He entered the Jesuit seminary straight from high school; after seven years, he decided that a person could fulfill one’s vocation outside the religious life and left. He became an investment banker, eventually serving as managing director and management committee member of JP Morgan in New York, Tokyo, Singapore and London. From seminarian to banker, now author and international lecturer, Chris has managed to remain down-to-earth. He is an engaging individual and quite simpatico (a term he used to describe the Jesuits).

"Leadership is not a bag of tricks….it’s your life," he explained. When asked about retaliation in the corporate context, he described it as a "dance of death." If only our government officials understood that their leadership is not a bag of tricks assisting them in their path to self-enrichment, but rather their positions constituted public trust.

Does Chris believe in a universal standard of values? While admitting that this was a difficult question to answer, he pointed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a product of many nations, multiple faiths and atheists. He also pointed out how the corporate world demonstrates that people from diverse backgrounds can work together in harmony in pursuit of a common goal. If only the same commitment to harmony in diversity were displayed by our government officials in settling conflicts with the various armed rebel groups, the Philippines would likely achieve sustainable civil peace.

Chris elaborated on the "loving" style of leadership, which is being tough when necessary, firing people when necessary, understanding that no one is indispensable, and that one can win with different teams. After all, if one is to harness talent, one has to exercise discipline. Again, this thinking is consistent with strategic long-term planning. Heroic Leadership makes it clear that the Jesuits truly have something to be proud of – a "corporate" history of more than 460 years. Our government officials have much to learn from their history.

The book also discusses self-awareness in the context of discovering one’s core values and non-negotiables. When asked what has remained the same through the different stages of his life, he pointed to his beliefs. Yes, a person should practice his values in all aspects of life. One cannot compartmentalize values, one cannot be good in his corporate life and be a horrible person in his personal life. While people are not perfect and they have lapses, integrity can’t be turned on and off. So it baffles me how a public official can go to church regularly while abetting the philandering and influence peddling of a spouse.

Chris believes that it is every person’s duty to develop his leadership potential. The Jesuit structure, when it was founded, was very innovative compared to the structures of other religious orders of the time. Chris speculated that in order to serve the needs of the Church and society as a whole, Loyola could have founded a society of laypersons (as distinguished from an all-male religious order) today. The Jesuits have always been forward-thinking, a trait that seems to be sorely lacking in government, which is particularly sad, given that we have a woman at the helm.

If the old guards are hopeless, there are still the youth to look forward to. To paraphrase Chris, life is, after all, one’s own leadership project.

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Partly educated by the Jesuits, Dominique P. Gallego is a free-lance writer taking a sabbatical in New York City as a practicing attorney.